In 1945 Hawai`i was placed under Article 73 of the UN Charter, under the administering authority of the United States of America. The United States directly violated the "sacred trust" obligations of this article in their relations with Hawai`i. This led to the illegal plebiscite vote in 1959, which was used by the United States as the basis for Hawai`i's statehood, but which failed to provide the option of independence as required by international law, and only allowed American citizens to vote, including many servicemen and their families who had been stationed in Hawaii as part of the military occupation, and excluding those Native Hawaiians who chose not to integrate into America.

Members of the United Nations which have or assume responsibilities for the administration of territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government recognize the principle that the interests of the inhabitants of these territories are paramount, and accept as a sacred trust the obligation to promote to the utmost, within the system of international peace and security established by the present Charter, the well-being of the inhabitants of these territories, and, to this end:

1. to ensure, with due respect for the culture of the peoples concerned, their political, economic, social, and educational advancement, their just treatment, and their protection against abuses;
2. to develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of each territory and its peoples and their varying stages of advancement;
3. to further international peace and security;
4. to promote constructive measures of development, to encourage research, and to co-operate with one another and, when and where appropriate, with specialized international bodies with a view to the practical achievement of the social, economic, and scientific purposes set forth in this Article; and
5. to transmit regularly to the Secretary-General, for informational purposes, subject to such limitation as security and constitutional considerations may require, statistical and other information of a technical nature relating to economic, social, and educational conditions in the territories for which they are respectively responsible other than those territories to which Chapters XII and XIII apply.

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