|
Hawai`i entered the decade of the 1890s as a kingdom and
emerged from it as a Territory of the United States, with a provisional
government and a republic in between. It was a time of monarchs and
"mission boys," of royalists, republicans and revolutionaries.
The storm that had been gathering broke on Jan. 17, 1893, when the
Hawaiian monarchy ended in a day of bloodless revolution. Armed
insurrection by a relatively small group of men, most of them American
by birth or heritage, succeeded in wresting control of the Islands with
the backing of American troops sent ashore from a warship in Honolulu
Harbor. To this "superior force of the United States of America," Queen
Lili`uokalani yielded her throne, under protest, in order to avoid
bloodshed, trusting that the United States government would right the
wrong that had been done to her and the Hawaiian people.
Sugar and a coerced constitution played roles in the drama --
intertwined themes of economics and politics.
Sugar was by far the principal support of the Islands, and profits
and prosperity hinged on favorable treaties with the United States,
Hawaiian sugar's chief market, creating powerful economic ties. As the
Islands' sugar industry grew, large numbers of contract laborers were
imported first from China, then from Japan and other countries, to work
on the plantations -- the beginning of Hawai`i's present multicultural
population. Plantation ownership and control of the business community
were in the hands of men of American or European blood.
In 1887, during the reign of Lili`uokalani' s brother, King Kalakaua,
a group of planters and businessmen, seeking to control the kingdom
politically as well as economically, formed a secret organization, the
Hawaiian League. Membership (probably never over 400, compared to the
40,000 Native Hawaiians in the kingdom) was predominantly American,
including several missionary descendants. Organizer and fire brand of
the league was Lorrin A. Thurston, a lawyer and missionary grandson, who
would later be a leader in the overthrow of the monarchy, with many of
the same men.
Their goal, for now, was to "reform" the monarchy. But reform, like
beauty, was in the eye of the beholder. The Native Hawaiians looked up
to their sovereigns with respect and aloha. Kalakaua and Lili`uokalani
were well-educated, intelligent, skilled in social graces, and equally
at home with Hawaiian traditions and court ceremony. Above all, they
were deeply concerned about the well-being of the Hawaiian people and
maintaining the independence of the kingdom.
The league's more radical members favored the king's abdication --
one even proposed assassination -- but cooler heads prevailed. They
would allow the king to remain on the throne with his power sharply
limited by a new constitution of their making. Dethroning him would be a
last resort, if he refused to comply. Many Hawaiian League members
belonged to a volunter militia, the Honolulu Rifles, which was
officially in service to the Hawaiian government, but was secretly the
league's military arm.
Kalakaua was compelled to accept a new Cabinet composed of league
members, who presented their constitution to him for his signature at `Iolani
Palace. The reluctant king argued and protested, but finally signed the
document, which became known as the Bayonet Constitution. As one Cabinet
member noted, "Little was left to the imagination of the hesitating and
unwilling sovereign, as to what he might expect in the event of his
refusal to comply with the demands made upon him."
The Bayonet Constitution greatly curtailed the king's power, making
him a mere figurehead. It placed the actual executive power in the hands
of the Cabinet, whose members could no longer be dismissed by the king,
only by the Legislature. Amending this constitution was also the
exclusive prerogative of the Legislature.
The Bayonet Constitution's other purpose was to remove the Native
Hawaiian majority's dominance at the polls and in the Legislature. The
righteous reformers were determined to save the Hawaiians from
self-government.
The privilege of voting was no longer limited to citizens of the
kingdom, but was extended to foreign residents -- provided they were
American or European. Asians were excluded -- even those who had become
naturalized citizens. The House of Nobles, formerly appointed by the
king, would now be elected, and voters and candidates for it had to meet
a high property ownership or income requirement -- which excluded
two-thirds of the Native Hawaiian voters. While they could still vote
for the House of Representatives, to do so they had to swear to uphold
the despised Bayonet Constitution.
The Hawaiians strenuously opposed the diminution of their voice in
governing their own country and resented the reduction of the monarch's
powers and the manner in which the Bayonet Constitution had been forced
on him. Hawaiians, Chinese and Japanese petitioned the king to revoke
the constitution. The self-styled Reform Cabinet responded that only an
act of the Legislature could do this - though their new constitution had
never been put to a vote.
For the remaining years of the monarchy, efforts to amend or replace
the constitution received widespread support. The constitutional
controversy proved to be the spark that ignited the overthrow of the
monarchy.
In 1889 a young part-Hawaiian named Robert W. Wilcox staged an
uprising to overthrow the Bayonet Constitution. He led some 80 men,
Hawaiians and Europeans, with arms purchased by the Chinese, in a
predawn march to `Iolani Palace with a new constitution for Kalakaua to
sign. The king was away from the palace, and the Cabinet called out
troops who forcibly put down the insurrection. Tried for conspiracy,
Wilcox was found not guilty by a jury of Native Hawaiians, who
considered him a folk hero.
A new constitution would have to be another monarch's responsibility.
On Jan. 20, 1891, King Kalakaua died of kidney disease at age 54. He lay
in state in the throne room of `Iolani Palace, which during his reign
had been the scene of many gala receptions and grand balls.
Like her brother, the new queen was childless. She named as her
successor to the throne her niece, Princess Ka`iulani, who was away at
school in London.
Lili`uokalani's husband, John Dominis, an American sea captain's son,
died just seven months after she became queen.
She would soon face a formidable threat to the monarchy and the
independence of the kingdom. In early 1892 Lorrin Thurston and a group
of like-minded men, mostly of American blood, formed an Annexation Club,
plotting the overthrow of the queen and annexation to the United States.
They kept the organization small and secret -wisely, since they were
talking treason.
Thurston went to Washington to promote annexation, and received an
encouraging message from President Benjamin Harrison: "You will find an
exceedingly sympathetic administration here."
In Honolulu, Hawaiians spoke out strongly for their monarchy and
presented numerous petitions to the Legislature to replace the Bayonet
Constitution, to no avail.
The queen had also been deluged with petitions for a new
constitution, signed by an estimated two-thirds of the kingdom's voters,
and she boldly prepared to act on their wishes. In her book, Hawai`i's Story by Hawai`i's Queen
, she noted, "The right to grant
a constitution to the nation has been, since the very first one was
granted, a prerogative of the Hawaiian sovereigns."
On Jan. 14, the first of four crucial days in Hawai`i's .history, the
queen presided at noon over the legislative session's closing ceremonies
at the Government Building. She then walked across the street to `Iolani
Palace for a more significant ceremony. She was about to proclaim a new
constitution which she had written, restoring power to the throne and
rights to the Native Hawaiian people.
The Royal Hawaiian Band played as the queen's invited guests,
including diplomats, legislators and Hawaiian petitioners, assembled in
the throne room, and a large crowd of Native Hawaiians gathered on the
palace lawn.
As the audience waited, the queen argued heatedly with her Cabinet,
who refused to sign her new constitution, fearing her enemies would use
it as a pretext to challenge her. They finally persuaded her to defer
action on it.
The queen addressed the guests in the throne room, and the crowd on
the palace grounds, telling them that she was ready to promulgate a new
constitution, but yielding to the advice of her ministers, was
postponing it to some future day.
Alerted earlier of the queen's intention by two of her Cabinet
members, the Annexation Club sprang into action. A 13-member Committee
of Safety was chosen to plan the overthrow of the queen and the
establishment of a provisional government. As they plotted revolution,
they claimed that the queen, by proposing to alter the constitution, had
committed ''a revolutionary act."
The American warship USS Boston was in port at Honolulu Harbor. With
an eye toward landing troops, Lorrin Thurston and two others called upon
the American minister in Hawai`i, John L. Stevens, an avowed
annexationist. Stevens assured them he would not protect the queen, and
that he would land troops from the Boston if necessary "to protect
American lives and property." He also said that if the revolutionaries
were in possession of government buildings and actually in control of
the city, he would recognize their provisional government.
The next day, Jan. 15, Thurston told the queen's Cabinet that the
Committee of Safety would challenge her.
In an effort to stave off the mounting crisis, the queen issued a
proclamation declaring that she would not seek to alter the constitution
except by constitutional means. Unsuccessfully, she sought Minister
Stevens' assurance that he would support her government against armed
insurrection. The kingdom's marshal proposed declaring martial law and
arresting the Committee of Safety, but the Cabinet feared this would
lead to armed conflict, and Lili`uokalani wished to avoid bloodshed.
On Jan. 16, several hundred Native Hawaiians and other royalists
gathered peaceably at Palace Square in support of the queen, expressing
loyalty to the monarchy, and carefully avoiding saying anything
inflammatory.
Simultaneously, at the mass meeting called by the Committee of Safety
at the armory, the speeches were incendiary. Lorrin Thurston vehemently
denounced the queen and asked the crowd to empower the committee to act
as it deemed necessary. The resolution passed amid cheers. No one had
mentioned overthrowing the monarchy, but the unspoken was apparently
understood by all.
The Committee of Safety delivered a letter to Minister Stevens
requesting him to land troops from the Boston, stating that "the public
safety is menaced and life and property are in peril."
At 5 that afternoon, 162 fully armed troops from the Boston came
ashore. A few of the marines were posted at the American Consulate and
Legation, but the main body of troops marched through downtown Honolulu
past `Iolani Palace. They were quartered less than a block from the
Government Building and the palace. While the troops were ordered ashore
ostensibly "to protect American lives and property," their placement
close to the palace was threatening. Members of the queen's Cabinet
hastened to Stevens to protest the troops' presence, but it made no
difference.
The Committee of Safety had initially proposed that Thurston head the
government, but he said he was considered such a ,"radical mover" it
would be better to choose someone more conservative. They then offered
the presidency to Sanford B. Dole, another of the "mission boys," as
Thurston called them. Dole had declined to take part in the revolution
except for drafting documents. Rather than abolishing the monarchy, he
favored replacing the queen with a regency holding the throne in trust
until Princess Ka'iulani came of age. Still, he accepted the presidency
and submitted his resignation as a justice in Hawai`i's Supreme Court.
On the morning of Jan. 17, Dole gave Stevens a letter from Thurston,
asking for his recognition of the provisional government, which they
planned to proclaim at 3 that afternoon. The American minister told
Dole, "I think you have a great opportunity."
They also had luck. Just as Dole and the Committee of Safety were
about to set out to take possession of the Government Building, Hawaiian
police halted a wagon loaded with arms for the insurgents, and the
driver shot a policeman in the shoulder. (This was the only blood shed
during the revolution.) The sound of the shot drew a crowd, including
the policemen who had been keeping an eye on the Committee of Safety,
and in the confusion, they walked to the Government Building unnoticed.
The building was unguarded and nearly deserted, and few people heard
the proclamation that was read from its steps, declaring the end of the
monarchy and the establishment of a provisional government as an interim
measure until annexation to the United States could be achieved. The
American troops were lined up nearby. Minister Stevens immediately, and
prematurely, recognized the provisional government.
On Jan. 17, 1893, at dusk, Queen Lili`uokalani yielded her throne
under protest, with these words:
"I, Lili`uokalani, by the grace of God and under the constitution of
the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any
and all acts done against myself and the constitutional government
of the Hawaiian Kingdom by certain persons claiming to have
established a Provisional Government of and for this Kingdom.
"That I yield to the superior force of the United States of
America, whose Minister Plenipotentiary, His Excellency John L.
Stevens, has caused United States troops to be landed at Honolulu
and declared that he would support the said Provisional Government.
"Now, to avoid any collision of armed forces and perhaps loss of
life, I do, under this protest, and impelled by said forces, yield
my authority until such time as the Government of the United States
shall, upon the facts being presented to it, undo the action of its
representative and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as
the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands."
The queen surrendered Hawai`i's sovereignty
not to the revolutionaries but to the "superior force of the United
States of America" -- temporarily, she believed -- confident that the
American government would restore her to the throne.
After the queen yielded, the marshal surrendered the police station
house, and at the barracks, the Queen's Royal Guards stacked their arms.
Having stated her case in writing, Lili`uokalani retired to her
private residence, Washington Place, urging the leaders of her people to
avoid riot and to await tranquilly the result of her appeal to the
United States government.
The provisional government took over the palace and declared martial
law. Later, at its request, Minister Stevens proclaimed Hawai`i a
temporary protectorate and raised the American flag over government
buildings. He wrote the State Department urging annexation, saying, "The
Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe, and this is the golden hour for the
United States to pluck it."
The provisional government had chartered a steamer, and Thurston and
four others hastened to Washington with a treaty of annexation in hand.
The queen's envoys were refused permission to sail on the same ship, and
by the time they reached Washington, President Harrison had already sent
the annexation treaty to the Senate.
But Harrison was in his last days in power, and Grover Cleveland, who
replaced him, withdrew the treaty.
Lili`uokalani wrote to Cleveland requesting redress, and young
Princess Ka`iulani went to Washington to appeal for the monarchy and the
Hawaiian nation, impressing the president and all who met her with her
beauty and dignity.
President Cleveland sent to Honolulu special commissioner James H.
Blount, former chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Blount's job was to investigate the circumstances of the revolution, the
role Minister Stevens and American troops played in it, and to determine
the feelings of the people of Hawai`i toward the provisional government.
Blount's instructions were secret, but it was known that his word
would be "paramount," concerning the United States in the Islands, so he
was given the nickname "Paramount Blount."
He ordered the troops back to their ship and the American flag taken
down and replaced by the Hawaiian flag.
Accessible to all who wished to talk to him, he cordially and
impartially heard a steady stream of people from both sides. Over four
months, he assembled a vast amount of information from interviews,
letters and documents.
Blount's final report charged that Stevens conspired in the overthrow
of the monarchy, which would not have taken place without the landing of
U.S. troops. Blount recommended restoring the queen, saying...The
undoubted sentiment of the people is for the queen, against the
provisional government and against annexation." He noted, "There is not
an annexationist in the Islands, so far as I have been able to observe,
who would be willing to submit the question of annexation to a popular
vote."
Based on Blount's findings, President Cleveland decided that, in the
name of justice, he would do everything in his power to reinstate the
queen, provided she would grant amnesty to those who had overthrown her
government. The idealistic Cleveland, in assuming the provisional
government would willingly relinquish power to her at his request,
misjudged the character and tenacity of her adversaries.
The new American minister in Hawai`i, Albert Willis, expressed to the
queen the president's regret that the unauthorized intervention of the
United States had caused her to surrender her sovereignty,
and his hope that the wrong done to her and her people might be
redressed. Willis told her the president's condition for reinstating her
on the throne was that she grant full amnesty.
Lili`uokalani replied that according to Hawaiian law, the punishment
for treason was death, but that she would be satisfied with banishing
them from the kingdom forever. Later, she agreed to accede to the
president's wishes.
Willis next went to Sanford Dole and the provisional government,
assuring them of the queen's amnesty. Speaking for President Cleveland,
Willis acknowledged the wrong committed by the United States in the
revolution and requested them to resign power and restore the queen.
The answer, of course, was no. They repudiated the right of the
American president to interfere in their domestic affairs and said that
if the American forces illegally assisted the revolution, the
provisional government was not responsible.
On Dec. 18, 1893,
President
Cleveland made an eloquent speech to Congress on the Hawaiian
situation.
He had harsh words for the landing of American troops at the
revolutionaries' request:
"This military demonstration upon the soil of Honolulu was of itself
an act of war; unless made either with the consent of the government
of Hawai`i or for the bona fide purpose of protecting the imperiled
lives and property of citizens of the United States. But there is no
pretense of any such consent on the part of the government of the
queen ... the existing government, instead of requesting the
presence of an armed force, protested against it. There is as little
basis for the pretense that forces were landed for the security of
American life and property. If so, they would have been stationed in
the vicinity of such property and so as to protect it, instead of at
a distance and so as to command the Hawaiian Government Building and
palace. ... When these armed men were landed, the city of Honolulu
was in its customary orderly and peaceful condition. ... "
The president continues:
"But for the notorious predilections of the United States minister
for annexation, the Committee of Safety, which should have been
called the Committee of Annexation, would never have existed.
"But for the landing of the United States forces upon false
pretexts respecting the danger to life and property, the committee
would never have exposed themselves to the plans and penalties of
treason by undertaking the subversion of the queen's government.
"But for the presence of the United States forces in the
immediate vicinity and in position to accord all needed protection
and support, the committee would not have proclaimed the provisional
government from the steps of the Government Building.
"And, finally, but for the lawless occupation of Honolulu under
false pretexts by the United States forces, and but for Minister
Stevens' recognition of the provisional government when the United
States forces were its sole support and constituted its only
military strength, the queen and her government would never have
yielded to the provisional government, even for a time and for the
sole purpose of submitting her case to the enlightened justice of
the United States. ... "
He further stated,
"... if a feeble but friendly state is in danger of being robbed of
its independence and its
sovereignty
by a misuse of the name and power of the United States, the United
States cannot fail to vindicate its honor and its sense of justice
by an earnest effort to make all possible reparation."
President Cleveland concluded by placing the matter in the hands of
Congress.
The Senate hearings were conducted by the chairman of the Foreign
Relations Committee, John Tyler Morgan, an annexationist, whose final
report managed to find everyone blameless for the revolution except the
queen. Many in the Senate disagreed, and the House censured Stevens and
passed a resolution opposing annexation. In the end, Congress took no
action either to restore the monarchy or to annex Hawai`i.
With their goal of annexation stalled, the leaders of the provisional
government decided to form a republic, while waiting for a more
opportune political climate.
They drafted a constitution and declared it law by proclamation --
the very act for which they had forced Lili`uokalani from her throne.
The new constitution required voters to swear allegiance to the
republic, and thousands of Native Hawaiians refused, out of loyalty to
queen and country. Foreigners who had sided with the revolution were
allowed to vote. Property requirements and other qualifications were so
strict that relatively few Hawaiians and no Asians could vote.
On July 4, 1894, Sanford Dole announced the inauguration of the
Republic of Hawai`i, and declared himself president.
Unwilling to give up, many Hawaiians and other royalists accumulated
arms for a counterrevolution to restore the monarchy. In the January
1895 uprising, led by Robert Wilcox, the royalists were forced by
government troops to retreat into the valleys behind Honolulu, and after
10 days of fighting, most of them, including Wilcox, were captured.
The republic's prize catch was Queen Lili`uokalani. A search revealed
a cache of arms buried in the flower garden of her home. She was
arrested Jan. 16, 1895, exactly two years from the date the American
troops landed in support of the revolution. Imprisoned in a corner room
on the second story of `Iolani Palace, she was guarded day and night,
allowed only one attendant and no visitors.
Shortly after she was imprisoned, Lili`uokalani was given a document
of abdication to sign and was led to believe that, if she refused,
several of her followers were to be shot for treason. She wrote, "For
myself, I would have chosen death rather than to have signed it; but it
was represented to me that by my signing this paper all the persons who
had been arrested, all my people now in trouble by reason of their love
and loyalty toward me, would be immediately released ... the stream of
blood ready to flow unless it was stayed by my pen."
Wilcox and four others were sentenced to death, after all. Many other
royalists received long prison sentences and heavy fines.
Lili`uokalani noted, ''Their sentences were passed the same as though
my signature had not been obtained. That they were not executed is due
solely to a consideration which has been officially stated: 'Word came
from the United States that the execution of captive rebels would
militate against annexation.'"
The queen was charged with misprision of treason -- having knowledge
of treason and failing to report it--and was tried by a military
commission. Her trial was held in the former throne room of the palace,
where she had once greeted sovereigns and dignitaries from around the
world. The prosecutors taunted, insulted and tried to humiliate her, but
they never succeeded in destroying her dignity.
Found guilty, she was given the maximum sentence of five years
imprisonment at hard labor and a $5,000 fine. It was not carried out,
but she remained a prisoner in the palace.
On New Year's Day 1896, all the royalist prisoners were freed --
except Lili`uokalani. After eight months of imprisonment in the palace,
she was allowed to return to her home, under house arrest. Not until
late 1896 was her freedom restored.
She went to Washington, armed with documents signed by many Hawaiians
asking President Cleveland to reinstate their queen. The president
welcomed her warmly and she expressed her gratitude for his earlier
efforts to restore her kingdom's independence. But it was now too late
for him to be of further help.
His successor, William McKinley, sent the annexation treaty to the
Senate.
Hawaiians submitted a petition to Congress with 29,000 signatures
opposing annexation, and petitions to the Republic of Hawai`i, asking
that annexation be put to a public vote. They were never permitted to
vote on the issue.
Adding to the pro-annexation argument was the outbreak of the
Spanish-American War in 1898, drawing attention to the Islands'
strategic position in the Pacific.
Ultimately, the annexationists won, and Grover Cleveland wrote: "I am
ashamed of the whole affair."
Sovereignty
of Hawai`i was formally transferred to the United States at ceremonies
at `Iolani Palace on Aug. 12, 1898. Sanford Dole spoke as the newly
appointed governor of the Territory of Hawai`i. The Hawaiian anthem, ''Hawai`i
Pono `I" -- with words written by King Kalakaua -- was played at the
Hawaiian flag was lowered, and replaced by the American flag and "The
Star-Spangled Banner." The Hawaiian people had lost their land, their
monarchy and now their independence.
Another loss came the following year, with the death of the beautiful
young Princess. Ka'iulani, heir to the Hawaiian throne, at age 23.
Lili`uokalani remained an indomitable spirit, honored and revered by
her people as a queen to the end. She died in 1917, at the age of 79,
still waiting for justice.
Last year, for the observance of the centennial of the overthrow of
the Hawaiian monarchy, `Iolani Palace, draped in the black of mourning,
was a powerful symbol. The Hawaiian people are still seeking justice
through legal means reparations, a fulfillment of trust commitments,
settlement of land claims and the return of lands. They are, moreover,
seeking recognition of Hawaiian sovereignty.
The Native Hawaiians will decide how they choose to structure
sovereignty -- as a nation-within-a-nation, complete independence, or
some other model. It is no longer a distant dream, but an attainable
goal.
As a first step toward redressing the wrongs of a century ago,
the Hawaiian
people have finally received a federal apology, recognition of the
American government's participation in the overthrow of the monarchy.
Last November, the United States Congress passed and President
Clinton signed a joint resolution saying, "The Congress...
apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United
States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai`i on Jan. 17, 1893 with
the participation of agents and citizens of the United States, and the
deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination;"
[and] "... expresses its commitment to acknowledge the ramifications of
the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai`i, in order to provide a proper
foundation for reconciliation between the United States and the Native
Hawaiian people."
Recommended Resources
- This Hawaiian sovereignty group
maintains a huge archive of articles and evidences of the
mistreatment of Hawaiians and their culture throughout history.
|
