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Hawaiian Kingdom

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The Hawaiian Kingdom (a.k.a. Kingdom

of Hawaiʻi) originated in 1795 with the
unification of the independent islands of
Hawaiʻi, Oʻahu, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi
under one government. In 1810, the
whole Hawaiian Islands became unified
when Kauaʻi and Niʻihau joined the
Hawaiian Kingdom voluntarily. Two major
dynastic families ruled the kingdom: the
House of Kamehameha and the House of
Kalākaua.
 Hawaiian Kingdom
Aupuni Mōʻī o Hawaiʻi
1795–1893

1893–1895: Government-in-exile

Flag Coat of arms

Motto: 
Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono
"The life of the land is perpetuated in
righteousness"
Anthem: 
God Save the King (Until 1860)
E Ola Ke Aliʻi Ke Akua (1860–1866)
He Mele Lāhui Hawaiʻi (1866–1876)
Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī (1876–1898)
Capital Waikīkī (1795–
1796)[1]
Hilo (1796–1802)
Lāhainā (1802–1812)
and (1820–
1845)[2][3][4]
Kailua-Kona (1812–
1820)[5][6]
Honolulu (1845–
1893)[7][8][9]

Common languages Hawaiian, English

Religion Church of Hawaii

Government Absolute monarchy

 (until 1840)
Constitutional
monarchy (from
1840)
Monarch  

• 1795–1819 (first) Kamehameha I

• 1891–1893 (last) Liliʻuokalani

Kuhina Nui  

• 1819–1832 (first) Kaʻahumanu

• 1863–1864 (last) Kekūanāoʻa

Legislature Legislature

• Upper house House of Nobles

• Lower house House of

Representatives
History  
• Inception May, 1795

• Unification of March/April 1810[10]

Hawaii

• Constitutional October 8, 1840

monarchy

• Occupation by the February 25 – July 31,

United Kingdom 1843

• Anglo-Franco November 28, 1843

Proclamation

• Monarchy January 17, 1893

overthrown

• Abdication of January 24, 1895

Queen Liliʻuokalani

Population
• 1780 400,000 – 800,000
• 1800 250,000

• 1832 130,313

• 1890 89,990

Currency Hawaiian dollar,

U.S. dollar

Preceded by Succeeded by
Ancient Paulet Affair (1843)
Hawaii Provisional Government
Paulet Affair of Hawaii
(1843)

Today part of  United States

 ∟  Hawaii
The Kingdom won recognition from
major European powers. The United
States became its chief trading partner.
The U.S. watched over the Kingdom lest
some other power (such as Britain or
Japan) threaten to seize control. Hawaii
was forced to adopt a new constitution in
1887 when King Kalākaua was
threatened with violence by the Honolulu
Rifles, a white, anti-monarchist militia, to
sign it. Queen Liliʻuokalani, who
succeeded Kalākaua in 1891, tried to
abrogate the 1887 constitution and
promulgate a new constitution, but was
overthrown in 1893, largely at the hands
of the Committee of Safety, a group of
residents consisting of Hawaiian
subjects and foreign nationals of
American, British and German descent,
many of whom were educated in the U.S.,
lived there for a time and identified
strongly as American.[11] Hawaii became
a republic until the United States
annexed it using The Newlands
Resolution which was a joint resolution
passed on July 4, 1898, by the United
States Congress creating the Territory of
Hawaii.

Origins
In ancient Hawaii, society was divided
into multiple classes. At the top of the
class system was the aliʻi class[12] with
each island ruled by a separate aliʻi
nui.[13] All of these rulers were believed to
come from a hereditary line descended
from the first Polynesian, Papa, who
would become the earth mother goddess
of the Hawaiian religion.[14] Captain
James Cook was the first European to
encounter the Hawaiian Islands, on his
fourth voyage. He was killed in a dispute
over the taking of a longboat. Three
years later the Island of Hawaii was
passed to Kalaniʻōpuʻu's son, Kīwalaʻō,
while religious authority was passed to
the ruler's nephew, Kamehameha.

Hawaiian military officer, 1819 (by Jacques Arago)

A series of battles, lasting 15 years, was

led by the warrior chief who became
Kamehameha the Great. The Hawaiian
Kingdom was established with the help
of western weapons and advisors, such
as John Young and Isaac Davis.[15]
Although successful in attacking both
Oʻahu and Maui, he failed to secure a
victory in Kauaʻi, his effort hampered by a
storm and a plague that decimated his
army. Eventually, Kauaʻi's chief swore
allegiance to Kamehameha. The
unification ended the ancient Hawaiian
society, transforming it into an
independent constitutional monarchy
crafted in the traditions and manner of
European monarchs.

Kamehameha dynasty …
From 1810 to 1893, the Hawaiian
Kingdom was ruled by two major
dynastic families: the House of
Kamehameha and the Kalākaua Dynasty.
Five members of the Kamehameha
family led the government styled as
Kamehameha. Lunalilo was a member of
the House of Kamehameha through his
mother. Liholiho (Kamehameha II) and
Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) were
direct sons of Kamehameha the Great.
During Liholiho's and Kauikeaouli's
reigns, the primary wife of Kamehameha
the Great, Queen Kaʻahumanu, ruled as
Queen Regent and Kuhina Nui, or Prime
Minister.
Economic, social, and
cultural transformation
Economic and demographic factors in
the 19th century reshaped the islands.
Their consolidation into one unified
political entity led to international trade.
Under Kamehameha (1810–1819),
sandalwood was exported to China. That
led to the introduction of money and
trade throughout the islands.

Following Kamehameha's death the

succession was overseen by his principal
wife, Ka'ahumanu, who was designated
as regent over the new king, Liholiho,
who was a minor.

Queen Ka'ahumanu eliminated various

prohibitions (kapu) governing women's
behavior. They included men and women
eating together and women eating
bananas. She also overturned the old
religion as the Christian missionaries
arrived in the islands. The main
contribution of the missionaries was to
develop a written Hawaiian language.
That led to very high levels of literacy in
Hawaii, above 90 percent in the latter half
of the 19th century. The development of
writing aided in the consolidation of
government. Written constitutions
enumerating the power and duties of the
King were developed.

In 1848, the Great Māhele was

promulgated by the king. It instituted
formal property rights to the land. It
followed the customary control of the
land prior to this declaration. Ninety-eight
percent of the land was assigned to the
Ali'i, chiefs or nobles. Two percent went
to the commoners. No land could be
sold, only transferred to lineal
descendant land manager. For the
natives, contact with the outer world
represented demographic disaster, as a
series of unfamiliar diseases such as
smallpox decimated the natives. The
Hawaiian population of natives fell from
approximately 128,000 in 1778[16] to
71,000 in 1853 and kept declining to
24,000 in 1920. Most lived in remote
villages.[17]

American missionaries converted most

of the natives to Christianity. The
missionaries and their children became a
powerful elite into the mid-19th century.
They provided the chief advisors and
cabinet members of the kings and
dominated the professional and
merchant class in the cities.[18]
The elites promoted the sugar industry in
order to modernize Hawaii's economy.
American capital set up a series of
plantations after 1850.[19] Few natives
were willing to work on the sugar
plantations and so recruiters fanned out
across Asia and Europe. As a result,
between 1850 and 1900 some 200,000
contract laborers from China, Japan, the
Philippines, Portugal and elsewhere
came to Hawaii under fixed term
contracts (typically for five years). Most
returned home on schedule, but large
numbers stayed permanently. By 1908
about 180,000 Japanese workers had
arrived. No more were allowed in, but
54,000 remained permanently.[20]

Military
The Hawaiian army and navy developed
from the warriors of Kona under
Kamehameha I, who unified Hawaii in
1810. The army and navy used both
traditional canoes and uniforms
including helmets made of natural
materials and loincloths (called the
Malo) as well as western technology like
artillery cannons, muskets, and European
ships. European advisors were captured,
treated well and became Hawaiian
citizens. When Kamehameha died in
1819 he left his son Liholiho a large
arsenal with tens of thousands of
soldiers and many warships. This helped
put down the revolt at Kuamoʻo later in
1819 and Humehume's rebellion on
Kauai in 1824.

During the Kamehameha dynasty the

population in Hawaii was ravaged by
epidemics following the arrival of
outsiders. The military shrank with the
population, so by the end of the Dynasty
there was no Hawaiian navy and only an
army, consisting of several hundred
troops. After a French invasion that
sacked Honolulu in 1849, Kamehameha
III sought defense treaties with the
United States and Britain. During the
outbreak of the Crimean War in Europe,
Kamehameha III declared Hawaii a
neutral state.[21] The United States
government put strong pressure on
Kamehameha IV to make trade
exclusively to the United States even
annexing the islands. To counterbalance
this situation Kamehameha IV and
Kamehameha V pushed for alliances
with other foreign powers, especially
Great Britain. Hawaii claimed uninhabited
islands in the Pacific, including the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, many of
which came into conflict with American
claims.

Following the Kamehameha dynasty the

royal guards were disbanded under
Lunalilo after a barracks revolt in
September 1873. A small army was
restored under King Kalakaua but failed
to stop the 1887 Rebellion by the
Missionary Party. In 1891, Queen
Liliʻuokalani came to power. The
elections of 1892 were followed with
petitions and requests from her
administration to change the constitution
of 1887. The US maintained a policy of
keeping at least one cruiser in Hawaii at
all times. On January 17, 1893,
Liliʻuokalani, believing the US military
would intervene if she changed the
constitution, waited for the USS Boston
to leave port. Once it was known that
Liliʻuokalani was revising the
constitution, the Boston was recalled and
assisted the Missionary Party in her
overthrow. (In 1993, the U.S. Congress
passed the Apology Resolution,
admitting wrongdoing and issuing an
apology.) Following the overthrow and
the establishment of the Provisional
Government of Hawaii the Kingdom's
military was disarmed and disbanded.
French Incident (1839)
Under the rule of Queen Kaʻahumanu, the
powerful newly converted Protestant
widow of Kamehameha the Great,
Catholicism was illegal in Hawaii, and in
1831 French Catholic priests were
forcibly deported by chiefs loyal to her.
Native Hawaiian converts to Catholicism
claimed to have been imprisoned, beaten
and tortured after the expulsion of the
priests.[22] Resistance toward the French
Catholic missionaries remained the
same under the reign of her successor,
the Kuhina Nui Kaʻahumanu II.
In 1839 Captain Laplace of the French
frigate Artémise sailed to Hawaii under
orders to:

Destroy the malevolent impression

which you find established to the
detriment of the French name; to rectify
the erroneous opinion which has been
created as to the power of France; and
to make it well understood that it would
be to the advantage of the chiefs of
those islands of the Ocean to conduct
themselves in such a manner as not to
incur the wrath of France. You will exact,
if necessary with all the force that is
yours to use, complete reparation for
 the wrongs which have been committed,
and you will not quit those places until
you have left in all minds a solid and
lasting impression.

Under the threat of war, King

Kamehameha III signed the Edict of
Toleration on July 17, 1839 and paid the
$20,000 in compensation for the
deportation of the priests and the
incarceration and torture of converts,
agreeing to Laplace's demands. The
kingdom proclaimed:

That the Catholic worship be declared

free, throughout all the dominions
subject to the King of the Sandwich
 Islands; the members of this religious
faith shall enjoy in them the privileges
granted to Protestants.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu

returned unpersecuted and as reparation
Kamehameha III donated land for them
to build a church upon.

Paulet Affair (1843)

Lord George Paulet

An even more serious threat occurred on
February 13, 1843. Lord George Paulet of
the Royal Navy warship HMS Carysfort,
entered Honolulu Harbor and demanded
that King Kamehameha III cede the
islands to the British Crown.[23] Under the
guns of the frigate, Kamehameha III
surrendered to Paulet on February 25,
writing to his people:

"Where are you, chiefs, people,

and commons from my
ancestors, and people from
foreign lands?
Hear ye! I make known to you
that I am in perplexity by
reason of difficulties into which
I have been brought without
cause, therefore I have given
away the life of our land. Hear
ye! but my rule over you, my
people, and your privileges will
continue, for I have hope that
the life of the land will be
restored when my conduct is
justified.
 Done at Honolulu, Oahu, this
25th day of February, 1843.

Kamehameha III

Kekauluohi"[24]

Dr. Gerrit P. Judd, a missionary who had

become the Minister of Finance for the
Kingdom, secretly arranged for J.F.B.
Marshall to be sent to the United States,
France and Britain, to protest Paulet's
actions.[25] Marshall, a commercial agent
of Ladd & Co., conveyed the Kingdom's
complaint to the Vice Consul of Britain in
Tepec. Rear Admiral Richard Darton
Thomas, Paulet's commanding officer,
arrived at Honolulu harbor on July 26,
1843 on HMS Dublin from Valparaíso,
Chile. Admiral Thomas apologized to
Kamehameha III for Paulet's actions, and
restored Hawaiian sovereignty on July
31, 1843. In his restoration speech,
Kamehameha III declared that "Ua Mau
ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono" (The life of the
land is perpetuated in righteousness), the
motto of the future State of Hawaii. The
day was celebrated as Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea
(Sovereignty Restoration Day).

French invasion (1849)

In August 1849, French admiral Louis
Tromelin arrived in Honolulu Harbor with
the La Poursuivante and Gassendi. De
Tromelin made ten demands to King
Kamehameha III on August 22, mainly
demanding that full religious rights be
given to Catholics, (a decade earlier,
during the French Incident the ban on
Catholicism had been lifted, but
Catholics still enjoyed only partial
religious rights). On August 25 the
demands had not been met. After a
second warning was made to the
civilians, French troops overwhelmed the
skeleton force and captured Honolulu
Fort, spiked the coastal guns and
destroyed all other weapons they found
(mainly muskets and ammunition). They
raided government buildings and general
property in Honolulu, causing damage
that amounted to $100,000. After the
raids the invasion force withdrew to the
fort. De Tromelin eventually recalled his
men and left Hawaii on September 5.

Foreign relations
Anticipating foreign encroachment on
Hawaiian territory, King Kamehameha III
dispatched a delegation to the United
States and Europe to secure the
recognition of Hawaiian independence.
Timoteo Haʻalilio, William Richards and
Sir George Simpson were commissioned
as joint Ministers Plenipotentiary on April
8, 1842. Sir George Simpson left for
Great Britain while Haʻalilio and Richards
to the United States on July 8, 1842. The
Hawaiian delegation secured the
assurance of US President John Tyler on
December 19, 1842 of Hawaiian
independence and then met Simpson in
Europe to secure formal recognition by
the United Kingdom and France. On
March 17, 1843, King Louis-Philippe of
France recognized Hawaiian
independence at the urging of King
Leopold I of Belgium. On April 1, 1843,
Lord Aberdeen, on behalf of Queen
Victoria, assured the Hawaiian
delegation, "Her Majesty's Government
was willing and had determined to
recognize the independence of the
Sandwich Islands under their present
sovereign."

Anglo-Franco Proclamation …

Fli f th 30th i l b ti f th 1843

Flier for the 30th anniversary celebration of the 1843
treaty

On November 28, 1843, at the Court of

London, the British and French
Governments formally recognized
Hawaiian independence. The "Anglo-
Franco Proclamation", a joint declaration
by France and Britain, signed by King
Louis-Philippe and Queen Victoria,
assured the Hawaiian delegation:

Her Majesty the Queen of the

United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and His
Majesty the King of the French,
taking into consideration the
existence in the Sandwich
Islands (Hawaiian Islands) of a
government capable of
providing for the regularity of
its relations with foreign
nations, have thought it right
to engage, reciprocally, to
consider the Sandwich Islands
as an Independent State, and
never to take possession,
neither directly or under the
title of Protectorate, or under
any other form, of any part of
the territory of which they are
composed.

The undersigned, Her Majesty's

Principal Secretary of State of
Foreign Affairs, and the
Ambassador Extraordinary of
His Majesty the King of the
French, at the Court of London,
being furnished with the
necessary powers, hereby
declare, in consequence, that
their said Majesties take
reciprocally that engagement.
 In witness whereof the
undersigned have signed the
present declaration, and have
affixed thereto the seal of their
arms.

Done in duplicate at London,

the 28th day of November, in
the year of our Lord, 1843.
" 'ABERDEEN. [L.S.]
" 'ST. AULAIRE. [L.S.],[26]

Hawaiʻi was the first non-European

indigenous state whose independence
was recognised by the major powers.[27]
The United States declined to join with
France and the United Kingdom in this
statement. Even though President John
Tyler had verbally recognized Hawaiian
independence, it was not until 1849 that
the United States did formally.[26]

November 28, Lā Kūʻokoʻa

(Independence Day), became a national
holiday to celebrate the recognition of
Hawaii's independence. The Hawaiian
Kingdom entered into treaties with most
major countries and established over 90
legations and consulates.[27]

Princes & Chiefs who are

eligible to be rulers
In 1839, King Kamehameha III created
the Chief’s Children’s School (Royal
School) and selected of the 16 highest
ranking ali`i to be eligible to rule and
befitted them with the highest education
and proper etiquette. They were required
to board under the direction of Mr. Amos
Starr Cooke and his wife. The Princes &
Chiefs eligible to be rulers were: Moses
Kekuiwa, Alexander Liholiho, Lot
Kamehameha, Victoria Kamamalu,
Emma Rooke, William Lunalilo, David
Kalakaua, Lydia Kamaka’eha, Bernice
Pauahi, Elizabeth Keka`aniau, Jane
Loeau, Abigail Maheha, Peter Young
Kaeo, James Kaliokalani, John Pitt Kina’u
and Mary Paʻaʻāina, officially declared by
King Kamehameha III in 1844.[1]

Succession crisis and

monarchial elections
Dynastic rule by the Kamehameha family
ended in 1872 with the death of
Kamehameha V. Upon his deathbed, he
summoned High Chiefess Bernice
Pauahi Bishop to declare his intentions
of making her heir to the throne. Bernice
refused the crown, and Kamehameha V
died without naming an heir.
The refusal of Bishop to take the crown
forced the legislature of the kingdom to
elect a new monarch. From 1872 to
1873, several relatives of the
Kamehameha line were nominated. In a
ceremonial popular vote and a
unanimous legislative vote, William C.
Lunalilo, grandnephew of Kamehameha I,
became Hawaiʻi's first of two elected
monarchs but reigned from 1873 to only
1874 because of his early death.

Kalākaua dynasty
King Kalākaua meeting U.S. President Grant at the
White House, 1874

Like his predecessor, Lunalilo failed to

name an heir to the throne. Once again,
the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom
needed an election to fill the royal
vacancy. Queen Emma, widow of
Kamehameha IV, was nominated along
with David Kalākaua. The 1874 election
was a nasty political campaign in which
both candidates resorted to mudslinging
and innuendo. David Kalākaua became
the second elected King of Hawaii but
without the ceremonial popular vote of
Lunalilo. The choice of the legislature
was controversial, and U.S. and British
troops were called upon to suppress
rioting by Queen Emma's supporters, the
Emmaites.

Kalākaua officially proclaimed his sister,

Liliʻuokalani would succeed to the throne
upon his death. Hoping to avoid
uncertainty in the monarchy's future,
Kalakaua had named a line of
succession in his will, so that after
Lili’uokalani the throne should succeed to
Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani, then to Queen
Consort Kapi’olani, followed by her sister,
Princess Po’omaikalani, then Prince
David Lamea Kawananakoa and last was
Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole.[28]
Although, the will was not an official line
of succession or a proper proclamation
according to kingdom law. There were
also protests about nominating lower
ranking ali`i after Ka’iulani who were not
eligible to the throne while there were still
high ranking ali`i who were eligible,[29]
such as High Chiefess Elizabeth
Keka`aniau.[30] However, it was now the
royal prerogative of Queen Lili’uokalani
and she officially proclaimed her niece
Princess Ka`iulani as heir to the throne[31]
she then later proposed a new
constitution adding Prince David
Kawananakoa and Prince Jonah Kūhiō
Kalanianaʻole, according to the wishes of
Kalakaua, but it was never approved or
ratified by the legislature.[32]

Bayonet Constitution …

King Kalākaua
In 1887, a constitution was drafted by
Lorrin A. Thurston, Minister of Interior
under King Kalākaua. The constitution
was proclaimed by the king after a
meeting of 3,000 residents including an
armed militia demanded he sign it or be
deposed. The document created a
constitutional monarchy like the one that
existed in United Kingdom, stripping the
King of most of his personal authority
and empowering the legislature and
establishing cabinet government. It has
since become widely known as the
"Bayonet Constitution" because of the
threat of force used to gain Kalākaua's
cooperation.
The 1887 constitution empowered the
citizenry to elect members of the House
of Nobles (who had previously been
appointed by the King). It increased the
value of property a citizen must own to
be eligible to vote above the previous
Constitution of 1864 and denied voting
rights to Asians who comprised a large
proportion of the population (a few
Japanese and some Chinese had
previously become naturalized and now
lost voting rights they had previously
enjoyed). This guaranteed a voting
monopoly to wealthy native Hawaiians
and Europeans. The Bayonet Constitution
continued allowing the monarch to
appoint cabinet ministers, but stripped
him of the power to dismiss them
without approval from the Legislature.

Liliʻuokalani's Constitution …

Lili'uokalani
In 1891, Kalākaua died and his sister
Liliʻuokalani assumed the throne. She
came to power during an economic crisis
precipitated in part by the McKinley
Tariff. By rescinding the Reciprocity
Treaty of 1875, the new tariff eliminated
the previous advantage Hawaiian
exporters enjoyed in trade to U.S.
markets. Many Hawaiian businesses and
citizens were feeling the pressures of the
loss of revenue, so Liliʻuokalani proposed
a lottery and opium licensing to bring in
additional revenue for the government.
Her ministers and closest friends tried to
dissuade her from pursuing the bills, and
these controversial proposals were used
against her in the looming constitutional
crisis.

Liliʻuokalani wanted to restore power to

the monarch by abrogating the 1887
Constitution. The queen launched a
campaign resulting in a petition to
proclaim a new Constitution. Many
citizens and residents who in 1887 had
forced Kalākaua to sign the "Bayonet
Constitution" became alarmed when
three of her recently appointed cabinet
members informed them that the queen
was planning to unilaterally proclaim her
new Constitution.[33] Some cabinet
ministers were reported to have feared
for their safety after upsetting the queen
by not supporting her plans.[34]

Overthrow …

USS Boston's landing force on duty at the Arlington

Hotel, Honolulu, at the time of the overthrow,
January 1893[35]

In 1893, local businessmen and

politicians, composed of six non-native
Hawaiian Kingdom subjects, five
American nationals, one British national,
and one German national,[36] all of whom
were living and doing business in Hawaii,
overthrew the queen, her cabinet and her
marshal, and took over the government
of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Historians suggest that businessmen

were in favor of overthrow and
annexation to the U.S. in order to benefit
from more favorable trade conditions
with its main export market.[37][38][39][40]
The McKinley Tariff of 1890 eliminated
the previously highly favorable trade
terms for Hawaii's sugar exports, a main
component of the economy.
United States Government Minister John
L. Stevens summoned a company of
uniformed U.S. Marines from the
USS Boston and two companies of U.S.
sailors to land on the Kingdom and take
up positions at the U.S. Legation,
Consulate, and Arion Hall on the
afternoon of January 16, 1893. This
deployment was at the request of the
Committee of Safety, which claimed an
"imminent threat to American lives and
property." Stevens was accused of
ordering the landing on his own authority
and inappropriately using his discretion.
Historian William Russ concluded that
"the injunction to prevent fighting of any
kind made it impossible for the
monarchy to protect itself."[41]:350

1895 rebellion …

On July 17, 1893, Sanford B. Dole and his

committee took control of the
government and declared itself the
Provisional Government of Hawaii "to
rule until annexation by the United
States" and lobbied the United States for
it.[41]:90 Dole was president of both the
Provisional Government and the later
Republic of Hawaiʻi. During this time,
members of the former government
lobbied in Washington D.C. for the United
States to restore the Hawaiian Kingdom.
President Grover Cleveland considered
the overthrow to have been an illegal act
of war; he refused to consider annexation
of the islands and initially worked to
restore the Queen to her throne. Between
December 14, 1893 and January 11,
1894 a standoff occurred between the
United States, Japan, and the United
Kingdom against the Provisional
Government to pressure them into
returning the Queen known as the Black
Week. This incident drove home the
message that President Cleveland
wanted Queen Liliʻuokalani's return to
power, and so on July 4, 1894 the
Republic of Hawaii was requested to wait
for President Cleveland's second term to
finish. As lobbying continued in
Washington during 1894, the royalist
faction was secretly amassing an army
of 600 strong led by former Captain of
the Guard Samuel Nowlein. In 1895 they
attempted a counter-rebellion, and
Liliʻuokalani was arrested when a
weapons cache was found on the palace
grounds. She was tried by a military
tribunal of the Republic, convicted of
treason, and placed under permanent
house arrest in her own home.
On January 24, 1895 while under house
arrest Liliʻuokalani was forced to sign a
five-page declaration as "Liliuokalani
Dominis" in which she formally abdicated
the throne in return for the release and
commutation of the death sentences of
her jailed supporters, including Minister
Joseph Nawahi, Prince Kawananakoa,
Robert Wilcox, and Prince Jonah Kuhio:

Before ascending the throne,

for fourteen years, or since the
date of my proclamation as
heir apparent, my official title
had been simply Liliuokalani.
Thus I was proclaimed both
Princess Royal and Queen.
Thus it is recorded in the
archives of the government to
this day. The Provisional
Government nor any other had
enacted any change in my
name. All my official acts, as
well as my private letters, were
issued over the signature of
Liliuokalani. But when my
jailers required me to sign
("Liliuokalani Dominis,") I did
as they commanded. Their
motive in this as in other
actions was plainly to
humiliate me before my people
and before the world. I saw in
a moment, what they did not,
that, even were I not complying
under the most severe and
exacting duress, by this
demand they had overreached
themselves. There is not, and
never was, within the range of
my knowledge, any such a
person as Liliuokalani
Dominis.
 — Queen Liliuokalani,
"Hawaii's Story By Hawaii's
Queen"[42]

Territorial extent
The Kingdom came about in 1795 in the
aftermath of the Battle of Nuuanu with
the conquest of Maui, Molokai and Oahu.
Kamehameha I had conquered Maui and
Molokai five years prior in the Battle of
Kepaniwai, but they were abandoned
when Kamehameha's Big Island
possession was under threat and later
reconquered by the aged King Kahekili II
of Maui. His domain comprised six of the
major islands of the Hawaiian chain, and
with Kaumualii's peaceful surrender,
Kauai and Niihau were added to his
territories. Kamehameha II assumed de
facto control of Kauai and Niihau when
he kidnapped Kaumualii, ending his
vassal rule over the islands.

In 1822, Queen Kaʻahumanu and her

husband King Kaumualiʻi traveled with
Captain William Sumner to find Nihoa, as
her generation had only known the island
through songs and myths. Later, King
Kamehameha IV sailed there to officially
annex the island. Kamehameha IV and
Kalākaua would later claim other islands
in the Hawaiian Archipelago, including
Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Necker Island,
Laysan, Lisianski Island, Ocean (Kure)
Atoll, Midway Atoll, French Frigate
Shoals, Maro Reef and Gardner
Pinnacles, as well as Palmyra Atoll,
Johnston Atoll and Jarvis Island. Several
of these islands had previously been
claimed by the United States under the
Guano Islands Act of 1856. The Stewart
Islands, or Sikaiana Atoll, near the
Solomon Islands, were ceded to Hawaii
in 1856 by its residents, but the cession
was never formalized by the Hawaiian
government.
Royal estates

On August 12, 1898, the flag of the Hawaiian

Kingdom over ʻIolani Palace was lowered to raise
the United States flag to signify annexation.

Early in its history, the Hawaiian Kingdom

was governed from several locations
including coastal towns on the islands of
Hawaiʻi and Maui (Lāhainā). It wasn't
until the reign of Kamehameha III that a
capital was established in Honolulu on
the Island of Oʻahu.

By the time Kamehameha V was king, he

saw the need to build a royal palace
fitting of the Hawaiian Kingdom's new
found prosperity and standing with the
royals of other nations. He
commissioned the building of the palace
at Aliʻiōlani Hale. He died before it was
completed. Today, the palace houses the
Supreme Court of the State of Hawaiʻi.

David Kalākaua shared the dream of

Kamehameha V to build a palace, and
eagerly desired the trappings of
European royalty. He commissioned the
construction of ʻIolani Palace. In later
years, the palace would become his
sister's makeshift prison under guard by
the forces of the Republic of Hawaii, the
site of the official raising of the U.S. flag
during annexation, and then territorial
governor's and legislature's offices. It is
now a museum.

Palaces and royal grounds …

List of Hawaiian royal residences

Notable people
Kawaiahaʻo Church is known as the Westminster
Abbey of Hawaiʻi, the site of coronations, royal
christenings and funerals.

People of the Hawaiian Kingdom

See also
Cabinet of the Hawaiian Kingdom
Privy Council of the Hawaiian Kingdom
Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom
Hawaii–Tahiti relations
Hawaiian sovereignty movement
Committee of Safety (Hawaii)
Hawaiian Kingdom–United States
relations
Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom
Supreme Court of Hawaii
Republic of Hawaii
United States federal recognition of
Native Hawaiians
List of bilateral treaties signed by the
Hawaiian Kingdom
List of missionaries to Hawaii
Legal status of Hawaii
Bibliography
Liliuokalani (1898). Hawaii's Story by
Hawaii's Queen, Liliuokalani . Boston:
Lee and Shepard. ISBN 978-0-548-
22265-2. OCLC 2387226 – via
HathiTrust.

References
1. Kanahele, George S. (1995).
"Kamehameha's First Capital".
Waikiki, 100 B.C. to 1900 A.D.: An
Untold Story . University of Hawaii
Press. pp. 90–102. ISBN 978-0-8248-
1790-9.
2. FAP-30 (Honoapiilani Highway)
Realignment, Puamana to
Honokowai, Lahaina District, Maui
County: Environmental Impact
Statement . 1991. p. 14.
3. Trudy Ring; Noelle Watson; Paul
Schellinger (November 5, 2013). The
Americas: International Dictionary of
Historic Places . Routledge. p. 315.
ISBN 978-1-134-25930-4.
4. Patrick Vinton Kirch; Thérèse I.
Babineau (1996). Legacy of the
landscape: an illustrated guide to
Hawaiian archaeological sites .
 University of Hawai ̀i Press. p. 63.
ISBN 978-0-8248-1816-6.
5. Patricia Schultz (2007). 1,000 Places
to See in the USA and Canada Before
You Die . Workman Pub. p. 932.
ISBN 978-0-7611-4738-1.
6. Bryan Fryklund (January 4, 2011).
Hawaii: The Big Island . Hunter
Publishing, Inc. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-
58843-637-5.
7. Benjamin F. Shearer (2004). The
Uniting States: Alabama to
Kentucky . Greenwood Publishing
Group. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-313-
33105-3.
 8. Roman Adrian Cybriwsky (May 23,
2013). Capital Cities around the
World: An Encyclopedia of
Geography, History, and Culture: An
Encyclopedia of Geography, History,
and Culture . ABC-CLIO. p. 352.
ISBN 978-1-61069-248-9.
9. Engineering Magazine . Engineering
Magazine Company. 1892. p. 286.
10. Kuykendall, Ralph Simpson (1965)
[1938]. The Hawaiian Kingdom
1778–1854, Foundation and
Transformation . 1. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press. p. 51.
ISBN 0-87022-431-X.
11. Schulz, Joy (2017). Hawaiian by
Birth: Missionary Children, Bicultural
Identity, and U.S. Colonialism in the
Pacific. University of Nebraska Press.
pp. 1–238. ISBN 0803285892.
12. George Hu'eu Kanahele (January 1,
1993). K_ Kanaka, Stand Tall: A
Search for Hawaiian Values .
University of Hawaii Press. p. 399.
ISBN 978-0-8248-1500-4.
13. E.S. Craighill Handy; Davis
(December 21, 2012). Ancient
Hawaiian Civilization: A Series of
Lectures Delivered at THE
KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS . Tuttle
 Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-4629-
0438-9.
14. Frederick B. Wichman (January
2003). N_ Pua Aliì O Kauaì: Ruling
Chiefs of Kauaì . University of Hawaii
Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2638-3.
15. Lawrence, Mary S. (1912). Old Time
Hawaiians and Their Works . Gin and
Company. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-146-
32462-5.
16. Tom Dye; Eric Komori (1992). Pre-
censal Population History of Hawai'i
(PDF). New Zealand Journal of
Archaeology 14. NA. p. 3.
17. Ronald T. Takaki (1984). Pau Hana:
Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii,
1835–1920 . p. 22.
18. Harold W. Bradley, The American
frontier in Hawaii: the pioneers,
1789–1843 (Stanford university
press, 1942).
19. Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom:
Hawaii's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings
and America's First Imperial
Adventure (2012).
20. Edward D. Beechert (1985). Working
in Hawaii: A Labor History .
University of Hawaii Press. p. 146.
ISBN 978-0-8248-0890-7.
21. "Hawaiian Territory" . Hawaiian
Kingdom. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
22. "Kamehameha III issues the Edict of
Toleration, June 17, 1839 -- Tiki
Central" . Tiki Central.
23. "The US Navy and Hawaii-A Historical
Summary" .
24. James F. B. Marshall (1883). "An
unpublished chapter of Hawaiian
History" . Harper's magazine. 67.
pp. 511–520.
25. "Lā Kūʻokoʻa: Events Leading to
Independence Day, November 28,
1843" . The Polynesian. XXI (3).
 November 2000. Retrieved
February 22, 2010.
26. "503-517" .
27. David Keanu Sai (November 28,
2006). "Hawaiian Independence
Day" . Hawaiian Kingdom
Independence web site. Retrieved
February 22, 2010.
28. "Daily Alta California 18 March 1891
— California Digital Newspaper
Collection" . cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved
July 30, 2019.
29. Humanities, National Endowment for
the (March 31, 1891). "The Hawaiian
gazette. (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii])
 1865-1918, March 31, 1891, Image
2" . p. 2. ISSN 2157-1392 . Retrieved
July 30, 2019.
30. "Nuhou 3 February 1874 — Papakilo
Database" .
www.papakilodatabase.com.
Retrieved July 30, 2019.
31. Humanities, National Endowment for
the (March 24, 1891). "The Hawaiian
gazette. (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii])
1865-1918, March 24, 1891, Image
5" . p. 4. ISSN 2157-1392 . Retrieved
July 30, 2019.
32. "Proposed 1893 Constitution of the
Hawaiian Kingdom" , Wikipedia, July
 11, 2019, retrieved July 30, 2019
33. Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen,
Appendix A "The three ministers left
Mr. Parker to try to dissuade me from
my purpose; and in the meantime
they all (Peterson, Cornwell, and
Colburn) went to the government
building to inform Thurston and his
part of the stand I took."
34. Morgan Report, p804-805 "Every one
knows how quickly Colburn and
Peterson, when they could escape
from the palace, called for help from
Thurston and others, and how afraid
 Colburn was to go back to the
palace."
35. "U.S. Navy History site" .
36. "Blount Report – Page 588" .
37. Kinzer, Stephen. (2006). Overthrow:
America's Century of Regime Change
from Hawaii to Iraq.
38. Stevens, Sylvester K. (1968)
American Expansion in Hawaii,
1842–1898. New York: Russell &
Russell. (p. 228)
39. Dougherty, Michael. (1992). To Steal
a Kingdom: Probing Hawaiian
History. (p. 167-168)
40. La Croix, Sumner and Christopher
Grandy. (March 1997). "The Political
Instability of Reciprocal Trade and
the Overthrow of the Hawaiian
Kingdom" in The Journal of
Economic History 57:161–189.
41. Russ, William Adam (1992) [1959].
The Hawaiian Revolution (1893–94) .
Susquehanna University Press.
ISBN 978-0-945636-43-4.
42. Liliuokalani 1898, p. 275.

Further reading
Beechert, Edward D. Working in Hawaii:
A Labor History. University of Hawaii
Press, 1985.
Bradley, Harold W. The American
Frontier in Hawaii: The Pioneers, 1789–
1843. Stanford, CA: Stanford University
Press, 1942.
Daws, Gavan (1968). Shoal of Time: A
History of the Hawaiian Islands .
University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-
8248-0324-8.
Greenlee, John Wyatt. "Eight Islands on
Four Maps: The Cartographic
Renegotiation of Hawai'i, 1876-1959."
Cartographica 50, 2 (2015), 119-140.
online
Haley, James L. Captive Paradise: A
History of Hawaii (St. Martin's Press,
2014).
Kuykendall, Ralph Simpson, and Arthur
Grove Day. Hawaii: A History, from
Polynesian Kingdom to American State.
New York: Prentice Hall, 1961.
Kuykendall, Ralph Simpson (1965)
[1938]. Hawaiian Kingdom 1778–
1854, foundation and
transformation . Volume 1.
University of Hawaii Press.
ISBN 0-87022-431-X.
Kuykendall, Ralph Simpson
(1953). Hawaiian Kingdom 1854–
 1874, twenty critical years .
Volume 2. University of Hawaii
Press. ISBN 978-0-87022-432-4.
Kuykendall, Ralph Simpson
(1967). Hawaiian Kingdom 1874–
1893, the Kalakaua Dynasty .
Volume 3. University of Hawaii
Press. ISBN 978-0-87022-433-1.
Siler, Julia Flynn. Lost Kingdom:
Hawaii's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings
and America's First Imperial Adventure
(2012).
Silva, Noenoe K. The Power of the
Steel-Tipped Pen: Reconstructing Native
Hawaiian Intellectual History. Durham,
NC: University of North Carolina Press,
2017.
Sumida, Stephen H. And the View from
the Shore: Literary Traditions of Hawai'i.
Seattle: University of Washington
Press, 2015.
Tregaskis, Richard. The warrior king:
Hawaii's Kamehameha the Great
(1973).
Wilson, Rob. "Exporting Christian
Transcendentalism, Importing
Hawaiian Sugar: The Trans-
Americanization of Hawai'i." American
Literature 72#.3 (2000): 521-552.
online
 Wyndette, Olive. Islands of Destiny: A
History of Hawaii (1968).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to Kingdom of Hawaii.

Christopher Buyers. "The

Kamehameha Dynasty Genealogy" .
Royal Ark web site. Retrieved
February 16, 2010.
Henry Soszynski. "Index to Hawaiian
Kingdom Genealogy" . web page on
"Rootsweb". Retrieved February 16,
2010.
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