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The Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oʻahu, Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kauaʻi by the chiefdom of Hawaiʻi (or the "Big Island") into one unified government.
FormationThrough swift and bloody battles, led by a warrior chief later immortalized as Kamehameha the Great, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was established with the help of such British sailors as John Young and Alexander Adams and western weapons. Although successful in attacking both Oʻahu and Maui, he failed to secure a victory in Kauaʻi, his effort hampered by a storm. Eventually, Kauaʻi's chief swore allegiance to Kamehameha's rule. The unification ended the feudal society of the Hawaiian islands transforming it into a "modern", independent constitutional monarchy crafted in the tradition of European empires. GovernmentImage:Iolani Palace (1328).JPG ʻIolani Palace, one of many royal palaces in Hawaiʻi, was built by Kalākaua who shared Kamehameha V's vision of constructing a palace to rival the residences of European monarchs
The 1840 Constitution created a bicameral parliament in charge of legislation. The two houses of the legislature were the House of Representatives (directly elected by popular vote) and the House of Nobles (appointed by the monarch with the advice of the Cabinet). The same constitution created a judiciary, charged with overseeing the courts and interpretation of laws. The Supreme Court was led by the Chief Justice, appointed by the monarch with the advice of the Cabinet. The islands of Hawaiʻi were divided into smaller administrative divisions: Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Maui, and Hawaiʻi. Kauaʻi region included Niʻihau, while Maui region included Kahoʻolawe, Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi. Each administrative region was governed by a governor appointed by the monarch.
Kamehameha DynastyFrom 1810 to 1893, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was ruled by two major dynastic families: the Kamehameha Dynasty and the Kalākaua Dynasty. Five members of the Kamehameha family would lead the government as its king. Two of them, Liholiho (Kamehameha II) and Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III), were direct sons of Kamehameha the Great himself. For a period between Liholiho and Kauikeaouli's reigns, the primary wife of Kamehameha the Great, Queen Kaʻahumanu, ruled as Queen Regent and Kuhina Nui, or Prime Minister. Dynastic rule by the Kamehameha family tragically ended in 1872 with the death of Lot (Kamehameha V). Upon his deathbed, he summoned Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop to declare his intentions of making her heir to the throne. She was the last direct Kamehameha family member surviving. She refused the crown and throne in favor of a private life with her husband, Charles Reed Bishop. Lot died before naming an alternative heir. The Paulet Affair (1843)On Monday, the 13th February 1843, Lord George Paulet, of HMS Carysfort, attempted to annex the islands for alleged insults and malpractices against British subjects.[1] Kamehameha III surrendered to Paulet on February 25, writing:
Dr. Gerrit P. Judd, a missionary who had become the Minister of Finance for the Kingdom of Hawaii, secretly arranged for General J.F.B. Marshall to be the King's envoy to the United States, France and Britain, to protest Paulet's actions.[3] Marshall was able to secretly convey the Kingdom's complaint to the Vice Consul of Britain in Tepec, posing as a commercial agent of Ladd & Co., a company with friendly relations with the Kingdom. Marshall's complaint was forwarded to Rear Admiral Thomas, Paulet's commanding officer, who arrived at Honolulu harbor on July 26, 1843 on H.B.M.S. Dublin from Valparaiso, Chile. Admiral Thomas apologized to Kamehameha III for Paulet's actions, and restored Hawaiian sovereignty on the 31st of July, 1843. On the 28th of November, 1843, a joint declaration by the governments of France and England declared they would "consider the Sandwich Islands as an independent state, and never to take possession, neither directly nor under the title of protectorate, nor under any other form, of any part of the territory of which they are composed." [4] The United States notably declined to join with France and England in this statement. Elected monarchyThe refusal of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop to take the crown and throne as Queen of Hawaiʻi forced the legislature of the Kingdom to declare an election to fill the royal vacancy. From 1872 to 1873, several distant relatives of the Kamehameha line were nominated. In a ceremonial popular vote, and a unanimous legislative vote, William C. Lunalilo (1873-1874) became Hawaiʻi's first of two elected monarchs. Kalākaua DynastyImage:Kaiulani.jpg Princess Kaʻiulani, a member of the Kalākaua Dynasty, was in line to become Queen of Hawaiʻi before the overthrow of the monarchy. Like his predecessor, Lunalilo failed to name an heir to the throne. He died unexpectedly after less than a year as King of Hawaiʻi. Once again, the legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was forced to declare an election to fill the royal vacancy. Queen Emma, widow of Kamehameha IV, was nominated along with David Kalākaua. The 1874 election was opined to be one of the nastiest political campaign seasons in Hawaiʻi history. Both candidates resorted to mudslinging and rumors. David Kalākaua was elected the second elected King of Hawaiʻi, but without the same ceremonial popular vote Lunalilo had. The choice of the legislature was so controversial following his ascension to the throne that U.S. troops were called upon to suppress rioting that had broken out in protest of his win over Emma. Hoping to avoid uncertainty in the monarchy's future, Kalākaua proclaimed several heirs to the throne and defined a royal line of succession. His sister Liliʻuokalani would succeed the throne upon Kalākaua's death. It was indicated that Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani would follow. If she could not produce an heir by birth, Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole would rule after her. "Bayonet" Constitution of 1887Image:Kingdavidkalakaua.jpg King David Kalākaua In 1887, a constitution was drafted by Lorrin A. Thurston, Minister of Interior under King David Kalākaua. The constitution was proclaimed by the king after a mass meeting of 3,000 residents, including an armed militia, demanded he either sign it or be deposed. The document created a constitutional monarchy like Great Britain, stripping the King of most of his personal authority, empowering the Legislature, and establishing cabinet government. It has since become widely known as the "Bayonet Constitution", a nickname coined by its opponents 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 what the previous Constitution of 1864 had required. One result was to deny voting rights to poor native Hawaiians and Europeans who previously could vote. It guaranteed a voting monopoly by native Hawaiians and Europeans, by denying voting rights to Asians who comprised a large proportion of the population (A few Japanese and some Chinese had previously become naturalized as subjects of the Kingdom and now lost voting rights they had previously enjoyed.) Americans and other Europeans in Hawaiʻi were also given full voting rights without the need for Hawaiian citizenship. 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. Overthrow of the Hawaiian MonarchyImage:Liliuokalani2.jpg Queen Liliʻuokalani Queen Liliʻuokalani was selected as the successor to King Kalākaua by Kalākaua upon his election in 1874. During her brother's reign the monarchy was left impotent by the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii. In response to numerous royal corruption scandals, David Kalākaua was ordered under threat of force to sign the constitution stripping the monarchy of much of its power in favor of an administration controlled by the Legislature. Some claim this constitution was the opening salvo to the end of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Liliʻuokalani's ConstitutionIn 1891, Kalākaua died and his sister Liliʻuokalani assumed the throne. She came into power in the middle of an economic crisis. The McKinley Act had crippled the Hawaiian sugar industry by reducing duties on imports from other countries, eliminating the previous Hawaiian advantage due to the Reciprocity Treaty of 1874. Many Hawaiian citizens were feeling the pressures of the loss of revenue. Liliʻuokalani proposed a lottery system and opium licensing to raise money for her government. Her ministers, and even her closest friends, were sorely disappointed at the thought and tried to stop her from pursuing the bills. Her support of the lottery and opium bills were used against her in the looming constitutional crisis. Liliʻuokalani's chief desire was to restore power to the monarch by abrogating the 1887 Constitution, under which she came to power after her brother's death. The queen launched a campaign resulting in a petition from some Hawaiian subjects to proclaim a new Constitution. When she informed her cabinet of her plans, they refused to support her. Those citizens and residents who in 1887 had forced Kalākaua to sign the "Bayonet Constitution" became alarmed that the queen was planning to unilaterally proclaim her new Constitution. They were informed of the queen's plans by her cabinet, who feared for their safety after upsetting the queen by not supporting her plans. The OverthrowImage:Ustroopshawaiirevolution.jpg Fine screen halftone reproduction of a photograph of the ship's landing force on duty at the Arlington Hotel, Honolulu, at the time of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, January 1893. Lieutenant Lucien Young, USN, commanded the detachment, and is presumably the officer at right.[5] In 1893, local businessmen and politicians (primarily of American and European ancestry, including native-born Hawaiian subjects of foreign descent) organized in response to an attempt by Liliʻuokalani to abrogate the 1887 constitution, and took over the government of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. About 1,500 armed local people under the leadership of the Committee of Safety, a 13 member council, organized the Honolulu Rifles to depose Queen Liliʻuokalani. They quickly took over government buildings, disarmed the Royal Guard, and declared a Provisional Government. As these events were unfolding, American citizens living in Honolulu expressed concern for their safety and property. About 150 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Boston in Honolulu Harbor came ashore with rifles and gatling guns to maintain order in the streets and to guard American property. As United States Marines marched past ʻIolani Palace on their way to their peacekeeping stations, they dipped their U.S. flag while passing by, as a sign of respect to the Queen. The sailors and Marines never entered the Palace grounds, never fired a shot, and did not participate in the takeover of any buildings. Later, after a weapons cache was found on the palace grounds after an attempted rebellion in 1895, Queen Liliʻuokalani was placed under arrest, tried by a military tribunal of the Republic of Hawaiʻi, convicted of misprision of treason and then imprisoned in her own home. Sanford B. Dole and his committee declared itself the Provisional Government of the Kingdom of Hawaii on July 17, 1893, removing only the Queen, her cabinet, and her marshal from office. On July 4, 1894 the Republic of Hawaiʻi was proclaimed. Dole was president of both governments. As a republic, it was the intention of the government to campaign for annexation with the United States of America. The rationale behind annextion included a strong economic component - Hawaiian goods and services exported to the mainland would not be subject to American tariffs, and would benefit from domestic bounties, if Hawaii was part of the United States. This was especially important to the Hawaiian economy after the McKinley Act reduced the effectiveness of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1874 by lowering tariffs on all foreign sugar, and eliminating Hawaii's previous advantage. The Republic of Hawaii succeeded in its goal when in 1898, Congress approved a joint resolution of annexation creating the U.S. Territory of Hawaiʻi. This followed the precedent of Texas which was also annexed by a joint resolution of Congress. Dole was appointed to be the first governor of the Territory of Hawaii. The overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the subsequent annexation of Hawaiʻi has recently been cited as the first major instance of American imperialism.[6] Royal estatesEarly in its history, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi 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. Image:Loweringhawaiianflag.jpg On August 12, 1898, the flag of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi over ʻIolani Palace was lowered to raise the United States flag to signify annexation. By the time Kamehameha V was king, he saw the need to build a royal palace fitting of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi'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 from which he and his successor would govern. In later years, the palace would become his sister's makeshift prison under guard by the U.S. Armed Forces, the site of the official raising of the U.S. flag during annexation, and then the site of the territorial governor's and legislature's offices. Palaces
Royal groundsOther notable Hawaiian royalsImage:Kawaiahao.jpg Kawaiahaʻo Church is known as the Westminster Abbey of Hawaiʻi, the site of coronations, royal christenings and funerals. It sits on Punchbowl Street near ʻIolani Palace and Aliʻiōlani Hale. King William C. Lunalilo's mausoleum is in its courtyard. Kamehameha Dynasty
Kalākaua Dynasty
Other notable royal subjectsImage:Aliiolanihale2003.jpg Aliʻiōlani Hale was originally designed as a royal palace for Kamehameha V. The building was not completed until after Kamehameha V died, and it was dedicated by King Kalākaua as a government office building instead. Today the building is the site of the Kamehameha statue and the State of Hawaiʻi Supreme Court. Authors and artists
Civil leaders
Religious leaders
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