Colonizing Hawai'i/Part 8 The Territory and the Big Five

 

Admission Day Ceremony of the Territory of Hawaii held on June 14, 1900. Author Unknown. Bernice P. Bishop Museum. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hawaii_Territory_Admission_Day_Ceremonies.jpg

Most of the wealthiest sugar planters were not dedicated annexationists, primarily because they feared being joined with the United States would put an end to importing Asian contract laborers, a cost saving measure that was necessary to make the sugar industry as profitable as it was. Nor were most of them supportive of enfranchising Asian workers or Native Hawaiians. The most militant annexationists tended to be lawyers and businessmen with some investments in various sugar plantations. The wealthier planters could afford to sit on the fence between the Hawaiian monarchy and the Annexationists.

The largest corporations which came to be known as the Big Five, were C. Brewer, Castle & Cooke, Alexander and Baldwin, Theo. Davies & Co., and Hackfeld & Co., which later became American Factors. These companies owned multiple plantations, as well as the companies that supplied them, the refineries and factories that processed and sold the sugar for them, as well as the banks that made it all possible.

They imported indentured servants and other coerced laborers in large groups by contract, first with Chinese, then Japanese and Portuguese, and then Filipino workers. Multiple anti-Asian laws of both Hawaiian and American origin prevented many of these people from naturalizing and earning citizenship. It would take these groups many decades to effectively organize for political rights.


The Big Five wanted to be wealthy and powerful enough to control or strongly influence politics, without being responsible for politicking. They wanted to provide jobs that made the majority of workers dependent on them without the responsibility of adhering to the prevailing labor laws of the day in their home countries. They poured money into schools for non-Whites but also supported stipulations that banned Hawaiian language and culture, and required a particular American ideology that institutionalized White supremacy and classism. 

The grassroots political organizations created by Native Hawaiians, the Hui Kālai ‘āina, and the Hui Aloha ‘Āina both vigorously protested American annexation. They both delivered petitions signed by a majority of the Native population. Queen Lili’uokalani also submitted a formal protest to the annexation and appropriation of her crown lands. Regardless of their clearly communicated legitimate claims or their allies in the US and around the globe, the McKinley administration pushed annexation through in the midst of the Spanish/American War. The majority of Americans and Europeans saw the Native Hawaiians, and Polynesians generally, the same way they saw all the indigenous peoples of the Americas, as “vanishing races” whose populations were rapidly decreasing and could be disregarded politically and socially. This prevalent racist worldview, combined with the strategic benefit of the Hawaiian islands’ location in the Pacific for a fledgeling empire made American politicians confident in seizing control of the kingdom along with the Philippines and other islands.

Seal of the Territory of Hawaii. Translation:

“The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness.”

Following the formal annexation, all the laws of the illegally established Republic of Hawaii were left in place until Congress could establish a territorial government for the islands. Dole and Thurston were hard at work advocating for terms that would retain the privileged position of wealthy Whites and keep Asian laborers and Native Hawaiians politically sidelined. Robert Wilcox played a pivotal role in lobbying Congress to remove property requirements from voting rights, the main tactic that had kept Native Hawaiians from voting in their own country. He also worked to establish an Independent Home Rule Party that would challenge White rule in the legislature. Hawaiian language newspapers were already numerous, but they rapidly increased in number as a tactic for preserving Hawaiian language, culture, history and bolstering an indigenous nationalism in resistance to American hegemony. As a territory, Hawaii elected a non-voting delegate to the US Congress to represent them. Robert Wilcox was among the first to be elected to this post. 




Sources:

Hawai’i Plantation Museum

Hawai’i’s Territorial Period in Context- University of Hawai’i

History of Labor in Hawai’i- University of Hawai’i

Kihei Soli Niheu plays Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox, Jan. 1993- Hawaiian Voice

Katrina-Ann, R. “The Hawaiian Language Revitalization Movement.” In A Nation Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Land, and Sovereignty, edited by Goodyear-Kaopua, Noelani, Ikaika Hussey, and Erin Kahunawaika’ala Wright, 78-85. Duke University Press, 2024. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=m9LZBAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA26&dq=the+hawaiian+language+revitalization+movement+katrina-ann+r.&ots=yQzWC3dTuL&sig=XRtAkbjsBf99WICpEYyEP6eO8cw.

Silva, Noenoe K. “I Kū Mau Mau: How Kānaka Maoli Tried to Sustain National Identity within the United States Political System.” American Studies 45, no. 3 (2004): 9–31.

———. “Joseph Moku’ōhai Poepoe.” In The Power of the Steel-Tipped Pen: Reconstructing Native Hawaiian Intellectual History. 105-149. Duke University Press, 2017. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=L8LADgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT8&dq=Reconstructing+Native+Hawaiian+Intellectual+history:+joseph+mokuohai+poepoe&ots=1_dfQm4DtZ&sig=IVwOiUOJpgOMRcxTqDVOjMpN6WA.

Whitehead, John S. “Western Progressives, Old South Planters, or Colonial Oppressors: The Enigma of Hawaii’s ‘Big Five,’ 1898–1940.” Western Historical Quarterly 30, no. 3 (1999): 295–326.

Colonizing Hawai'i/Part 7- From Republic to Annexation

 

Temporarily thwarted in their bid for US annexation, the Provisional Government called a constitutional convention in June of 1894. 19 of its 37 delegates were selected by Sanford B. Dole, and the remaining 18 were elected. The constitution that was enacted, written primarily by Dole and Lorrin Thurston, established a president as the head of government, and converted the house of Nobles to a Hawaiian Senate, to more closely resemble the US government.



Voting rights were limited to male citizens of the Republic. Citizens naturalized before 1893 were excluded unless they were “a native of a country having, or have had, treaty relations with Hawaii.” This was designed specifically to exclude Chinese and Japanese citizens. Certain non-citizens could vote, if they received “certificates of service” or “letters of denization” from the Hawaiian government, provided they took an oath to support the constitution and republic, and to not aid any attempts to restore the monarchy. The vast majority of Native Hawaiians refused to take such an oath, leaving them ineligible to participate in elections or the government of their homeland.’



Following the forced adoption of the Bayonet Constitution in 1887, Native Hawaiian leaders formed the Hui Kālai ‘āina, roughly translated as “Hawaiian Political Association.” This group worked to organize petition drives to demand a new constitution. They remained active after the coup in petitioning the US to restore Queen Lili’uokalani. Another organization was formed after the overthrow by former Native Hawaiian legislators called the Hui Aloha ‘Āina, roughly translated to the “Patriotic league.” There were initially separate organizations for men and women. These groups were able to deliver petitions arguing against annexation and restoration of the monarchy with signatures of nearly all the 40,000 Native Hawaiians in the Republic. 



Queen Lili’uokalani traveled to Washington DC 1897 to petition the Congress against annexation and to restore her monarchy. During this time she wrote “Hawai’i’s story by Hawai’i’s Queen.” Agents of the Republic were also in the capital lobbying William McKinley’s administration for annexation. As in 1894, both parties were unsuccessful in their efforts, and so the Republic endured. However events in 1898 would tip the scales in the annexationists’ favor.

President William McKinley and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, circa 1900. Library of Congress

Spain had colonized islands in the Caribbean and Pacific for centuries. The country was wracked by internal and colonial revolutions throughout the 19th century. In Cuba, one in a long line of revolts had reached a critical mass in the 1890s. Subduing it required an economically suffering Spain to send more troops it could ill afford and use more brutal tactics than in the past. Notoriously, it sought to separate the general population of Cubans from the insurgents by removing them from their villages to several concentration camps. 



These tactics were seized on by Americans eager to keep expanding US territory throughout the Western Hemisphere. Pro-war newspapers waged a boisterous campaign depicting Spain as an imperialist tyrant and demanding military intervention. The prospect was not popular with the general public or enough mainstream politicians to affect any official actions. William McKinley’s administration sought to secure Spanish withdrawal through diplomatic measures. On February 15th, 1898 a major explosion occurred on the USS Maine, a warship that had been sent to Havana Harbor in preparation to protect any American property should it be endangered during the fighting between the Cubans and Spanish. The ship sank soon after, killing over 250 crewmen. Multiple investigations followed from both Spanish and American governments. Most found that the explosion was the result of an accident in the coal bunker or magazines for its cannon, but some American investigators claimed it was caused by a Spanish torpedo or mine. The verdicts remain a matter of debate to this day. 



The pro-war press and politicians used the incident to renew their cause, coining the rallying cry, “Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!” The incident did not immediately move the administration to declare war, but it provided enough pressure to sway public opinion and persuade a sufficient number of politicians. On April 20, McKinely signed a joint resolution drafted by Congress supporting Cuban independence and authorizing a naval blockade of Cuba. Spain responded by declaring war on the US. The US war effort included sending naval forces to all of Spain’s colonies, including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The Republic of Hawaii officially adopted a neutral stance in the conflict, but in reality made its harbors available for crucial feuling and resupply of the navy. Pro-annexationists in Hawai’i and the US used this to argue for the strategic necessity of US control of the islands. Spanish resistance was minimal and US casualties low, stoking the war fever throughout the country. 



In July the Newlands Resolution accomplished the annexation of Hawai’i and the end of the war saw the US gain possession of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and Guantanamo Bay on the edge of Cuba. By 1900 Congress had passed the Organic Act, making Hawai’i an official US territory. 





Sources:

Queen Lili’uokalani- National Parks Service

Spanish American War in Hawai’i- Aloha Authentic

Joint Resolution to Provide for Annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States (1898)- National Archives 

25% of Hawaii's Land (Crown Lands) Taken Illegally (Who Benefited?) with Donovan Preza M.A.- Hawaiian Kingdom Academia

Colonizing Hawai'i/Part 6- The 1893 Coup, Lili'uokalani Overthrown

 
 

Robert Wilcox. 1900. Unknown author. Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_William_Wilcox_1900.jpg

The Bayonet Constitution all but nullified the political power of the Hawaiian monarchy, and assured White control of the legislature by disenfranchising Chinese and Japanese citizens and residents of the kingdom. 



In July of 1889 Robert Wilcox, a young teacher and representative from Maui, led a revolt in an attempt to force King Kalākaua to sign yet another constitution that would reverse the effects of Bayonet. Some believe he also intended to force the king to abdicate the throne in favor of his heir and sister Lili’uokalani. After a pitched battle with the Honolulu Rifles, Wilcox and his forces surrendered. He was charged with treason and tried, but a Hawaiian jury declined to convict him, indicating the widespread opposition to the Reform Party faction that had instituted the Bayonet Constitution. Wilcox returned to the legislature and worked to build political opposition.



In 1890 the United States passed the McKinley Tariff, which removed the tariffs on imported luxury goods such as sugar. This eliminated the economic advantage to sugar planters the Reciprocity Treaty had created. Hawai’i’s sugar barons grew increasingly worried about their profits and political power after this development. 

Queen Lili’uokalani. Stanislaw Julian Ostrorog. 1887. Public Domain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Liliuokalani_in_London_(PPWD-16-4.014).jpg

In January of 1891, King Kalākaua died while visiting San Francisco. Queen Lili’uokalani ascended to the throne. The legislature that assembled soon after was sharply divided among political factions and repeatedly voted to remove the Queen’s cabinet, a power created by the Bayonet Constitution. Meanwhile, the Queen was petitioned relentlessly by Hawiians to draft a new constitution that would curtail the power of the Reform Party and plantation owners. Once it became known to them that the Queen was in fact drafting such a document, the Hawaiian League devised a plot to depose the Queen, abolish the monarchy, and secure annexation of the islands by the United States. Largely led by Lorrin Thurston and Sanford Dole, they formed the Committee of Safety, officially chaired by Henry E. Cooper.




On January 17, 1893 a Hawaiian policeman named Leialoha was shot while investigating a wagon of weapons intended for the Committee of Safety. The Honolulu Rifles and other armed forces were mobilized to converge on ‘Iolani Palace and other key locations. John L. Stevens, the US minister to Hawai’i, authorized Captain Wiltse of the USS Boston to land marines and sailors to “secure American property.” The Committee demanded that Queen Lili'uokalani relinquish her throne and remain under house arrest. Seeing no alternative to widespread violence that would likely end in defeat, the Queen surrendered. In her written statement she formally protested all acts of the Committee of Safety and yielded to the “superior force of the United States of America.”




The Hawaiian League assembled a commission to travel to Washington DC to secure US annexation. As with the coup, this was facilitated by Minister Stevens. Lorrin Thurston headed the commission and made sure to leave before the Queen’s allies in order to head off their petitions. In the meantime, the League assembled a provisional government to manage the kingdom in the interim. 




President Harrison’s secretary of state helped the League’s commission draft an annexation treaty and submitted it to the US Senate. Perhaps because of the unusual circumstances, or because the Harrison administration was on its way out, the Senate declined to ratify the treaty before an investigation of the events. Within his first week in office, Grover Cleveland sent agents to Hawai’i to investigate the coup, the role of the US military, and the sentiment of the general population regarding the prospect of American annexation. 

President Grover Cleveland. Unknown author. National Archives. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grover_Cleveland_-_NARA_-_518139_(cropped)_(2).jpg

It was not hard to ascertain that the Provisional Government had little support from the people, and had improperly used the US military to bolster the illegal overthrow of a friendly nation. The Cleveland administration issued a demand to the Provisional Government that they restore the Queen to her constitutional authority. Outraged, Sanford Dole replied that the Provisional Government did not recognize the president’s authority to interfere with their domestic affairs. He charged the Queen with heading a corrupt government and stated that his government was the rightful authority of the islands and would continue to advocate union with the United States.




President Cleveland’s position was that the Queen should be restored and the Committee of Safety should be granted amnesty for the coup, that political matters should essentially revert back to the status quo before the occupation of Honolulu by US forces. Citing the limits of his office, Cleveland referred the matter to the Congress. It was accompanied by his formal recommendation and the official investigative report of Congressman Blount that charged the Committee of Safety and Minister Stevens with illegally using US forces to aid the overthrow of Hawai’i’s government. Senator John T. Morgan conducted his own investigation into the coup. Despite his 809-page manifesto arguing for annexation, the Senate resolved the matter with the Turpie Resolution which instituted a policy against both annexation and restoration of the Queen.




Resolved to wait for a more friendly US administration to pursue formal annexation, the Hawaiian League established the Republic of Hawaii on July 4, 1894. In the meantime, more revolts by Native Hawaiians were in the works. Robert Wilcox led the Hawaiian Counterrevolution in January of 1895. It consisted of 3 battles over 4 days, ending in defeat for the Hawaiians. Wilcox was tried for treason before a military tribunal and sentenced to death, commuted to 35 years imprisonment. A cache of weapons were discovered and attributed to the Queen who was arrested on January 16 and charged with “misprision of (aiding) treason.” During this confinement Queen Lili’uokalani abdicated her throne in writing, stating that she did so only in exchange for the lives of her supporters who had been sentenced to death. She was found guilty by a military commission of the Republic of Hawaii and sentenced to 5 years of hard labor and a $5000 fine. It was commuted to house arrest in ‘Iolani Palace. 




Sources:

Kūkahekahe: The Overthrow of Queen Lili’uokalani- Kamehameha Schools

Queen Lili’uokalani- Crown of Hawai’i

Hawaiian Situation: The President’s message to Congress- Library of Congress



Kualapai, Lydia. “The Queen Writes Back: Lili’uokalani’s Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen.” Studies in American Indian Literatures 17, no. 2 (2005): 32–62.

Colonizing Hawai'i/Part 5- The Bayonet Constitution

 

Portrait of King Kalākaua. James J. Williams. Circa 1882. Public Domain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kingdavidkalakaua_dust.jpg

King David Kalākaua’s reign began in 1874 with a bitter election and accusations of corruption. His opponent Emma Rooke, the widow of Kamehameha IV, retained significant popular support among many indigenous Hawaiians. On the other end of the political spectrum, he was under intense pressure, like his predecessors, to facilitate the priorities of wealthy plantation owners whose ultimate goal was US annexation.



Most Hawaiians favored allying the kingdom closer to Britain, another monarchy. However, the US had long made it clear they saw the Hawaiian islands as crucial to US security and would not abide another European power taking possession of the kingdom. The large number of American plantation owners and businessmen working in the Hawaiian government helped bolster this claim. American and European businessmen had already accomplished the political goals of converting the kingdom’s land tenure system to one of private property and passing laws allowing immigrants to purchase land. 



The main plantation commodity on the islands was sugar. Hawaiian and American agents attempted to negotiate a reciprocity treaty in 1855 but Louisiana sugar planters blocked this threat to their profits. 7 years later Southern planters were at war with the United States and Hawaiian sugar saw a boom. After the war concluded these profits decreased and talks for a reciprocity treaty renewed. 



US generals visited the islands in 1872 to evaluate areas for military use, and found Pearl Harbor a prime location. Hawai’i’s government was initially willing to grant exclusive use of the harbor to the US in exchange for the ability to import sugar to the US free of tariffs, but public outrage forced the government to withdraw the offer.



After his election in 1874, King Kalākaua renewed efforts to secure a reciprocity treaty for Hawai’i’s sugar planters. The US settled for a clause that prevented the kingdom’s government from leasing territory to any foreign power for the life of the treaty. The act was signed in 1875. The subsequent boom in sugar production also dramatically affected the demographics of the kingdom as the planters imported Chinese and Japanese contract laborers in large numbers.



When the agreement came up for renewal in 1885, the US took a firmer position on demanding exclusive access to Pearl Harbor. The agreement had been a boon for the sugar producers, and by extension the royal family that taxed them, but most Hawaiians saw little benefit and many of the indigenous Hawaiians were still adamantly opposed to ceding Pearl Harbor to the Americans or any other foreign power. King Kalākaua resisted adding the clause guaranteeing US naval access to the harbor, heightening tensions between his administration and the planter class.



The treaty did not benefit the US economically, but Hawai’i’s sugar producers stood to lose substantial gains if it was not renewed, causing them to tighten their grip on the Hawaiian government. A group of American businessmen, many descended from missionary families, organized an anti-royalist, pro-US-annexation “Reform Party.” Many of these men were also part of a secret cabal known as the Hawaiian League that planned to hasten annexation by staging a coup.

Lorrin A. Thurston. Approx 1892. Author unknown. Public Domain.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lorrin_A._Thurston,_1892.jpg

Lorrin Thurston, the grandson of missionaries, took the lead in executing an insurrection. He commanded a 300-man militia called the Honolulu Rifles. They were almost exclusively White. On June 30, the Hawaiian League demanded that King Kalākaua dismiss his cabinet, headed by Walter M. Gibson, a White politician who opposed the goals of the Hawaiian League.



The next day the Honolulu Rifles took control of a large shipment of arms from an Australian ship, nearly lynched Gibson, exiling him to San Francisco at the last minute, and proceeded to join the members of the Hawaiian League as they informed the king that they would replace his cabinet with their own members, Thurston among them, and that they were drafting a new constitution that he would be signing into law. The king sought counsel from several American and British ministers not aligned with the League, but none were confident enough to oppose them and advised him to comply with their demands. This document was literally signed at gunpoint, earning it the name, the Bayonet Constitution. 



It removed most of the king’s authority by giving the legislature veto powers and stipulating that any official actions required the signature of at least 1 cabinet member. It also changed the voting rights of the kingdom by allowing male citizens and resident aliens of American, European, or Hawaiian descent to vote, provided they could pass a literacy test in a language of those races, and meet the property and income requirements. The literacy and property requirements were features of previous constitutions, but the racial language was used to disenfranchise Chinese and Japanese residents, most of whom were plantation laborers or formerly had been, and at the same time give the vote to Portuguese laborers largely controlled by members of the Reform Party. 



The Bayonet Constitution was never ratified by the Hawaiian Legislature, even after the snap election that brought in a largely Hawaiian League government. Later that summer, the king signed the renewal of the reciprocal agreement, with the clause that guaranteed the US exclusive use of Pearl Harbor for the length of the treaty. Kalākaua remained the head of state, but was sidelined politically. The government of the kingdom was taken over by the Hawaiian League, and the United States gained a valuable naval base in the Pacific region. Most indigenous Hawaiians had long suspected American planters and politicians planned on replacing their government and began organizing against it.


Sources: 

King David Kalākaua- wbur

The 1887 Bayonet Constitution: Beginning of the Insurgency- Hawaiian Kingdom blog

Lorrin A. Thurston- Encyclopedia Britannica

Robert William Wilcox- Crown of Hawai’i

La Croix, Sumner J., and Christopher Grandy. “The Political Instability of Reciprocal Trade and the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.” The Journal of Economic History 57, no. 1 (1997): 161–89.

Moblo, Pennie. “Leprosy, Politics, and the Rise of Hawaii’s Reform Party.” The Journal of Pacific History 34, no. 1 (June 1999): 75–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223349908572892.

Osorio, Jonathan Kamakawiwo’ole. “‘ What Kine Hawaiian Are You?’: A Mo’olelo about Nationhood, Race, History, and the Contemporary Sovereignty Movement in Hawai’i.” The Contemporary Pacific 13, no. 2 (2001): 359–79.

Colonizing Hawai'i/Part 4- The Great Māhele

 

A view of 'Iolani Palace in Honolulu, Hawaii. 2021. Gage Skidmore. Cc-by-sa-2.0

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iolani_Palace_(51872681413).jpg

The official Māhele took place in 1848 but the term is also used as a catch-all for a process that spanned 1845-55. The Board of Commissioners to Quiet Land Titles was created in 1845. It was made to facilitate and arbitrate land claims by private individuals, native and foreign, that would ensue from the coming land reforms. Between January and March of 1848 the Māhele proper occurred as the King reached agreements with 240 ali’i and konohiki (Hawaiian chiefs) concerning their lands, after which they were to submit their claims to the Board.



The Hawaiian royal family and other indigenous elites throughout the islands had more access to the resources necessary to secure their land claims. Ordinary Hawaiians often did not. Language barriers, as well as the cost of surveyors, added to the challenge of navigating the Māhele’s legal requirements. By the 1848 claim deadline, many commoners had not filed either out of frustration, or outright resistance to what they saw as an alien system.

Also in 1848,  the king divided his own lands into those owned by the Hawaiian government, and those that were his own personal property. The last 2 major steps in the process of the Mālehe occurred in 1850. First the Legislature passed an act to allow foreigners to acquire land in “fee simple.” Fee simple, meaning as private property in the Euro-American fashion. Finally, the Kuleana Act of 1850 gave Hawaiian commoners who had acquired title to their lands by submitting claims, to sell it, completing their transition to fee simple ownership. 

black and white photograph of William Little Lee and Charles Reed Bishop in suits in 1846

Photograph of William Little Lee and Charles Reed Bishop. Photographer unknown. 1846. Public Domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_Little_Lee_and_Charles_Reed_Bishop_1846.jpg

2 Americans who went on to serve in the Hawaiian government during this period were William Little Lee and Charles Reed Bishop. Both hailing from New York State, the young professionals had set out for Oregon in 1846, but found opportunities in Hawai’i before reaching the west coast of North America. 



Lee, a lawyer, was soon appointed as judge in O’ahu and made a member of Kamehameha III’s privy council. In 1848 he was appointed as Chief Justice of the Hawaiian Supreme Court. Lee was instrumental in drafting some of the laws of the newly formed constitutional monarchy and served on the land commission that facilitated the Great Mahele. He also helped draft the 1852 constitution which gave the other branches of government increased oversight over the king’s powers. Towards the end of his life, Lee was working on passing reciprocity treaties with the US. He died of tuberculosis in 1857 before the negotiations could be completed.



Charles Reed Bishop found work as a lawyer, then as an agent for the US consul, and then as a customs agent for the Kingdom of Hawai’i. He courted a member of the royal family, Bernice Pauahi Pākī. They were married in 1850. Bishop continued to prosper, founding a bank, and serving on the privy council to several Hawaiian monarchs. He was appointed to the House of Nobles by Kamehameha IV. He and his wife founded the Kamehameha Schools, a school system that educated children of Hawaiian ancestry. 

Black and white photo of King Kamehameha IV in military uniform

Kamehameha IV, born Alexander ʻIolani Liholiho Keawenui (1834–1863) Hawaii State Archives. Approx. 1863. Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kamehameha_IV_(PP-97-8-002).jpg

Kamehameha IV reigned from 1855-1863 following the death of his predecessor. He worked to balance American subjects’ influence over the kingdom, as they were the largest landowners besides the Hawiian elite, and in many cases far wealthier. His successor, Kamehameha V went even further, refusing to uphold the 1852 constitution. He called a convention to draft a new one in 1864. This constitution abolished the office of kuhina nui, restored some of the king’s autonomy, and converted the House of Nobles and House of Representatives into a single Legislative Assembly. 

Black and white photograph of King Kamehameha V in a suit, seated.

King Kamehameha V. Charles Weed. 1865. Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kamehameha_the_Fifth.jpg

Kamehameha V died without naming a successor. Choosing the new sovereign from eligible royal family members fell to a vote by the Legislative Assembly. King Lunalilo was elected in 1873, but fell ill with tuberculosis and died in January of 1874. 


Another election was held between David Kalakaua and the former queen and widow of Kamehameha IV, Emma Rooke. Kalakaua won the election amid much controversy, leading to the Honolulu Courthouse Riot. Rooke’s supporters targeted legislators that had supported Kalakaua, injuring many. British and American soldiers docked nearby were called in to restore order.


King Kalakaua was staunchly opposed to ceding any land to foreign nations. At the same time, he negotiated a reciprocity treaty with the US that enriched the owners of Hawai’i’s sugar plantations. Most of these were IS, many of whom advocated American annexation of the kingdom.

Sources:

Kamehameha IV

Kamehameha V

King Lunalilo

King Kalākaua


Banner, Stuart. “Preparing to Be Colonized: Land Tenure and Legal Strategy in Nineteenth-Century Hawaii.” Law & Society Review 39, no. 2 (2005): 273–314.

Kashay, Jennifer Fish. “Agents of Imperialism: Missionaries and Merchants in Early-Nineteenth-Century Hawaii.” The New England Quarterly 80, no. 2 (2007): 280–98.

Kessler, Lawrence H. “A Plantation upon a Hill; Or, Sugar without Rum: Hawai ‘i’s Missionaries and the Founding of the Sugarcane Plantation System.” Pacific Historical Review 84, no. 2 (2014): 129–62.

Colonizing Hawai'i/Part 3- The 1840 Constitution

 
painted portrait of Kamehameha III in a suit

Portrait of Kamehameha III, painted in Boston from a daguerreotype, by an unknown artist

For centuries the Hawaiian islands were ruled by various Ali’is (ah-lee’-ee), a Hawaiian word for chief or leader. In 1795, after many wars, mostly among relatives, the islands were united under the rule of Kamehameha the Great (ka-may-ha-may-ha). Like many of his rivals, he had sought military help from Western sailors, particularly the British, mostly in the form of guns and cannons. After establishing his dynasty, Kamehameha continued to engage with Western powers in order to learn and profit from them, but also to protect his kingdom from them. His descendants continued this balancing act through the 1800s as commerce grew, and Western diseases and planters took an increasing toll on the Native population, their lands, and their labor. 


On June 7, 1839, Kamehameha III published the Hawaiian Declaration of Rights, also known as the 1839 Constitution. The following 1840 Constitution more comprehensively established the Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral (2 houses) parliament.


Kamehameha III’s intent was always to secure the Hawaiian people’s lands and rights, but we will see in coming weeks how this proved to be a continuous struggle as the kingdom modernized.


Sources:

Kamehameha the Great- US National Park Service

Kamehameha II- Royal Family of Hawaii

Kamehameha III- Royal Family of Hawaii

Forming the Hawaiian State- Punahou School

1839 and 1840 Constitutions- Hooilina.org

Colonizing Hawai'i/Part 2- Americans Immigrate

European merchants made frequent visits to the Hawaiian islands once Captain James Cook documented its location in 1778. Not only was it an ideal source of resupply for whaling ships, it was also a convenient stop gap between Canton, China and the western coast of the Americas, major nodes in a prestigious and growing trade network. Merchant ships traded furs, sugar, and coffee for Chinese items like silk, tea, silver, and spices. 




Agents of these trade corporations, like the Hudson’s Bay Company, as well as their suppliers, set up shop in Hawai’i throughout the late 1700s and early 1800s. Unlike many of the lands Europeans rediscovered around the globe, the Hawaiian islands were consolidated politically under a single royal government. Merchants made deals with the royal family or Ali’i or Konohiki (subordinate chiefs), to acquire land. This property was revocable at any time and was still technically owned by the Hawaiians they’d contracted with. 




Missionaries, as in other frontier regions of Euro-American societies, were not far behind the merchants. The first missionaries arrived in the 1810s and 20s. As in other locales, their method of Christianizing indigenous populations centered around European style agriculture and property ownership. In these early decades of the 19th century there was much antagonism between merchant and missionary communities, each blaming the other for encouraging vice and discouraging proper industriousness among the Hawaiian commoners. After the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) revoked funding for the Hawaiian missionaries after an economic downturn in 1837, they became more amenable to large scale plantations, rather than the small scale farming they had administered previously. 

Queen Ka'ahumanu sitting on a rug

Queen Ka’ahumanu. 1822. Jean-Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine after painting by Louis Choris. Public Domain.

Kamehameha the Great had several wives. The most influential was Ka'ahumanu. She was born on the island of Maui to an elite family. Upon the king’s death, she informed his council that the king had wished her to rule alongside his named successor. The council created the title of kuhina nui, a sort of prime minister position. Kamehameha II, the former king’s firstborn son (not with Ka’ahumanu) reigned from 1819-1824. He died of measles while visiting London. As his brother and successor, Kamehameha III was only 10 at the time of his ascension, Ka’ahumanu continued her role as regent of the kingdom until her death in 1832. She was one of the primary elite Hawaiians to embrace Christianity and instigate reforms of traditional practices. This was not universally welcomed among Hawaiians, elite or commoners, but she had considerable influence over enough of the population that her leadership in this area was either accepted or cautiously tolerated. 

Kamehameha III in military uniform. Alfred Thomas Agate. 1838-42. Public Domain.

Kamehameha III hired numerous European and American advisors to assist him with foreign trade and increasingly became convinced it was in his kingdom’s and his people’s interests to reform his dynasty as a constitutional monarchy modeled on the British system with a 3-branch government system. It is impossible to say for certain why he took this course, but there were many possibilities.  As he came of age, many islands in the Pacific, such as New Zealand and Tahiti were claimed by the British and French Empires. Kamehameha III had his own brush with a hostile takeover when Lord George Paulet was sent to secure British possessions on the islands, and instead took the opportunity to claim the islands themselves for Britain. The king explained that he had already sent emissaries to settle these disputes, but Paulet was unmoved and threatened to open fire on the island. Under duress, the King yielded to Paulet, who raised the British flag over Hawaii. This episode only lasted 5 months, as Paulet’s superiors were outraged by the act and soon restored Hawai’i’s sovereignty. 



Many historians argue that incidents like these, as well as the high mortality of native Hawaiians to European diseases, convinced Kamehameha III and much of the Hawaiian elite that colonization was inevitable and that the best way to safeguard their land was to convert the kingdom to a constitutional monarchy with a system of land ownership that a colonizing Western power would recognize. Most of the king’s British and American ministers encouraged this view. It should be mentioned that they and other White residents stood to gain immensely by such changes, whether colonization occurred or not.



The Constitution of 1840 formally converted Hawai’i to a constitutional monarchy. In 1845 a land commission was established to process land claims by all of Hawai’i’s residents, native and foreign. This process took until 1855 to complete. It is known as the Great Māhele (ma-hail-ay). While intended to safeguard the lands of all Hawaiians, we will take a closer look at how the Māhele fell short of its goal.


Sources:

Ka’ahumanu- Punahou School

Paulet Episode 1843- Ka’iwakīloumoku 

Aftermath: the 1840s and Resistance- Punahou School

Colonizing Hawai'i/Part 1- The Polynesian Triangle

 

The Polynesian Triangle. Kahuroa. 2013. Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pacific_Culture_Areas-de.png

The people who would become the Polynesians are believed to have migrated to New Guinea from Southeast Asia around 2000 BC. It is estimated they settled the island of Tonga around 1500 BC and Samoa around 1000 BC. Over the next thousand years they settled islands throughout the Pacific as far east as Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and as far north as Hawaii. Around 950 AD, the Māori (mow’-ray) settled New Zealand in the south. Within this triangle were hundreds of smaller islands.


The history and skills of Polynesian navigators astounded the European sailors they encountered in the 18th century. The great distances between Polynesian lands kept them from becoming a single political entity. Instead, multiple Polynesian societies developed on different islands or island groups. However, religious, linguistic, and economic ties preserved a distinct Polynesian culture in these various locales for centuries. 


There are many stories about the first Polynesian people to discover and populate Hawaii. As with all ancient cultures and nations, there is controversy and disagreement. European colonization in the 19th Century has further confused the historical record, but Natives and non-Natives continue to study and retrieve the history of Hawaii.

Sources:

Native Hawaiians Arrived on the Islands Centuries Ago- KHON2 News

South Pacific Migration History- Travel Video Source

Expansion across the Polynesian Triangle- National Library of Australia 

The Discovery and Settlement of Polynesia- University of Hawaii 

The Menehune: A True Race of People- Ka Wai Ola