Happy birthday to Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha (d. 1917), born this day in 1838. Following the death of her brother, David Laʻamea Kamanakapuʻu Mahinulani Nalaiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua (1836-1891), she became queen of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, a constitutional monarchy. Her attempts to to abrogate the 1887 constitution, which had effectively disenfranchised native Hawaiians in favor of the white planter class and associated business interests, led to her downfall. On 17 January 1893, a group of Americans and Europeans styling themselves the Committee of Safety, seized control of the government. At the request of U.S. Minister John l. Stevens, they were aided and abetted by a company of US Marines and two companies of bluejackets landed from the Navy cruiser USS Boston under orders of Capt. Gilbert C. Wiltse. The queen refused to accept the conspirators provisional government, and instead issued a statement yielding her authority under extreme duress to the United States Government: I, Liliʻuokalani, by the Grace of God and under the constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself and the constitutional government of the Hawaiian Kingdom by certain persons claiming to have established a Provisional Government of and for this Kingdom. That I yield to the superior force of the United States of America, whose Minister Plenipotentiary, His Excellency John L Stevens, has caused United States troops to be landed at Honolulu and declared that he would support the said Provisional Government. Now, to avoid any collision of armed forces and perhaps loss of life, I do, under this protest, and impelled by said forces, yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon the facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representative and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands. Although the administration of President Grover Cleveland found that the overthrow of Liliʻuokalani was illegal, and that the Minister Stevens and Capt. Wiltse had acted inappropriately, restoration was not to be. On July 4, 1894, the Republic of Hawaiʻi was proclaimed and recognized by the United States government as a protectorate, which was formally annexed on 7 July 1898. Liliʻuokalani was arrested on 16 Jan 1895 for her alleged participation in a failed counter-revolution. She denied all knowledge of the plot at trial, but was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $5000. She was pardoned in 1896, and her civil rights restored.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 00:53:31 +0000
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