• On revising Hawaiian history On revising Hawaiian history Wednesday The Garden Island published a Guest Viewpoint written by Kenneth Conklin (“Equality of Hawai‘i’s people worth defending,” A6, April 16). Conklin’s rantings are well known by readers of the Honolulu
• On revising Hawaiian history
On revising Hawaiian history
Wednesday The Garden Island published a Guest Viewpoint written by Kenneth Conklin (“Equality of Hawai‘i’s people worth defending,” A6, April 16).
Conklin’s rantings are well known by readers of the Honolulu Advertiser but perhaps less well known here on Kaua‘i. As usual he excels in twisting the historical record to support his political views. While the main thesis of Conklin’s new book is that any claim based upon the rights of native Hawaiians is racist, the primary thrust of his piece is to claim that the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was legal and legitimate and all modern claims, such as ceded land compensation, based on the assumption of illegitimacy are thus invalid. He argues for this conclusion based upon three points:
• Queen Lili‘uokalani willingly abdicated her throne and recognized the new Republic of Hawai‘i.
• No nation ever protested the Revolution of 1893 or the annexation of 1898.
• 19 nations recognized the Republic of Hawai‘i.
The first two points are simply false and the third is irrelevant from the perspective of historical justice.
In 1887 King Kalakaua was forced by a group of cabinet officials and advisers, backed by armed militia, to accept a new constitution. It was later known as the “Bayonet Constitution” as it was imposed by threat of force.
Aside from stripping the king of much of his authority, one of the key points of the 1887 Constitution was that it established voting rights based upon income and property ownership and categorically denied the right to vote to Asians. Thus from a practical point of view the Hawaiian and Asian majority was denied the right to vote and electoral power was placed in the hands of citizens of primarily European and American descent.
Upon King Kalakaua’s death in 1891, his sister Lili‘uokalani assumed the throne. While there were no doubt numerous points of contention between the new queen and the power brokers who effectively controlled Hawai‘i, the primary cause for her overthrow was her attempt to toss out the Bayonet Constitution of 1887 and replace it with a new constitution she had written.
The queen’s overthrow took place on Jan. 17, 1893, when a 1,500 member militia, the Honolulu Rifles, took over government buildings, disarmed the Royal Guard, and declared a Provisional Government. The Citizen’s Committee of Public Safety that was itself a sub organization of the Hawaiian League, also known as the Annexation Club, organized the Honolulu Rifles. The Hawaiian League was composed of over 400 businessmen, merchants, and planters. The leader of the Committee of Safety was Lorin A. Thurston, author of the Bayonet Constitution, and publisher of the Honolulu Advertiser.
The day prior to the actual overthrow, at the request of the Committee of Safety a company of marines and two companies of sailors from the USS Boston were landed in Honolulu and took up positions at the U.S. Legation, Consulate, and Arion Hall, ostensibly to protect the lives and property of U.S. citizens.
In essence a group of businessmen and landowners, the Committee of Safety, utilizing its private militia and backed by the U.S. Navy forcibly removed the queen from power and declared itself the Provisional Government of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
On Jan. 17, 1893, the queen’s statement yielding authority read, “I Lili‘uokalani, by the Grace of God and under the Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself and the Constitutional Government of the Hawaiian Kingdom by certain persons claiming to have established a Provisional Government of and for this Kingdom. That I yield to the superior force of the United States of America whose Minister Plenipotency, His Excellency John L. Stevens, has caused the United States troops to be landed at Honolulu and declared that he would support the Provisional Government. Now to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life, I do under protest and impelled by said force yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the Constitutional Sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.”
In that same year newly elected President Grover Cleveland called for a formal investigation into the overthrow. In July 1893, the head of the investigation, Congressman James Henderson Blount concluded, “United States diplomatic and military representatives had abused their authority and were responsible for the change in government.” President Cleveland’s response was to demand the reinstatement of Queen Lili‘uokalani. However then President of Hawai‘i under the Provisional Government, Sanford Dole, refused Cleveland’s demands of reinstatement. After much political maneuvering in Congress, an additional dubious investigation sponsored by congressional opponents of Cleveland reversed the conclusions of Congressman Blount and the President dropped his efforts to restore the Queen.
On July 4, 1894 the Provisional Government declared the Republic of Hawai‘i. In 1895 a rebellion led by Robert W. Wilcox and Sam Nowlein, previous head of the queen’s guards, attempted to overthrow the newly created Republic and reinstate the queen. After two days of fighting at the base of Diamond Head and another small battle in Manoa, the rebellion was put down and the queen was found guilty of treason and imprisoned at Iolani Palace. It was during this time of imprisonment that she signed the letter referenced by Conklin.
In 1898 then President William McKinley signed the resolution annexing Hawai‘i. On Feb. 22, 1900 Hawai‘i became a U.S. Territory with Sanford Dole serving as the first governor.
In conclusion, and to Conklin’s three points:
• Queen Lili‘uokalani specifically protested her 1893 overthrow and denied the legitimacy of the Provisional Government. She ultimately signed the papers recognizing the Republic of Hawai‘i but only after a failed rebellion to overthrow it and being imprisoned. If this looks like free will to Conklin, he is disingenuous at best.
• One important nation that protested the overthrow of 1893 was the United States under President Grover Cleveland who demanded the reinstatement of the queen.
• Recognition of the Republic by other nations after it became apparent that the U.S. would not relinquish defacto control is simply irrelevant. The U.S. was a burgeoning hemispheric power at the time and other nations would not have ventured into conflict over the relatively insignificant Kingdom of Hawaii.
Adam Roversi
Kapa‘a
