Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 1, 1 January 1993 — A TIMELINE OF HAWAIʻI 1840 - 1959 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A TIMELINE OF HAWAIʻI 1840 - 1959

A century ago, the nation of Hawai'i was at a pivotal point in its history. Its European-styled monarchy ruled by traditional chiefs was continually beset by the aggressive demands of foreign nations — Britain and France chief among them — seeking to advance the interests of its nationals. Hawaii's economy struggled to eope with a declining whaling industry and a growing sugar trade. The native people, decimated by disease, and uprooted from land, language and culture looked with alann to their ali'i to care for and protect them. Knowing the vulnerabihty of their country, without army or navy, the kings of Hawai'i looked to the protection of more powerful nations. The story of the passage of power from native Hawaiians to foreigners is traced in the following timehne, whieh focuses on the events from 1840 to statehood. Not until the late 1960s and early 1970s would there be a concerted effort by native Hawaiians to reclaim their rights. Today Hawaiian self-determination and sovereignty are being discussed from the highest levels of government to the man on the street. The future chapters of Hawaiian history wUl be written by native Hawaiians themselves.

1840 - Kamehameha III proclaims Hawai'i's first constitution, and a national legislature meets. 1842 - Tyler Doctrine is the first formal recognition of Hawai'i's sovereignty andindependence from foreign powers. It is promoted by representatives of Kamehameha III, seeking to safeguard Hawai'i from more powerful nations. 1843 - Kamehamehā III temporarily relinquishes his king-

dom under protest to Lord Gewge Paulet during an episode of gunboat diplomacy. In light of the Tyler Doctrine and previous British policy toward the island's independence, sovereignty is restored on July 31. Kamehameha III utters the now famous words: "Ua mau ke ea o ka 'āina i ka pono-the Iife of the land is perpetuated in rigbteousness." (In 1893 the Queen probably expected the U.S. to foUow this precedent and restore her throne.)

1848 - The Great Mahele begins. As the eeonomie interests of foreigners grew, they pressed to secure their land holdings. The task of dividing land interests of the king, ali'i, and maka*āinana is completed according to a plan formulated by Justice Willam Lee. Of the king's 2.5 million acres, 1.5 million are set aside for the Hawaiian government. All land divisions were made "subject to rights of (native) tenants," eontinuing the idea of stewardship

rather than ownership. 1849 - Hawai'i and U.S. sign a treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation whieh promises "perpetual peaee and unity between the United States and the King of the Hawaiian Islands, his heirs and successors." 1850 - The Kuleana Act awards fee-simple tiUe to native tenants for land they claimed whieh was under actual cultivation plus a

l/4-acre house lot. Claimants had four years to pay for a survey of Uie lands as well as bring two witnesses to testify to the tenant's right to the land. By 1855, only 26 percent of the adult male native population had claimed only 28,600 acres, less Uian one percent of Uie total. A second land law permitted any resident of Hawai'i to own and convey land regardless of citizenship. 1852 - New consti*ution extenōs right to vote and subjects mcr»

kingly acts to approval of the privy eouneil and Kuhina Nui (prime minister). 1853 - Smallpox kills an esUmated 5,000 - 6,000, mostly Hawaiians. Some historians eontend that Dr. Gerrit Judd would give only cowpox, not smallpox, vaccine to Hawaiians. Judd ulUmately loses his ministerial posiUon. 1854 - The upheaval following

the smallpox epidemic, and despair over Uie future independence of the kingdom, prompts Kamehameha III to ask his minister Robert Wyllie to secretly find out the terms under whieh the U.S. would annex Hawai'i. By December negotiations had broken down, but as long as there was a possibility of annexaUon, the U.S. would not permit the Committee of Thirteen - leaders of Uie secret Honolulu League - to create a separate republic. The process does keep the kingdom safe and independent from foreign factions residing in Honolulu. December 1854 - Kamehameha III dies. Committee of Thirteen loses its spirit and many of its members leave the islands. Kamehameha IV, Alexander Liholiho, ascends the Uirone. 1858 - 1866 - A transition occurs from an economy dependent on whaling to one dependent on sugar. The number of sugar plantaUons and mill eompanies in Hawai'i grows from 12 in 1860 to 32 in 1866. 1872 - William Lunalilo is elected King but dies the next year. Sour year for sugar. Reciprocity treaty sought in exchange for ceding Pearl Haibor to U.S. Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield arrives in Honolulu with Brig. Gen. B.S. Alexander, ostensibly to vacaUon but primarily to "ascertain Uie defensive capabiliUes of the various ports and their commereial facUiUes." Rumors of the time say Kalākaua offered Pearl Harbor in return for American businessmen's help with his campaign against Queen Emma for the throne. 1874 - David Kalākaua is elected King. In August, he leaves for the U.S. to procure a Reciprocity Treaty, after many

petitions from the larger business community. Kalākaua encourages native voting by providing mulUple incentives. Hawaiians filled many seats in the House of

RepresentaUves. From 1874 to 1887, Kalākaua makes 37 new appointments, including 11 of Hawaiian blood. 1876 - U.S ratifies the Reciprocity Treaty without Hawai'i giving up Pearl Harbor. (In 1879 sugar estates were valued at less than $10 million. By 1898 values leaped to $40 million.) 1886 - Hawai'i seeks a $1 mUlion loan from England, pledging public revenue as coUateral. U.S. views this as a threat of foreign dominance in Hawai'i, and this puts the Reciprocity Treaty in a new light. RumOTS of a reciprocity treaty with Canada and the percepUon Uiat Hawai'i is willing to giveaway Pearl Harbor push an altered form of the Reciprocity Treaty Uirough Congress whieh includes the exclusive use of Pearl Harbor as a naval base. 1886 - Kalākaua and his premier Walter Murray Gibson propose a confederaUon wiUi Uie Hawaiian kingdom to Samoa. Strong warnings eome from Germany, Britain and U.S. against trying to create a Pacific federaUon. continued next page

Honolulu in the early 1890s was already a vital commercial center, eyed by many nations eager to control her strategic location . Hawai'iState Archives

Meeting of two worlds: Honolulu Harbor in the 1880s. Hawai'i State Archives photo.

King Kalakaua

1886 - Lonin Thurston, a missionary descendant and prominent businessman, is elected to the Assembly. Thurston

leads a small but hostilc opposition party. 1887 - The Hawaiian League is secretly formed by a small but influential group of Cau-casian businessmen. It numbers 400 by mid-year. Anothei group, the Honolulu

Rifles, an all-Caucasian

p<ua-wiuuuy uig<uuz,ation, supports the League.

1887 - The Kalākaua Legislature votes to relegalize opium sales through issuance of a monopoly license. The King auctions the license to two "hinese men for $75,000. A public meeting is held at the jrmory of the Honolulu Rifles. A new Committee of Thirteen reads resolutions whieh include

a "policy of securing a new eonstitution." A new constitution, written by Lorrin Thurston, is shown to the King and after lengthy discussion, Kalākaua signs, virtually at gunpoint. The "Bayonet Constitution" reduced the King to a ceremonial leader; eliminated most of the monarch's power; prohibited the monarch from dismissing Cabinet members without approval from the Legislature; required the monarch to sign all bills and resolutions (even those that he vetoed); established property and ineome requirements for voting and holding office, effectively disenfranchising two-thirds of all Hawaiian voters; required all voters to sign an oath supporting the 1887 Constitution; excluded all Asians from voting; eliminated citizenship as a requirement to vote. A new Legislature dominated by the Reform Party under the Bayonet Constitution secures a reciprocity treaty whieh gives the U.S. exclusive use of Pearl

Haibor. Over Kalakaua's objections, the Cabinet approves it. 1889 - Robert Wilcox leads a group of about

100, mostly n a t i v e Hawaiians, in a failed attempt to restore the King's constitutional rights. John Stevens, an avowed |expansionist, arrives in

Honolulu as

muiiMei IU Hawai'i newly appointed by U.S. Secretary of State James

Blaine. 1890 - Three out of four acres belonging to private owners are held by Westerners. U.S. Rear Admiral L.A. Kimberly anticipates possible violence during upcoming eleetions. He writes Secretary of the Navy B.F. Tracy: "The natives

seem to have an uneasy feeling as to their rights being usurped by the whites, and their gradual loss of prestige and power in the Govemment." He asks permission to land troops "if necessity arises." Hui Kalai'āina (the National Reform Party), led by Robert Wilcox and supported by native Hawaiians, splits the Legislature and the Cabinet. The National Reform Party's objective is to restore the 1864 constitutional system, to stop the continued import of Asian laborers and to prevent annexation. Minister Stevens sends a eonfidential message to Secretary of State James Blaine: "To secure the influence over them (Hawai'i) whieh the United States has so long considered its right and duty to maintain, some decisive steps must be taken whieh, in the past, were not of pressing necessity." The National Reform Party presses for a new constitution in resolutions, public meetings and petitions to the King.

Wilcox addresses the Legislature: "There is danger of another revolution and the streets being made sticky with blood, if the wishes of the people were to be persistently thwarted as at pre-

sent. Warships are held in readiness in the harbor. Soon after, the Legislature rejects a bill for a constitutional convention. 1891 - Kalākaua dies at age 54 in San Francisco. Lili'uokalani becomes Queen and moves against the Western faction by staging a large funeral for her brother, appointing a new Cabinet and

making plans for a new constitution. The McKinley Tariff voids the Reciprocity

Treaty. As a result, sugar planters lose $12 million. Native Hawaiians divide into two political parties, National Reform and a new Liberal Party,

led by Robert Wilcox. The more radical elements of the Liberal party want to establish a representative form of government.

The treasury is near depletion and the threat of insurrection and unrest frightens away investment capital. Four different Cabinets are installed depending on the political alliances being formed in Legislature. Little is aeeomplished during the longest ever, 171-day Legislature. By year's end, the Legislature finally eonsiders three controversial bills on the lottery, opium trade and a new constitution. Liberal Party leaders step up their anti-government agitation while Caucasians establish an Annexation Club "not to promote annexation, but to be ready to act quickly and intelligently, should Lili'uokalani precipitate the necessity by some move against the constitution..." A year later, it would become the Committee of Safety. Thurston leaves for Washington and meets with Blaine and Tracy. Tracy consults with President Benjamin Harrison who communicates, "Should conditions in Hawai'i eompel your people to act as you have indicated, and you eome to Washington with an annexation proposition, you will find an exceedingly sympathetic

Administration here." Jan. 4, 1893 - The U.S.S. Boston steams out of Honolulu Harbor for a 10-day target prac-

tice near Hilo. Stevens sails with her. Jan. 14, Friday - The Queen recesses the Legislature and tells her ministers she will proclaim a new constitution that aftemoon. She drafted it in response to petitions from Hawaiians in every part of the islands asking for a new constitution. Her draft restores power to the monarchy, gives the vote to Hawaiian-bom or naturalized citizens, removes certain property qualifications, and makes Cabinet ministers subject to removal by the Legislature. She submitted the draft to Attomev General Arthur Peterson a month before asking for his recommendations. He made none, saying he hadn't read it. After the Queen met with Peterson and Interior minister John F. Colburn, the pair reported the Queen's intentions to the Committee of Safety. "I proposed to make certain changes in the Constitution of the Hawaii Kingdom. ... for the advantage and benefit of the Kingdom, and subjects and residents ... These proposed changes did not deprive foreigners of any rights or privileges enjoyed by them under the Constitution of

1887. ..." Lili'uokalani wrote in her autobiography. U.S.S. Boston returns to continued next page

Robert Wilcox

'lolani Palaee, home to royalty, became the seat of the provisional government, the Republic of Hawai'i, the Territory of Hawai'i, and the State of Hawai'i before it was finally restored by the Friends of 'lolani Palaee. Hawai'i State Archives photo.

Map of downtown Honolulu showing 'iolani Palaee, Ali'iolani Hale and Arion Hall. Map courtesy Rich Budnick..

Ali'iolani Hale, the government building, as seen from 'lolani Palaee. Hawai'i State Archives photo.

Honolulu just before noon. For two hours the Cabinet refuses to sign the new Constitution. The embarrassed Queen decides to wait for more official support. Jan. 15, Saturday - Between 1,500 and 2,000 Libera( and National Reform Party members rally to adopt resolutions supporting the Queen's decision to delay the new constitution. At the same time, Thurston holds a meeting at the Attomey General's office with all four of the Queen's ministers and some Committee members. Thurston proposes drafting a declaration that the Queen has vacated her throne. Ministers objecL Thurston draws it up anyway and gains approval from the Committee of Safety by a 12 -1 vote. George Wilcox dissents and retums home to Kaua'i. A subcommittee meets with Stevens to seek his support. Jan. 15, Sunday - The Cabinet prepares a formal statement that the Queen will not seek another constitution, in order to quell Thurston's plan. Jan 16, Monday - Ministers post notices announcing that the Queen will not promulgate a new constitution. The Committee of Safety presents Stevens a letter asking for protection and for the landing of American troops.

Two public meetings are held, one by the Queen's supporters, the other by the Committee of Safety. Twelve hundred people crowd into the Committee of Safety's rally at the Honolulu Rifles' Armory. At 5 p.m., 162 Marines carrying 14,000 rounds of rifle ammunition march down King Street past the palaee, halting just two blocks away. The U.S.S. Boston has 8- and 26-ineh high powered cannons capable of leveling 'Iolani Palaee. Troops are billeted across from the palaee in Anon Hall where the back of the U.S. Post Office is today, 30 yards from the Government Building and 200 yards from the palaee. O'ahu Govemor Cleghom immediately protests the landing to Stevens, who refuses to recall the Marines. Sanford Ballard Dole, a conservative missionary descendant and associate justice of the Hawaiian Supreme Court, is asked to head the new government Jan. 17, Tuesday - Dole agrees to accept the position. He gives Stevens a letter

announcing the new govemment and requests U.S. recognition. The Queen's Cabinet members try to meet with Stevens, who claims to be ill. Stevens refuses to assist the Queen. Stevens sends a letter to the Queen saying that he has recognized a new provisional government.

Henry Cooper, an American who arrived in Hawai'i one year earlier, reads

a proclamation written by Thurston declaring that the Queen's govemment is overthrown and that a provisional govemment is to exist until terms of union with the U.S. ean be negotiated. Martial law is declared, and foreign diplomats are requested to recognize the new order. Stevens sends a message to Dole giving defacto recogniūon to the provisional government. About 5:30 - Provisional government demands the Queen's abdication. The Queen protests, then yields to the "superior power" of the United States with a carefully worded statement. 1893 - 1894 - Thurston and others of the Committee present a treaty of annexation to outgoing U.S. president, Benjamin Harrison. In his final month, Harrison tries and fails to msh a ratification treaty through the Senate. He denies U.S. involvement in the overthrow. Grover Cleveland becomes U.S. president. He withdraws the treaty from the Senate and secretly commissions James L. Blount to investigate the overthrow. Blount's report recommends permanently withdrawing the annexation treaty from the Senate and recognizing the monarchy. Stevens resigns in March and is relieved in May by Albert S. Willis. Willis offers the Queen her throne again on condition that she grant amnesty to the

revolutionaries. The Queen is not so inclined. The provisional government is equally disinclined to restore the monarchy. Annexation stalls. A constitutional convention is convened by the provisional government. The 19 members of the provisional govemment are automatically members of the constituūonal convention. The remaining 18 are voted in, but voting qualifications entail that voters must swear allegience to the provisional government. The new eonstitution extends voting rights to citizens swom to uphold the provisional government and able to speak, read and write in English and explain the constitution. The constitution becomes law by proclamation. On July 4, 1894 Sanford Dole announces the new republic and himself president. By 1895, Victoria of England and President Cleveland acknowledge the republic. 1895 - A rebellion against the illegal republic fails. Lili'uokalani and the heirs apparent Princes David Kawānanakoa and Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole are imprisoned. Their sentences are later commuted. 1896 - Lili'uokalani is freed and given full citizenship. She goes to Washington and finds how thoroughly the provisional government discredited her. 1897 - McKinley is inaugurated president. Another annexation treaty is offered whieh McKinley favors. "Under such circumstances annexation is not a change. It is a consummation," he says. Congress does not pass iL 1898 - U.S. goes to war with Spain to free Cuba from Spanish control. The U.S. feels it must hold the

Philippines, and Hawai'i is seen as a staging area to the westem Pacific. President McKinley signs a joint resolution of Congress, to annex Hawai'i as a territory and to recognize its citizens as Americans. 1900 - The Organic Act of Annexation outhnes the territory. All adult males residing in Hawai'i for the required length of time could vote or mn for office regardless of property owned. Robert Wilcox heads the Home Rule Party, supported by Hawaiians in the first eleeuon. The party wins a majority of the seats in both houses. 1902 - The Republicans ask Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole to run against Wilcox as delegate to Congress. He does and draws Hawaiians away from the Home Rule Party. 1910 - Amendment to Organic Act opens homesteading. 1917 - 1921 - Leases on more than 200,000 acres of government land are set to expire, making them available

for homesteads. It the planter leases are renewed, part of the lease rentals could be used by the territorial government to set Hawaiians up on homestead lots far away from the sugar plantations. Planters win a major land battle through supporting legislation to rehabilitate native Hawaiians. In this wav thev necated the nos-

sibility of any non-Hawaiian gaining govemment land for homesteading. They also influenced the legislation in such a way to narrow the beneficiaries from anyone with 1/32 native blood to 1/2 and exempted all cultivated sugar-cane lands from being considered. What was left was less than 200,000 acres that no one had ever been able to make productive and 20,000 qualified Hawaiians. "They want to give the Hawaiians lands that a goat couldn't live on," says U.S. Rep. William Jarrett in 1920. 1919 - Kalaniana'ole introduces the first statehood bill in the House of Representatives. 1949 - The United Nations includes Hawai'i on a list of territories to be restored to independence, but U.S. successfully lobbies for its removal. 1950 - Nine of every 10 residents are American citizens, nearly all born on American soil. Hawai'i is paying more federal tax than nine states. Since 1900, Hawai'i has eontributed more than $1 billion to the federal treasury without a voice in how it should be used. 1959 - Congress votes to admit Hawai'i as a state. 239 of Hawai'i's 240 electoral precincts vote for statehood. Ni'ihau rejects it. Independence is not offered as an opūon. President Eisenhower declares Hawai'i a state. The American flag is presumed to fly forever thereafter. Mahalo to Rich Budnick for permission to cite from his book, "Stolen Kingdom: An American Conspiracy. "

The 1893 Annexation Committee to Washington, D.C. (Ieft to right): Wm. Wiider, Jos. Marsden, Lorrin Thurston, Charles Castle, Dr. John Mott-Smith, Wm. Castle. Opposed by President Grover Cleveland, annexation was not to eome until 1898 under President McKinley. Hawai'i State Archives.

Sanford B. Dole

Hawai'i became the 50th state in 1959, after a public plebiscite ratified congressional approval. Only the island of Ni'ihau rejected statehood. Bishop Museum- Pholo Collection

Prince Kuhio