Kingdom of Hawaii

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[[Image:kaiulani.jpg|thumb|Princess [[Ka'iulani|KaTemplate:Okinaiulani]], a member of the Kalākaua Dynasty, was in line to become Queen of HawaiTemplate:Okinai when her kingdom was overthrown by a small group of Hawaiian citizens (primarily of European descent) and United States citizens.]]

The Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai was established in 1810 upon the unification of the smaller independent chiefdoms of [[Oahu|OTemplate:Okinaahu]], Maui, [[Molokai|MolokaTemplate:Okinai]], [[Lanai|LānaTemplate:Okinai]] and the [[Hawaii (island)|HawaiTemplate:Okinai]] (or the "Big Island").

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Formation

Through swift and bloody battles, led by a warrior chief later immortalized as Kamehameha the Great, the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai was established with the help of a British sailor John Young and western weapons. Although successful in attacking both OTemplate:Okinaahu and Maui, he failed to secure a victory in [[Kauai|KauaTemplate:Okinai]], his effort hampered by a storm. Eventually, KauaTemplate:Okinai'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.

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Government

Image:Iolani Palace (1328).JPG

Government in the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai was transformed in phases, each phase created by the promulgation of the constitutions of 1840, 1852, 1864 and 1887. Each successive constitution can be seen as a decline in the power of the monarch in favor of popularly elected representative government. The head of state and head of government in the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai was the monarch. He or she oversaw the Privy Council which was charged with administration. A royal cabinet, the Privy Council consisted of ministers in charge of departments much like that of the American system. These ministers also acted as the monarch's primary advisors.

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 HawaiTemplate:Okinai were divided into smaller administrative divisions: KauaTemplate:Okinai, OTemplate:Okinaahu, Maui, and HawaiTemplate:Okinai. KauaTemplate:Okinai region included [[Niihau|NiTemplate:Okinaihau]], while Maui region included [[Kahoolawe|KahoTemplate:Okinaolawe]], LānaTemplate:Okinai and MolokaTemplate:Okinai. Each administrative region was governed by a governor appointed by the monarch.

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Kamehameha Dynasty

From 1810 to 1893, the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai 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 KaTemplate:Okinaahumanu, 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.

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Elected monarchy

The refusal of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop to take the crown and throne as Queen of HawaiTemplate:Okinai 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 HawaiTemplate:Okinai's first of two elected monarchs.

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Kalākaua Dynasty

Like his predecessor, Lunalilo failed to name an heir to the throne. He died unexpectedly after less than a year as King of HawaiTemplate:Okinai. Once again, the legislature of the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai 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 HawaiTemplate:Okinai history. Both candidates resorted to mudslinging and rumors. David Kalākaua was elected the second elected King of HawaiTemplate:Okinai, 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 LiliTemplate:Okinauokalani would succeed the throne upon Kalākaua's death. It was indicated that Princess [[Victoria Kaiulani|Victoria KaTemplate:Okinaiulani]] would follow. If she could not produce an heir by birth, Prince [[Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole|Jonah Kūhiō KalanianaTemplate:Okinaole]] would rule after her.

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Overthrow of the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai

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Queen LiliTemplate:Okinauokalani 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 Bayonet Constitution of 1887. 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 HawaiTemplate:Okinai.

In 1893, American businessmen organized in response to an attempt by LiliTemplate:Okinauokalani to subvert the 1887 constitution, and took over the government of the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai. American troops aboard the USS Boston landed in Honolulu to protect American lives and property, while Sanford B. Dole and Lorrin A. Thurston's Committee of Safety, a 13 member council of businessmen, organized the Honolulu Rifles to depose Queen LiliTemplate:Okinauokalani.

Later, after a weapons cache was found on the palace grounds after an attempted rebellion in 1895, Queen LiliTemplate:Okinauokalani was placed under arrest, tried by a military tribunal of the [[Republic of Hawaii|Republic of HawaiTemplate:Okinai]], convicted of misprison of treason and then imprisoned in her own home.

Dole and his committee declared itself the provisional government and on July 4, 1894 proclaimed the creation of the Republic of HawaiTemplate:Okinai. Dole became its president. As a republic, it was the intention of the government to campaign for annexation with the United States of America. With annexation, their goods and services exported to the mainland would not be subject to American tariffs. The Republic of Hawaii succeeded when in 1898, Congress approved a joint resolution of annexation creating the U.S. Territory of HawaiTemplate:Okinai. This followed the precedent of Texas which was also annexed by a joint resolution of Congress. Dole was appointed its first governor.

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Royal estates

Early in its history, the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai was governed from several locations including coastal towns on the islands of HawaiTemplate:Okinai and Maui (Lāhainā). It wasn't until the reign of Kamehameha III that a capital was established in Honolulu on the Island of OTemplate:Okinaahu.

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By the time Kamehameha V was king, he saw the need to build a royal palace fitting of the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai's new found prosperity and standing with the royals of other nations. He commissioned the building of the palace at AliTemplate:Okinaiolani Hale. He died before it was completed. Today, the palace houses the Supreme Court of the [[State of Hawaii|State of HawaiTemplate:Okinai]].

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 Template:OkinaIolani 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.

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Palaces

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Royal grounds

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Other notable Hawaiian royals

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Kamehameha Dynasty

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Kalākaua Dynasty

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Other notable royal subjects

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Authors and artists

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Civil leaders

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Religious leaders

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References

  • Gerard Manley Hopkins, HawaiTemplate:Okinai: The Past, Present, and Future of Its Island Kingdom: An Historic Account of the Sandwich Islands of Polynesia, Kegan Paul International Ltd., 2003
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External links

Template:Hawaii historyde:Könige von Hawaii ja:ハワイ王国 pl:Królestwo Hawajskie zh:夏威夷王國

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