Queen Lili'uokalani The Last hawaiian Monarch

Her Given name was Lydia Lili‘u Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamaka‘eha (when she was a child people called her by the names of "Lili‘u" or "Lydia" and then when she was next in line for the throne "Lili‘uokalani")

Lived from September 2, 1883- November 11, 1917

She was reigning Queen from 1891 -1893

Daughter of Chiefs Caesar Kapa‘akea and Anale‘a Keohokālole

Siblings David Kalākaua , Miriam Likelike and William Pitt Leleiōhoku

When she was born she became hanai child(god Child) of chiefs Laura Konia and Abner Paki

In 1891 King David Kalākaua Died and she took the thrown.

Married to John O. Dominis on September 16, 1862. They lived with his mother(widow) at Washington Place, today the official residence of Hawaii's Governor.

The Overthrown Monarchy

The overthrown started With King David Kalākaua. It started with a group of men who went by the name of Hawaiian League(said to have been no more then 400 members vs. 40,000 native hawaiians in the kingdom) made up of local(hawaiian) Planters, businessmen, Mostly Americans and several missionary descendants. League Organizer and fire brand was Lorrin A. Thurston, lawyer and missionary grandson, who was also later the leader in the overthrow of the monarchy with many of the same men.

The Leagues goal was to reconstruct the monarchy. There was talk of abdicating King David Kalākaua From the thrown, there was even talk of assassination. Thankfully someone sane suggested to allow the King to remain on the throne but limit his powers, almost making him a mere figurehead. So it was agreed that they would give him no other option but to sign the Bayonet Constitution. He argued and protested but they threatened him and eventually he signed the constitution. The self-righteous reformers were determined to save the Hawaiian's from their selves(self government)

In 1889 part-hawaiian Robert W. Wilcox Led 80 men(hawaiian's and Europeans) to Iolani Palace to with guns bought from the Chinese with a new constitution for King David Kalākaua to sign. Unfortunately the king wasnt there. The Cabinet called troops to put down the "Resistance" Wilcox was tried for treason and found not guilty by a Jury of Native hawaiian's they thought of him as a hero for trying to take back their government.

Jan. 20, 1891 King Kalakaua died of kidney disease at age 54 then passing the throne onto Queen Lili'uokalani. She took oath as a Monarch and unhappily to uphold the Bayonet Constitution.

Her Husband Died 7 months later. In 1892 Lorrin Thurston leader of a group called the Annexation group(secretive small group of men) Went to washington looking for supporters in their quest for annexation, got word from President Benjamin Harrison: "You will find an exceedingly sympathetic administration here."

On January 14 1893 Queen Lili'uokalani planned to create a new constitution but could not get her cabinet to sign it so she told her guests she was postponing it for another day. The Annexation group heard of this through their 2 spies in Cabinet and Acted fast, Alerting the American warship USS Boston which was in port at Honolulu Harbor of the plan. Lorrin Thurston and two other men called for an American minister in Hawaii, John L. Stevens, an avowed annexation. He assured Thurston they would not protect the Queen.

January 15, 1893 Thurston informed the Cabinet that the Committee of Safety would challenge her. She sought Minister Stevens' assurance that he would support her government against armed insurrection, it was unsuccessful. The kingdom's marshal suggested declaring martial law and containing the Committee of Safety, but the Cabinet feared this would lead to armed conflict, and Lili`uokalani wished to avoid bloodshed to protect her people.

January 16 1893 Hundreds of Native Hawaiians and other royalists gathered peaceably at Palace Square in support of the queen, expressing loyalty to the monarchy, and carefully avoiding saying anything to provoke the tension already stirring .

At the Same time there was a mass meeting called by the Committee of Safety at the armory, the speeches were seditious. Lorrin Thurston Forcefully and self-righteously denounced the queen and asked the crowd to give the committee power to act as they felt necessary. The resolution passed amid cheers.No one Mentioned Annexation but it was it was apparently an unspoken truth understood by them all.

The Committee of Safety took a letter to Minister Stevens requesting him to land troops from the Boston, stating that "the public safety is menaced and life and property are in danger."

At 5:00 pm 162 fully armed troops from the USS Boston came on shore. A few of the marines were posted at the American Consulate and Legation, but the most of troops marched through downtown Honolulu past Iolani Palace. They were quartered less than a block from the Government Building and the palace. While the troops were ordered ashore "to protect American lives and property," their positioning that close to the palace was threatening. Members of the queen's Cabinet. The Cabinet protested to Stevens about the troops' presence but it didn't matter at this point.

The Committee of Safety had originally asked that Thurston head the government, but he said he was considered such a ,"radical mover" it would be better to choose someone more conservative. They then offered the presidency to Sanford B. Dole, another of the "mission boys," as Thurston called them. Dole accepted the presidency and submitted his resignation as a justice in Hawaii's Supreme Court.

January 17 1893 in the morning, Dole gave Stevens a letter from Thurston, asking for his recognition of the altered government, which they planned to proclaim at 3 that afternoon. The American minister told Dole, "I think you have a great opportunity."

Unfortunately Just as Dole and the Committee of Safety were about to set out to take over the Government Building, Hawaiian police stopped a wagon loaded with arms for the insurgents, so the driver shot the policeman in the shoulder. (This was the only blood shed during the revolution.) The sound of the shot drew a crowd, including the policemen who had been keeping an eye on the Committee of Safety and in the confusion they walked right into the Government Building unnoticed.

The building was unguarded and nearly deserted, and few people heard the proclamation that was read from its steps, declaring the end of the monarchy and the establishment of a provisional government as a measure until annexation to the United States could be achieved. American troops lined up nearby. Minister Stevens immediately, and prematurely, recognized the provisional government.

Jan. 17, 1893, at dusk, Queen Lili`uokalani yielded her throne under protest, with these words:

"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 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."

The queen surrendered Hawai`i's not to the revolutionaries but to the "superior force of the United States of America". Which she had believed was temporary, Sure that the American government would restore her throne once they realized what had been done!

After Yeilding the Marshall surrendered the police station and at the Barracks the Queens guards stacked up their weapons.

She Wrote out her case to the United states government and Retired to her residence(Washington place)

They took over the palace and declared martial law. Later, at its request, Minister Stevens proclaimed Hawaii a temporary protectorate and raised the American flag over government buildings. He wrote the State Department urging annexation, saying, "The Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe, and this is the golden hour for the United States to pluck it."

The provisional government had chartered a steamer, and Thurston and four others hastened to Washington with a treaty of annexation in hand. The queen's envoys were refused permission to sail on the same ship so they took their own ship and by the time they reached Washington, President Harrison had already sent the annexation treaty to the Senate.

But Harrison was about to turn over presidency over to Grover Cleveland, who replaced him and withdrew the treaty.

Lili`uokalani wrote to Cleveland requesting redress, and young Princess Ka`iulani went to Washington to appeal for the monarchy and the Hawaiian nation, impressing the president and all who met her with her beauty and dignity.

President Cleveland had special commissioner James H. Blount go to Honolulu. Blount's was to investigate what happened with the revolution, the role Minister Stevens and American troops played in it, and to determine the feelings of the people of Hawaii toward the provisional government.

Blount's fully instructions were a secret, but it was known that his word would be "paramount," concerning the United States in the Islands, so he was given the nickname "Paramount Blount."

He ordered the troops back on the USS Boston an the American flag taken down and the Hawaiian flag was put back where it belonged.

Accessible to all who wished to talk to him, he impartially heard a bunch of people from both sides. In 4 months he gathered a lot of information from interviews, letters, documents and anything else he could dig up.

Blounts Final report stated that stevens conspired to overthrow the Queen and that there was no annexationalist in the island, all of the Hawaiian people were for the Queen and restoring her power. He suggested to Put it to a vote.

On Dec. 18, 1893, President Cleveland made an eloquent speech to Congress on the Hawaiian situation.

He Spoke Harshly of the American Troops landing in Hawaii:

"This military demonstration upon the soil of Honolulu was of itself an act of war; unless made either with the consent of the government of Hawai`i or for the bona fide purpose of protecting the imperiled lives and property of citizens of the United States. But there is no pretense of any such consent on the part of the government of the queen ... the existing government, instead of requesting the presence of an armed force, protested against it. There is as little basis for the pretense that forces were landed for the security of American life and property. If so, they would have been stationed in the vicinity of such property and so as to protect it, instead of at a distance and so as to command the Hawaiian Government Building and palace. ... When these armed men were landed, the city of Honolulu was in its customary orderly and peaceful condition. ... "

The president continues:

"But for the notorious predilections of the United States minister for annexation, the Committee of Safety, which should have been called the Committee of Annexation, would never have existed.

"But for the landing of the United States forces upon false pretexts respecting the danger to life and property, the committee would never have exposed themselves to the plans and penalties of treason by undertaking the subversion of the queen's government.

"But for the presence of the United States forces in the immediate vicinity and in position to accord all needed protection and support, the committee would not have proclaimed the provisional government from the steps of the Government Building.

"And, finally, but for the lawless occupation of Honolulu under false pretexts by the United States forces, and but for Minister Stevens' recognition of the provisional government when the United States forces were its sole support and constituted its only military strength, the queen and her government would never have yielded to the provisional government, even for a time and for the sole purpose of submitting her case to the enlightened justice of the United States. ... "

"... if a feeble but friendly state is in danger of being robbed of its independence and its sovereignty by a misuse of the name and power of the United States, the United States cannot fail to vindicate its honor and its sense of justice by an earnest effort to make all possible reparation."

President Cleveland finished by placing the matter in the hands of Congress.

The Senate hearings were conducted by the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee John Tyler Morgan BUT Because of John Tyler Morgan, an annexationist No one including stevens was found to blame except the Queen.

July 4, 1894, Sanford Dole announced the inauguration of the Republic of Hawai`i, and declared himself president.

Not ready to surrender their land, many Hawaiians and other royalists gathered Arms for a counterrevolution to restore the monarchy.

January 1895 uprising, led by Robert Wilcox, the royalists were forced by government troops to retreat into the valleys behind Honolulu, and after 10 days of fighting, most of them, including Wilcox, were captured.

But their Prize catch of the day was the Queen, after a search of her home(Washington Place) the found a bunch of arms burried in the flower garden.

They imprisioned her on the second floor of Iolani palace in a corner room allowed no visitors and gaurded 24/7. Soon after she was imprisioned they presented her with papers to sign of abdication. She was led to believe that if she refused that several of her followers would be shot with treason. She Wrote:

"For myself, I would have chosen death rather than to have signed it; but it was represented to me that by my signing this paper all the persons who had been arrested, all my people now in trouble by reason of their love and loyalty toward me, would be immediately released ... the stream of blood ready to flow unless it was stayed by my pen."

Wilcox and four others were sentenced to death after everything. Many other royalists received long prison sentences and heavy fines.

Lili`uokalani wrote ''Their sentences were passed the same as though my signature had not been obtained. That they were not executed is due solely to a consideration which has been officially stated: 'Word came from the United States that the execution of captive rebels would militate against annexation.'"

the queen was charged with misprision of treason (having knowledge of treason and failing to report it) and was tried by a military commission. Her trial was held in the former throne room of the palace, where she had once greeted sovereigns and dignitaries from around the world. The prosecutors tried to humiliate her and Taunt her, but they never succeeded in destroying her dignity.

She was convicted like some common criminal and sentenced 5 years imprisonment at hard labor and a $5,000 fine. It was not carried out, but she remained a prisoner in the palace.

1896 on New Year's Day all the royalist prisoners were freed, except Lili`uokalani. She was imprisoned in the palace for 8 long months, she was allowed to return to her home, under house arrest. Towards the end of 1896 her freedom restored.

Hawaiians submitted a petition to Congress with 29,000 signatures opposing annexation, and petitions to the Republic of Hawaii, Pleading for annexation be put to a public vote. They were never given the chance to vote on the issue.

Adding to the pro-annexation argument was the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, drawing attention to the Islands' strategic position in the Pacific.

Ultimately, the annexationists won, and Grover Cleveland wrote: "I am ashamed of the whole affair."

Sovereignty of Hawaii was Officially transferred to the United States at ceremonies at `Iolani Palace on Aug. 12, 1898. Sanford Dole was appointed governor of the Territory of Hawaii. The Hawaiian anthem, ''Hawai`i Pono `I"(written by Kinga Kalakaua)played as they lowered the Hawaiian flag, Replacing it with the American Flag and playing "The Star-Spangled Banner."

March 6 1899 the beautiful young Princess. Ka'iulani heir to the Hawaiian throne Died at age 23.

Lili`uokalani was still seen by her people as their honorable beloved Queen Still to this day know as our Queen. She died in 1917, at the age of 79 Still waiting for the wrong to be set right.

How the Hawaiian People Feel about this travesty!

I am Hawaiian myself and do NOT speak for all Hawaiians but how we feel is, How could the "ever so kind and lenient Americans" have let this happen back then and CONTINUE to not right a wrong that my people have lived with for 117 years. That's ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN YEARS of chances to right a wrong, Which left a Culture Forever Scorned. Still our people Do not have the right to our own government. In fact we had an ALL HAWAIIAN SCHOOL but they took that away as well Kamehameha School. It saddens and angers me and Many of other Hawaiian people, to watch MORE being taken from our people! We got an apology (says sarcastically) But the American people continue to take from the Hawaiian people. So what good is an apology?

This is a Song by ANA KALEILANI CACERES  
(the Link it to the music Video on Youtube.com)
THEY TOOK THE LAND THEY TOOK ALOHA THEY TOOK THE QUEEN EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDNT KNOW HER
SUPRESSED IKAIKA AND THE KUPUNA GROW BIG OHANA
BUT THEY COULDNT TAKE THE MANA

We had much more culture and heart in Hawaii You can tell by the actions of the queen, So if you visit Hawaii and are curious where is all the Aloha you hear about well its dying out because something will never be forgotten.