Queen Lydia
Liliuokalani Queen Lydia
Liliuokalani Queen Liliuokalani was the last reigning monarch
of the Hawaiian islands. She felt her mission was to preserve the islands
for their native residents. In 1898, Hawaii was annexed to the United States
and Queen Liliuokalani was forced to give up her throne.
Queen Liliuokalani was deposed by the advocates of a Republic for Hawaii
in 1893. She was born in Honolulu to high chief Kapaakea and the chiefess
Keohokalole, the third of ten children. Her brother was King Kalakaua. Liliuokalanie
was adopted at birth by Abner Paki and his wife Konia. At age 4, her adoptive
parents enrolled her in the Royal School. There she became fluent in English
and influenced by Congregational missionaries. She also became part of the
royal circle attending Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma.
Liliuokalanie married a ha'ole, John Owen Dominis on September 16, 1862.
Dominis would eventually serve the monarchy as the Governor of O'ahu and
Maui. They had no children and according to her private papers and diaries,
the marriage was not fulfilling. Dominis died shortly after she assumed
the throne, and the queen never remarried.
Upon the death of her brother, King Kalakauam Liliuokalani ascended the
throne of Hawaii in January 1891. One of her first acts was to recommend
a new Hawaii constitution, as the "Bayonet Constitution" of 1887
limited the power of the monarch and political power of native Hawaiians.
In 1890, the McKinley Tariff began to cause a recession in the islands by
withdrew the safeguards ensuring a mainland market for Hawaiian sugar. American
interests in Hawaii began to consider annexation for Hawaii to re-establish
an economic competitive position for sugar. In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani
sought to empower herself and Hawaiians through a new constitution which
she herself had drawn up and now desired to promulgate as the new law of
the land. It was Queen Liliuokalani's right as a sovereign to issue a new
constitution through an edict from the throne. A group led by Sanford B.
Dole sought to overthrow the institution of the monarchy. The American minister
in Hawaii, John L. Stevens, called for troops to take control of Iolani
Palace and various other governmental buildings. In 1894, the Queen, was
deposed, the monarchy abrogated, and a provisional government was established
which later became the Republic of Hawaii.
In 1893, James H. Blount, newly appointed American minister to Hawaii, arrived
representing President Grover Cleveland. Blount listened to both sides,
annexationists and restorationists, and concluded the Hawaiian people aligned
with the Queen. Blount and Cleveland agreed the Queen should be restored.
Blount's final report implicated the American minister Stevens in the illegal
overthrow of Liliuokalani. Albert S. Willis, Cleveland's next American minister
offered the crown back to the Queen on the condition she pardon and grant
general amnesty to those who had dethroned her. She initially refused but
soon she changed her mind and offered clemency. This delay compromised her
political position and President Cleveland had released the entire issue
of the Hawaiian revolution to Congress for debate. The annexationists promptly
lobbied Congress against restoration of the monarchy. On July 4, 1894, the
Republic of Hawaii with Sanford B. Dole as president was proclaimed. It
was recognized immediately by the United States government.
In 1895, Liliuokalani was arrested and forced to reside in Iolani Palace after a cache of weapons was found in the gardens of her home in Washington Place. She denied knowing of the existence of this cache and was reportedly unaware of others' efforts to restore the royalty. In 1896, she was released and returned to her home at Washington Place where she lived for the next two decades. Hawaii was annexed to the United States through a joint resolution of the U. S. Congress in 1898 . The "ex-"queen died due to complications from a stroke in 1917. A statue of her was erected on the grounds of the State Capital in Honolulu.
