Up to the year 1898 the United States was confined to the
continent of North America. In that year it made a great
stride outward over the oceans, adding to its dominion the
island of Porto Rico in the West India waters and the
archipelagoes of the Philippine and Hawaiian Islands in the
far Pacific. Porto Rico and the Philippines were added as a
result of the war with Spain. As to how Hawaii was acquired
it is our purpose here to tell.
Midway in the North Pacific lies this interesting group of
islands, first made known to the world by Captain Cook, the
famous English discoverer, in 1778, and annexed to the
United States one hundred and twenty years later. Before
telling the story of their acquisition a few words as to
their prior history will he in place.
Called by Captain Cook the Sandwich Islands, after the
English Earl of Sandwich, they afterwards became known as
the Hawaiian Islands, from the native name of the largest
island of the group, and are now collectively known as
Hawaii in their new position as a Territory of the United
States.
When Captain Cook visited this locality he found the islands
inhabited by a friendly, kind-hearted people, disposed to
receive their visitors in a hospitable spirit. But, in the
usual way of sailors and discoverers dealing with the
primitive races, quarrels soon developed, some of the
natives were shot, one of them by Cook himself, and in the
fight that followed the great sailor and discoverer lost his
life.
At that time each of the islands was governed by a chief, or
king if we may call him so, who had absolute authority over
his people. Greatest among them was Kamehameha, heir to the
throne of Hawaii, who was present when Captain Cook was
killed. Bold and ambitious and invested by nature with
political genius, this chief conceived the idea of making
himself master of all the islands and subjecting their
chiefs to his rule.
A shrewd and able man, he was quick to perceive that the
strangers who soon began to visit the islands were far
superior to the natives in arms and ability and he decided
to use them for his ends. In a fight with some American fur
traders a schooner, the "Fair American," was taken by the
islanders, and two Americans, Isaac Davis and John Young,
were made prisoners. With them the new chief obtained the
cannon, muskets and ammunition of the "Fair American." Thus
equipped, the Napoleon of Hawaii set out on his career of
conquest.
Kindly treatment made the two Americans, Davis and Young,
his faithful friends and subjects, and they proved his
mainstay in the work of conquest. It was no easy matter,
even with his cannon and muskets. The chiefs of the other
islands resisted him fiercely, and it took many years, with
all the stern will and unyielding perseverance of Kamehameha
and the ability and courage of his two able lieutenants, to
subdue them all. Davis and Young were amply rewarded, with
honors and lands, for their services, and some of their
descendants still dwell on the islands.
While this work of conquest was going on many vessels
visited the islands, missionaries made their way thither,
Christianity was introduced and idolatry abolished, and many
of the arts of civilization found their way inward. Then
settlers other than missionaries came, many of them from
America, and a white population was added to the aboriginal.
Sugar-cane grew in abundance on the islands and sugar-mills
were introduced. Other industries were established. The
great fertility of the islands attracted speculators, the
lands rose in value, and great fortunes were made. Such is,
briefly, the industrial history of these islands.
[Illustration: A NATIVE GRASS HUT, HAWAII.]
The political history is not without its interest. Five
kings of the name of Kamehameha reigned in succession. Of
these, Kamehameha III., under American advice, gave up his
absolute rule, founded a constitutional government and
distributed the lands among the people. After the
Kamehamehas came King Lunalio, who ruled but one year, and
Kalakaua, who ruled from 1874 to 1891 and showed such a
disposition to return to absolutism that the people were in
constant dread for their liberties and lands. It was only by
a revolt of the people that they regained their rights,
forcing him to grant them a new constitution and their
former liberties and privileges.
The next and last monarch of Hawaii was a woman,
Liliuokalani, the sister of Kalakaua. She was the wife of an
Englishman, Mr. J.O. Dominis, and on a visit to London had
been entertained by Queen Victoria. Her rearing and
education had been under the influence of American
missionaries, and the whites of the islands, who had been in
constant fear of the late king, hailed her accession to the
throne with joy, with the expectation that they would have
in her a good friend. They soon found themselves
disappointed.
The extravagance and ill rule of Kalakaua had left the
country in a wretched state. It was deeply in debt and the
much needed public improvements were at a standstill. The
country had long been divided between two parties, the
missionary and the anti-missionary, the former seeking to
save the natives from vice and degradation, the latter
encouraging such vicious practices as lotteries and opium
sales for their personal benefit.
Under Kalakaua these ill weeds had gained full growth and
the new queen soon showed a disposition to encourage them.
Her whole nature seemed to change, her former friends were
cast aside and new favorites adopted, and though she had a
personal income of about $70,000, it was far from sufficing
for her needs.
To add to her income the agents of the Louisiana Lottery
were encouraged and the opium smugglers found little
interference with their nefarious traffic, while the
frequent changes of the queen's ministers kept the people in
a state of doubt and uneasiness.
At what was called the long term of the legislature laws
were passed favoring the lottery and the opium dealers. The
session was protracted until the grinding season for the
sugar-cane, when a number of the best members were obliged
to return to their plantations, and in their absence the
lottery and opium bills were rushed through.
Many of the Christian ladies of Honolulu now called on the
queen and implored her to veto this pernicious legislation,
which would turn their country into a den of gambling and
infamy. She wept with them over the situation and the good
ladies knelt and prayed that God would help their queen in
the terrible ordeal before her. They left the palace feeling
sure that the country was safe from the dread affliction--an
hour later the queen signed both bills and they became laws.
The passage of these bills created intense indignation. All
felt that it was a piece of treachery and fraud, those who
gave the queen any credit for good intentions looking upon
her as weak and vacillating and utterly under the influence
of bad advisers.
As yet, however, no thought of revolution had arisen. It was
imagined that the worst stage had been reached. But when the
announcement was made the next day that the queen was about
to declare a new constitution the most vivid dread and
alarm were aroused. Feeling now secure of a revenue from the
proceeds of the lottery and the opium trade, Queen
Liliuokalani no longer hesitated to show her hand. The
proposed new constitution was a scheme for a return to
absolute monarchy, one under which every white man on the
islands, unless married to a Hawaiian woman, would be
deprived of the right to vote.
The act was a fatal one to her reign. It precipitated a
revolution which quickly brought her queenship to an end.
The steps which led to this result are well worth relating.
The ceremony of proroguing the legislature ended, the queen
returned to the palace with the purpose of immediately
proclaiming the new constitution. In the procession to the
palace the native society called the "Hui Kalaiaina" marched
in a double line, its president carrying a large package
containing the constitution. A throng of Hawaiians
surrounded the palace gates and filled the grounds near the
front entrance to the building, the queen's guard being
drawn up under arms.
In the throne room the native society which had escorted the
queen ranged themselves in regular lines, their president,
Alapai, having in his hand an address which he proposed to
deliver. Most of the native members of the legislature were
also present, some members of the diplomatic corps being
with them.
While they waited, the cabinet was assembled in the blue
room, to which they had been summoned by the queen. Here a
striking scene took place. Liliuokalani placed before them a
copy of the new constitution and bade them sign it, saying
that she proposed to promulgate it at once. She met with an
outspoken opposition.
"Your Majesty, we have not read that constitution," said Mr.
Parker, Secretary of Foreign Affairs. "And before we read it
we must advise you that this is a revolutionary act. It
cannot be done."
An angry reply came from the queen, and an animated
discussion followed, in which the cabinet officials said
that a meeting had just been held with the foreign
representatives and that if she persisted there was danger
of an insurrection.
"It is your doing," she replied. "I would not have
undertaken this step if you had not encouraged me to do so.
You have led me to the brink of a precipice and are now
leaving me to take the leap alone. Why not give the people
this constitution? You need have no fear. I will bear the
brunt of all the blame afterwards."
The cabinet stood firm, Mr. Peterson, the Attorney General,
repeating:
"We have not read the constitution."
"How dare you say that," she exclaimed, "when you have had
it in your possession for a month."
The dispute grew more violent as it went on. The cabinet
declined to resign when asked by her to do so, whereupon she
threatened that if they would not accede to her wishes she
would go to the palace door and tell the mob outside that
she wished to give them a new constitution but that her
ministers had prevented her from doing so.
At this threat three of the ministers left the room and
escaped from the building. They remembered the fate of
certain representatives who fell into the hands of a
Hawaiian mob in 1874. Mr. Parker alone had the courage to
remain. He feared that if the queen were left alone she
would sign the instrument herself, and proclaim it to the
people, telling them that her cabinet refused to comply with
her wishes and seeking to rouse against them the wrath of
the unthinking mob, whose only idea of the situation was
that the white men were opposing their queen.
The cabinet stood between two fires, that of the supporters
of the queen on the one hand and that of the white people of
Honolulu on the other. The report of the fleeing members
raised the excitement of the latter to the boiling pitch. A
Committee of Safety was at once organized, and held its
first meeting with closed doors.
"Gentlemen," said a member of this committee, "we are
brought face to face with this question; what shall we do?"
The discussion ended in a motion by the Hon. A.L. Thurston,
to the effect that "preliminary steps be taken at once to
form a provisional government, with a view to annexation to
the United States of America."
Meanwhile a sub-committee had waited on the United States
Minister, Mr. John L. Stevens, asking him to give them the
support of the United States troops on board the "Boston."
"Gentlemen," he replied, "I have no authority to involve the
United States Government in your revolution. I will request
to have troops landed to protect American life and property,
but for no other purpose."
Left to their own resources, the revolutionary party
determined to go on with the enterprise, even if their own
lives should be lost in the effort to prevent the tyranny of
the queen. The Committee of Safety collected and stored arms
in convenient places, finally taking all these arms to the
barracks of the committee.
This brought about the first collision. It was shortly after
noon on January 17, 1893, that three of the revolutionists,
John Good, Edwin Benner and Edward Parris, with a man named
Fritz, were taking some arms in a wagon to the barracks. A
policeman, who had been watching the store from which the
arms were taken, seized the bridle of the horse and cried:
"Surrender."
"What shall I do?" asked Benner.
"Go on!" roared Good.
Benner made a cut at the policeman with his whip and tried
to drive on. The man let go the bridle and blew his whistle,
bringing two other policemen quickly to his aid. One tried
to climb into the front of the wagon, but was knocked
senseless by Benner, while the other, who attacked in the
rear, was roughly handled by Parris and Fritz.
The wagon now drove on, but got entangled in a block of two
street cars and a truck. Other policemen came running up and
a fight ensued, one of the officers putting his hand into
his pocket as if to draw a weapon.
"Look out, he is going to shoot," cried a voice from one of
the cars.
Good instantly drew his pistol, and crying, "Benner, it's
life or death; if we must, we must," he fired.
The policeman fell, with a ball in his shoulder. The wagon
by this time had got loose from the block and was driven
furiously away, reaching the barracks without further
trouble.
That wounded policeman constituted the sole list of dead and
wounded in the revolution. Men were rapidly gathering about
the barracks, two companies of armed men soon marched up,
and a proclamation was read to the following effect:
"The Hawaiian monarchical system of government is hereby
abrogated.
"A provisional government for the control and management of
public affairs and the protection of the public is hereby
established, to exist until terms of union with the United
States of America have been negotiated and agreed upon."
These were the essential clauses of the proclamation that
overthrew the Hawaiian government, the armed insurgents now
marching to the palace, where they found no one but a
highly indignant woman, the queen, deserted by all and in a
violent state of excitement. Her soldiers, who were in the
police station, made no effort to help her, and the only
thing needed to complete the work of the revolution was the
capture of this station. This was done without a blow being
struck and the revolution was complete. In this easy way a
government more than a century old was overturned and a new
one installed in its place.
But the end was not yet. The United States had still to be
heard from. Minister Stevens and Captain Wiltse of the
"Boston" had landed troops to protect the interests of
American citizens and from this incident trouble arose. The
revolution in Hawaii took place January 17, 1893, when
President Harrison, then in office, had little more than six
weeks to serve. Harrison favored annexation of the new ocean
republic, a treaty was prepared and sent to the Senate, but
before it could be acted upon the 4th of March arrived and a
new man, with new views, came in to fill the Presidential
chair.
President Cleveland's views were startlingly new. He
believed that the success of the revolution was due to the
act of Minister Stevens and Captain Wiltse in landing
troops, that the queen had been illegally removed, and sent
the Hon. Albert S. Willis to Honolulu to unseat President
Dole of the new republic and restore Queen Liliuokalani to
the throne.
This would undoubtedly have been done but for the dethroned
queen herself, who showed a sanguinary spirit that put poor
Mr. Willis, a man of kindly nature and humane sympathies, in
an embarrassing situation. The President expected the queen,
if restored, to show a spirit of forgiveness to the
revolutionists and his agent was decidedly taken aback by
her answers to his questions.
"Should you be restored to the throne," he asked, "would you
grant full amnesty as to life and property to all those
persons who have been or who are now in the provisional
government?"
The queen's answer, slowly and hesitatingly given, was:
"There are certain laws of my government by which I shall
abide. My decision would be, as the law directs, that such
persons should be beheaded and their property confiscated."
Here was a mediæval decision with a vengeance. In spite of
all that Willis could plead, the savagely inclined queen
stuck to her ultimatum. The utmost she would yield was that
these persons "must be exiled or otherwise punished, and
their property confiscated."
The tidings of this ultimatum put President Cleveland in an
awkward dilemma. The beheading idea was too much for him and
the affair dragged on until the following December, when the
ex-queen generously consented to let Dole and his friends
keep their heads, on condition of leaving the country and
losing their property. Finally, when told that she could not
have the throne on any such conditions, she experienced a
change of heart and agreed to grant full amnesty.
When news of what was in view reached Honolulu there was
intense excitement. It was expected that marines would be
landed from the warship "Philadelphia" and "Adams" to
restore the queen and a determination to resist them arose.
The capital was entrenched with sand-bag breastworks, the
batteries were manned and armed, and men were stationed to
fight. As for President Dole and his cabinet, they were in a
quandary. It was finally decided to make only a show of
opposition to the landing of the marines, but after they had
restored the queen and retired, to capture her again and
resume business as a republic.
Their alarm had no real foundation. There had never been an
intention to land the marines. The President knew well that
he had no authority to land marines for such a purpose, and
in his message referred the whole matter to Congress--where
it slept.
Yet the ex-queen and her supporters did not sleep. Finding
that there was no hope of bringing the United States into
the squabble, they organized a counter-revolution of their
own, smuggled arms into the country, and in January, 1895,
the new insurrection broke out. Great secrecy was
maintained. The night of Sunday, January 5, was fixed for
the outbreak. In the evening President Dole and his cabinet
and many other officials of the republic would be at the
service in the Central Union Church and it would be easy to
blow up the whole government with a bomb.
Unluckily for the conspirators, their first capture was that
of some whiskey, and inspired by this they began celebrating
their victory in advance. Yelling and shooting on Sunday
afternoon alarmed the authorities and suspicion of something
wrong was aroused. An attempt to search a suspected house
for arms led to a fight in which one man was killed and
others wounded. News of the insurrection were taken to the
church and whispered to the members of the National Guard
and the government, who slipped quietly out. The pastor,
oblivious to this circumstance, went on with his sermon, but
uneasiness arose in the congregation, and when at last the
clatter of cavalry and the roll of artillery were heard
passing the church all order was at an end. The worshippers
rushed into the street in a mass, the preacher following.
Within ten minutes a state of peace had been changed into
one of war.
The most intense excitement prevailed. No one knew anything
of the numbers or location of the enemy. They were at length
found, in large force, in the hollow basin or crater of
Diamond Head, so strongly posted that they could not be
dislodged from the side of the land. A tug was therefore
sent, with a howitzer, to shell them from the sea, while a
fierce land attack was kept up, and before night on Monday
they were driven out of their stronghold and in full flight.
Another fight took place at Punchbowl Hill, in the rear of
Honolulu, lasting an hour, though with little loss. Tuesday
was spent in searching for the enemy and on Wednesday
another sharp fight took place, they being again defeated.
Before the end of the week the affair was at an end, and the
ex-queen arrested as one of the conspirators. Her premises
were found to be a regular magazine of arms and artillery.
Lilioukalani now found Hawaii too hot to hold her and sought
a new home in the United States, and the republic went on
peaceably until 1898, when, the war with Spain then being in
progress and a new President in the chair, a new and
successful effort for its annexation was made. The bill for
its admission was signed by President McKinley on July 7,
and the Hawaiian group became an outlying possession of the
United States. It was made an American Territory in 1900.