Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Number 1, 1 September 1981 Edition 02 — The Overthrow of the [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Overthrow of the

by Me/ody Maekei (Nh

o n the morning of Saturday, January 14, 1893, a crowd gathered outside I'olani Palaee to await announcement of a new constitution whieh would restore the liberties of the Hawaiian monarch and people. Since coming to the throne in 1892, Lili'uokalani had felt oppressed by the Constitution of 1887 under whieh she was forced to govern. It severly limited her powers and required that all of her acts be done with the consent of a cabinet. It gave the vote to non-citizen Ameriean and European males who had resided in Hawaii a number of years and made the House of Nobles, onee appointed by the Monarch, an elective office. At the same time, it set property qualifications for running or even voting for office so high that 3 out of 4 native Hawaiians were excluded from voting. The total effect was to increase the political power of the Western business community to an overwhelming extent. As the crowd waited outside, within the Palaee, the Queen's Cabinet Ministers, fearing that the reaction from the white business community would be violent, urged Lili'uokalani to postpone her proclamation for two weeks. The Queen yielded to their advice and asked the crowd to return to their homes and keep the peaee. Rumors of the Queen's new constitution spread throughout Honolulu and a group of angry men gathered at the downtown law offices of William O. Smith. These men controlled the economy and most of the private property of Hawaii and were avid annexationists. In 1882, they had formed an Annexation Club and sent Lorrin Thurston to Washington, D.C. to assess the U.S. Government's view of the matter. There, the Secretary of the Navy, after meeting with President Harrison, told Thurston that "The President . . . authorizes me to say to you that, if conditions in Hawaii eompel you to act as you have indicated, and you eome to Washington with an annexation proposition, you will find an exceedingly sympathetic administration here." President Harrison was not the only one sympathetic to the annexation cause; closer to home, the U.S. Minister to Hawaii, John L. Stevens, had written in 1892: Destiny and the vast future interest of the United States in the Pacific clearly indicate who at no distant day must be responsib!e for the government of these islands. Under a Territorial government they could be as easily governed as any of the existing territories of the United States ... I ean not now refrain from expressing the opinion with emphasis that the golden hour is near at hand. Meeting now in Smith's office, the men decided to form a 13 member Committee of Public Safety. The Committee, 12 of whom belonged to the Annexation Club, passed a motion proposing the abolition of the monarchy and annexation to the United States. A special subcommittee, led by Lorrin Thurston and W.O. Smith, immediately visited U.S. Minister Stevens to seek his support. According to Smith, Stevens replied that troops on board the U.S.S. Boston, anchored in Honolulu Harbor, "would be ready to land any moment to prevent the destruction of American life and property, and in regard to the matter of establishing a provisional government, they of course would recognize the existing government whatever it might be."

That evening, Committee members meeting at Thurston's house, worked late into the night formulating plans and drafting documents for a provisional government. Among the men, was Sanford B. Dole, associate justice of the Hawaiian Supreme Court, who later wrote that they were encouraged in their revolutionary plans because "we knew that the United States minister was in sympathy with us . . . " Early Sunday, January 15th, Thurston met with two members of the Queen's Cabinet and informed them that the Committee of Safety would not let matters rest, but intended to declare the throne vacant. In an attempt to head off further trouble, the Queen's Cabinet prepared a proclamation for her signature stating that the matter of a new constitution was at an end. Cabinet members also called upon Minister Stevens to leam what actions he would take in the event of an armed insurrection. Stevens made it clear that he would not side with Lili'uokalani. At the home of W.R. Castle, the Committee of Safety also met and called for a mass public meeting the next day. Later, Thurston and Smith again visited Minister Stevens to tell him of the Committee's plans and to ask his support in case of arrest. Smith reports that Stevens "gave assurances of his earnest purpose to afford all the protection that was in his power ..." The following morning, Monday, January 16th, the proclamation drafted by the Queen's ministers was issued. At the same time, the Committee of Safety was meeting and sent a letter to Stevens requesting the landing of American troops. The letter ended with the plea: We are unable to protect ourselves without aid, and therefore, pray for the protection of the United States forces. In the afternoon, two public meetings were held, one called by the Queen's supporters, the other by the Committee of Safety. At this meeting, emotions ran high. Thurston spoke and recited the events leading to the meeting, offered a resolution condemning the actions of the Queen, and asked the meeting to authorize the Committee to take necessary action. Aboard the Boston, preparations already had begun for landing U.S. troops. Around 3 p.m., Minister Stevens formally requested troops "as a precautionary measure to protect American life and property." Between 4 and 5 p.m. a detachment of heavily armed marines landed in Honolulu. The men, upward of

a 160 in all, marched down King Street, past the palaee and halted briefly across from Kawaiaha'o Church. Just before dark, they continued along King Street to the Atherton estate at King and Alapai. Four hours later, the troops marched back down King Street to Anon Hall, across from the palaee and next to the government building, where they spent the night.

Admiral J.S. Skerrett, the ranking naval officer in Honolulu, laterstatedthat the location of the troops was inadvisable for the protection of American lives and property but "if they were landed to support the provisional government troops, . . . it was a wise ehoiee." That night, the Committee of Safety again met and named the advisory and executive councils for the new provisional government. Sanford Dole was asked to serve as President. On the moming of Tuesday, January 17th, Dole visited Minister Stevens with a letter setting forth the Committee's intended action. Dole recounts that Stevens "did not say mueh, but I remember that he said: '1 think you have a great opportunity." The Queen, upon receiving word that the Committee of Safety was recruiting men and arms, and alarmed by the presence of U.S. troops, sent a note to Minister Stevens giving him assurances that the present constitution would be upheld. When no reply was received, the Queen's Cabinet drove to the Amenean legation to appeal to Stevens. But Stevens would give no help and, a Cabinet member later c!aimed, that he would protect the insurgents if they were attacked. Meanwhile, the Committee of Safety had completed its statement deposing the Queen, and a volunteer army had been ordered to assemble the Armory. Members of the Committee, led by Dole, proceeded to the government building

where they took possession without a struggle . From the steps of the building, a proclamation was read declaring that the existing government was overthrown and a provisional government established in its plaee, "to exist until terms of union with the United States of America have been negotiated and agreed upon." The insurgents immediately requested recognition from Minister Stevens, and sometime between 4:20 and 5 p.m., before the Queen and her forces had yielded, Stevens provided it. Lili'uokalani gives this account of the day: At about two-thirty p.m., Tuesday, the establishment of the Provisional Government was proclaimed; and nearly fifteen minutes later Mr. J.S. Walker eame and told me 'that he had eome on a painful duty, that the opposition party had requested that I shou!d abdicate.' I told him that I had no idea of doing so . . . I immediately sent for (my cabinet ministers and advisors). The situation being taken into eonsideration, it was found that, since the troops of tbe United States had been landed to support the revolutionists, by the order of the

According to Smith, Stevens replieā that troops on board the U.S.S. Boston, anchored in Honolulu Harbor, "would be ready to land any moment ..."

"Between 4 and 5 p.m. a detachment of heavily armed marines landed in Honolulu."

Dole recounts that Stevens "did not say mueh, but I remember that he said: 'I think you have a great opportunity. "

A peaceful and proud I'olani Palaee

I'olani Palaee, sandbagged and barricaded by soldiers . . . 1893.