The Turpie Resolution passed the United States Senate. Hawaii had no choice but to fend for itself. The provisional government understood the politics of the situation. They knew that annexation had to wait until President Grover Cleveland left office. They also wanted to ensure that there was no kingdom for the Queen to restore. As a result, the provisional government moved for a more permanent government.

The Republic of Hawaii came into existence on July 4, 1894. 

The constitutional convention opened with words from Sanford Dole. First, he attempted to justify the provisional government’s involvement in the coup. “I need hardly remind you of the difficult and delicate character of the duty which the Convention is called upon to perform. The monarchy after a period of decadence which was threatening and prejudicial to all public and private interests, came to a logical end-through its own plot to turn back the movement of public progress and to subjugate all national energies and aspirations in the interest of despotism.” 

At least he gave lip service to democratic tenets as he continued. 

“The Provisional Government thus springing from the ruins of the monarchy has administered public affairs until the time has come to readjust the civil system upon more representative lines.”

He even added a little levity, though I doubt he realized or meant it to be funny. It did exhibit some amount of self-awareness.

“The question whether the franchise (the right to vote) should be limited to citizens of the republic will demand your serious consideration… …in view of… …the danger of allowing those not under the obligations of citizenship and owing fealty to possible hostile governments…”

He did say one thing that I agree with.

“…the franchise is a duty or function of citizenship conferred by the State, rather than a right.”

Although, I would clarify it. I would say voting is a duty demanded of us by democracy, for the protection of our rights.

The result was a constitution that favored the provisional government. The new constitution named Sanford Dole as its first President. The government was set up much like ours. It had a bicameral legislature, but the Senate was set up to be the dominant house. There was no Vice President, but a cabinet member set up to be a temporary successor. It also allowed for a tight hold on power. It was possible for legislators to serve more than one role. They could serve concurrently as president, Cabinet, and/or Supreme Court justice. 

The House of Representatives was determined by electors, not elected by the people. This is like the way we elect the President in the United States. Imagine if the House was also determined by the electoral college. 

A vote in the legislature determined the President. This made the Senate the most influential in this vote. 

To vote for your Representative, you had to be male, twenty years old, and a naturalized citizen. The methods of naturalization were, of course, complicated. They were designed to favor those of American descent. One must have lived in Hawaii for at least a year and must have taken an oath of allegiance to the Republic of Hawaii. Voters also had to be up to date on their taxes, reregister before every election, and be able to read and write.

To vote for Senators, one had to meet all the same requirements and own property worth not less than $1,500 (~ 50K today). The Constitution empowered the Senate. It ensured that the Senate remained controlled by monied interests.

Most immigrants of Japanese, Chinese, and even European descent were excluded from voting.

The fact that royalists would not take the oath of allegiance meant they could not run for office. This led to a pro-business, pro-annexation, pro-American government. And they fell in that order. The American Union Party won all seats in the Republic’s first two elections. This made the Republic of Hawaii a de facto one-party, oligarchical state. Like too many so-called Republics around the world, they were not a republic in action. 

In January of 1895, Robert Wilcox led a three-day revolution. It would later be known as the Second Wilcox Rebellion or the Counter-Revolution. Wilcox had already led an unsuccessful rebellion following the Bayonet Constitution. This time he led a small force of combined Hawaiian, European, and Chinese citizens. 

Wilcox’s forces consisted mainly of poor day laborers. They were vastly outmanned and under-trained. The Republic spent a good part of the treasury to buy arms to protect against this possibility. The revolution consisted of three battles. The first was a victory for the rebellion, but they had lost the benefit of surprise. After the other two, the royalists were defeated and most of their leaders arrested. Small skirmishes would break out over the next week. Wilcox had hidden to carry on his work but eventually surrendered without incident. All told several revolutionaries were killed, but only one from the Republic forces.
The larger fallout from this incident came for Queen Lili’uokalani. A secret weapons cache was found in a flower bed at Washington Place, her personal house. She was arrested for supporting the rebellion. Wilcox and his coconspirators were tried for treason. She and many other political leaders were tried for misprision of treason. This means that they were aware of the treason and did not report it. 

During her trial, they attempted to humiliate and provoke her. She remained steadfast; she never took the bait. Found guilty, she was sentenced to five years imprisonment with hard labor and fined $5,000 (~180K today). Her imprisonment consisted of a large bedroom, with a piano, and bathroom at Iolani Palace. She was also allowed two maids in waiting. She never served any hard labor. The sentencing was more to humiliate than punish. 

Six of her followers did not fare as well. They were sentenced to be hanged, including Wilcox. 

The Queen was offered a deal to save their lives. If the Queen abdicated the throne, her rebels would be released, including Wilcox. With the grace of a Queen defending her people, she acquiesced. On January 24, 1895, she gave up her throne. She would explain her actions in her memoir:

“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 towards me, would be immediately released.” 

While imprisoned, the Queen composed music and crocheted to pass the time. One of her songs is the famous Aloha Oe or Farewell to Thee. She was eventually released on house arrest. In October of 1896, she received a full pardon. She decided to travel abroad. Who could blame her?

She first spent time in San Francisco before heading to Boston to visit family on her late husband’s side. Later, she would travel to Washington, D.C. where she would meet with President Cleveland and his wife. While in D.C., she stayed in the famous Cairo Hotel which was new at the time. If you visit DC today, you can still see the Cairo in Dupont Circle, serving as an apartment building. 

A fun fact: the Cairo Hotel was the catalyst for the skyscraper height limit in Washington, D.C. For those who may not know, D.C. has a law that limits most buildings to ninety feet in height. There are some exceptions, but they are few, and most need amendments to be built. 

While visiting the United States, she was well-received by all. She had parties and attended events. She was even present for President William McKinley’s (Republican) inauguration. While in Boston, she also wrote her memoir, Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen, published by Lee & Sheppard. But her goal in Washington was to promote the rights of Hawaiians and the return of her kingdom.

Unfortunately, Grover Cleveland and the Democrats were victims of the times. More accurately, they fell victim to bad Republican policies. Harrison’s policies, especially the McKinley Tariff, would plague Cleveland’s second term. The United States also suffered the Panic of 1893, brought on by the over expanded railroad. This would be the worst economic disaster the US would see until the Great Depression of the 1930s. A fight over the gold versus silver standard also didn’t help matters. Republicans took power and would hold onto it tightly for the next fourteen years.

With the inauguration of a Republican president, the subject of annexation reemerged. It only took a few months after his inauguration. McKinley returned the annexation treaty to the Senate. Notably removed were the stipends to be paid to the Queen and her heir.
The Queen, while staying in Washington, remained well informed. Learning of the treaty’s return, the Queen acted. She lodged a formal protest and provided along with it petitions from her people. These petitions rejected the idea of annexation. They were signed by over 20K Hawaiians. Only around 5,000 people had voted to enact the new constitution. 
In her memoir, she makes a note of the dire straits in which the Republic of Hawaii found itself. In its short existence, the Republic of Hawaii had become seriously indebted.

“…never had the Hawaiian government, during the days of monarchy, …been in such a position as it has… in the hands of this missionary oligarchy. It… had to borrow money several times… ask funds from the planters. …Under the monarchy there was always enough… to pay all expenses until the time …enterprising people… wanted to make money for themselves came into office.”

It’s interesting that those who claim to be “businessmen” are rarely good with money. The Senate rejected the annexation treaty, but as you know that would not be the end of it. Enterprising people do not lose interest. The Queen returned to Hawaii soon after.

Other things were happening which affected the United States during this time. In April of 1898, following the sinking of the USS Maine in March, Congress declared war on Spain. The stated goal was to support the Cuban independence movement. The secondary goal was to drive Spain out of the western hemisphere. Conflicts occurred in the Caribbean, the Philippines, and Guam. On August 12, 1898, hostilities ended. In the end, Spain surrendered in a war most historians agree they shouldn’t have fought. As a result, Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico were ceded to the United States. Cuba became a protectorate.

During this conflict, the Republic of Hawaii declared their neutrality. In action, they were anything but neutral. While fighting the war in the Pacific, Hawaii was used as a pseudo naval base of operations. It proved itself as an invaluable location in any war that would be fought in the east. The help offered by the Republic also endeared them to the American people. But the Senate still resisted annexation.

The US Constitution outlines the process for treaty ratification. We discussed this back in episodes twenty-one and twenty-two. This was during our chats about the legislative and executive branches. The Constitution assigns the job of negotiating treaties to the President. The Constitution assigns the job of approving the treaties to the Senate.

“He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur…” US Constitution Article 2 Section 2.
The popular American sentiment was moving towards support of annexation. The war accelerated this sentiment. Hawaii’s value as a base of military operations was unable to be ignored. Many in the United States government were growing concerned about Hawaii. The growing Japanese population in Hawaii made them nervous. They feared, not for the people, but for the loss of this strategic position in the Pacific. Japan was in a time of change, leaving behind their previous policy of isolationism. They were expanding their imperial power. 

Still, the Senate was not convinced that annexation was the right thing to do. Instead, a Democratic Representative from Nevada tried another way. Representative Francis Newlands introduced a joint resolution of annexation in the House. (A joint resolution is a bill that requires identical passage in both houses.) 

There is a major difference between a resolution and a treaty. A resolution only requires a simple majority of both houses. A treaty requires two thirds of the Senate to approve. With this political stunt, annexation gained approval. The Newlands Resolution passed both houses of Congress in July of 1898. The hope that annexation would be put to a vote in Hawaii and the kingdom restored, was now over.

On August 12, 1898, the Hawaiian flag was lowered over Iolani Palace. In its place rose the stars and stripes of the United States. From the smoldering ashes of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the Territory of Hawaii would emerge. The Queen and most native Hawaiians shuttered themselves in their homes. They refused to take part in the annexation events, celebrations, and ceremonies.

Following annexation, Grover Cleveland, now retired, wrote to his former Attorney General. “Hawaii is ours. As I look back upon the first steps in this miserable business, and as I contemplate the means used to complete the outrage, I am ashamed of the whole affair.”

It is important to note that a territory is not a state. I know that may seem obvious, but I don’t think that most understand the difference. A state is entitled to the full protections of the Constitution. A territory is not. A territory is only afforded rights extended by Congress. They hold only one seat in the House of Representatives. This is a non-voting seat, so they have no say in government, not even their own. The governor is appointed (and can be removed) by the President and confirmed by the Senate, as are judges.

The American backed government of the Territory of Hawaii went into effect on April 30, 1900. It was established under the Organic Act of 1900. The most important thing to note was that citizens had to be able to read, write, and speak English to vote. This literacy requirement prevented many non-white residents from being able to vote. It also stipulated that new immigrants, since annexation, could not become American citizens.
The Newlands Resolution had outlined a commission. Its purpose was to study what new laws Hawaii might need. This included the management of public lands and a government framework. This commission had no native members. It included Sanford Dole, the former Republic's Chief Justice, and three US congressmen. The commission’s report was hotly debated in Congress. This is why it took from 1898 until 1900 to establish an official territorial government.

Their biggest concern was racist in origin (of course). They feared an elected territorial government would result in a nonwhite majority. This would make statehood difficult, as the idea of a state with a nonwhite majority was not popular. True all over the US, this was especially true among the southern states. Typical of racist Americans of the time, “We’ll take your land, resources, and money, but we don’t want your people.” This would hang over Hawaiian statehood for far too long.

The territorial government suited the usurpers fine. The oligarchy that had run the Republic of Hawaii was not interested in democracy, only in profit. Annexation provided them that in spades. Producers were no longer burdened by tariffs. Hawaiian sugar and other goods flowed freely (and cheaply) into the continental US.

The annexation of Hawaii proved to be a boon for business. The oligarchy referred to as the “Big Five” consisted of (you guessed it) five corporations. This group of businessmen had serious influence over the Hawaiian government. These five sugar conglomerates controlled 90% of the sugar business. Through collusion, they kept prices favorable to them to ensure maximum profit. The Big Five favored the Republican Party of Hawaii. 

We also began to see the rise of the pineapple industry shortly after annexation. Sanford Dole’s cousin, James Dole, purchased land in 1899 and planted pineapples. The Hawaiian Pineapple Company, later the Dole Food Company, was born. By 1922, they would produce 75% of the world’s pineapples. This would result in the island of Lanai earning the moniker “Pineapple Island.”

The first delegate to Congress was Robert Wilcox. Yep, the same Robert Wilcox who led revolutions and had almost hung for it. The Home Rule Party, which supported the native population’s rights, elected him. An outspoken populist, he was not very popular in Washington. He also did not support American actions in the Philippines. He only served one term.

Jonah Kuhio, a prince of the kingdom of Hawaii, was the next elected delegate, running as a Republican. Though he had no voting power, he did introduce the first Hawaiian Statehood Act in 1919. It did not receive much attention. He was reelected ten times and served until his death in 1922.

After annexation in 1898, the territorial government took control of the Crown Lands. These are lands that had been set aside specifically for the ruling monarch. Allocated during the Great Mahele in 1848, they had never been owned by the government. It was the intention of the king, at the time, that these lands would descend to his successors. 
The law designating them noted that the Crown Lands:

“shall be henceforth inalienable, and shall descend to the heirs and successors of the Hawaiian Crown forever.”

Lili’uokalani filed a protest with the US Senate requesting the return of the land. She claimed they were seized without due process or recompense. When the act to create the government passed in 1900, it included a section that denied her claims. Frustrated, the Queen decided to file a lawsuit, and the case went to court in 1909. She lost her case based on precedence from a case decided in Hawaii in 1864. In that case, the Crown Lands were found to not necessarily be the private possession of the monarch. 

The Queen continued to unsuccessfully seek indemnification from the US government. Finally, in 1911, the Territory of Hawaii granted her a pension of $1,250.00 (about 40K today) a month. The legality of it all was never addressed. 

In April of 1917 during World War I, a German U-boat would sink the SS Aztec (a US cargo ship). On board were five Hawaiian sailors who lost their life. The Queen raised the American flag over her home at Washington Place in honor of those sailors. Her act of raising the flag has been the subject of controversy. Some believe that she was signaling her support for the United States. Other historians believe she was honoring her people’s right to choose their own fate. 

On November 11, 1917, Queen Lili’uokalani passed away. She was seventy-nine. The last ruler of Hawaii was gone. Her body lay in state for public viewing, and she received a state funeral in the throne room of Iolani Palace. The funeral procession was also filmed, a fairly new invention at the time. Unfortunately, the home where it was stored was destroyed by fire in 1921. The last visage of Hawaiian nobility was reduced to ash.