"Liliʻuokalani".
Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii (September 2, 1838 – November 11, 1917), originally named Lydia Kamakaeha, also known as Lydia Kamakaeha Paki, with the chosen royal name of Liliuokalani, and later named Lydia K. Dominis, was the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
On September 16, 1862, she married John Owen Dominis, who became Governor of Oahu and Maui. They had no children; Liliuokalani's heiress for several years was her niece Victoria Kaiulani (1875–1899), although Kaiulani predeceased her.
Liliuokalani inherited the throne from her brother Kalākaua on January 17, 1891. Shortly after she gained power, she tried to enact a new constitution, since the existing constitution, known as the Bayonet Constitution, limited her power. American and European Hawaiians, threatened by the elimination of suffrage by the queen's proposed constitution, asserted that the queen had "virtually abdicated" by trying to subvert the constitution she swore an oath to, and organized to depose her. Besides the threatened loss of suffrage, business interests within the Kingdom were concerned about the removal of foreign tariffs in the American sugar trade due to the McKinley Act (which effectively eliminated the favored status of Hawaiian sugar due to the Reciprocity Treaty), and considered the possibility of annexation to the United States (and enjoying the same sugar bounties as domestic producers) as a welcome side effect of ending the monarchy. During the overthrow in 1893 the American minister in Hawaii at the time, John L. Stevens, ordered troops from the U.S.S. Boston ashore, to protect American businesses and property. The Queen was deposed on January 17, 1893, and a provisional government was instituted.
The administration of Grover Cleveland commissioned the Blount Report, and based on its findings believed that the overthrow of Liliuokalani was illegal and offered November 16, 1893 to give the throne back to her if she granted amnesty to everyone responsible. She initially refused, saying that she would have them beheaded. With this development, then-President Grover Cleveland sent the issue to the United States Congress. Although she changed her mind on December 18, 1893, and U.S. Minister Willis demanded her reinstatement by the Provisional Government, the Provisional Government refused. Congress responded to Cleveland's referral with another investigation, and submitted the Morgan Report by the U.S. Senate on February 26, 1894, which exonerated both Minister Stevens and the U.S. troops from any responsibility for the overthrow. On July 4, 1894, the Republic of Hawaii was proclaimed and Sanford B. Dole, one of the first people who originally called on the institution of the monarchy to be abolished, became President. It was recognized immediately by the United States government.
Liliuokalani was arrested on January 16, 1895 (several days after a failed counterrevolution by Robert Wilcox) when firearms were found in the gardens of her home; she denied knowing that they were there. She was sentenced to five years of hard labor in prison and fined $5000, but the sentence was commuted to imprisonment in an upstairs bedroom of Iolani Palace until she was released in 1896, with the establishment of the Republic of Hawaii. She went home to Washington Place, where she lived as a private citizen until her death in 1917 due to complications from a stroke. Hawaii was annexed to the United States through a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress in 1898.
Failing in her attempt to regain the throne, she formally renounced her royal claims. Much of the remainder of her life was spent in the United States, where she unsuccessfully entered against the federal government claims totaling $450,000 for property and other losses. The territorial legislature of Hawaii finally voted her an annual pension of $4,000 and permitted her to receive the income from a sugar plantation of 6,000 acres (24 km²). She spent the rest of her life in the house of her father-in-law and later died of a stroke.
Liliuokalani was an accomplished author and songwriter. Her book, Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, told the history of her country. Some of her best-known musical compositions include the anthem, "Aloha Oe," which she composed during her captivity (also known as "Farewell to Thee"). This was the end of the Hawaiian Monarchy.
i]]|before=Kalākaua as King of Hawaii|after=Sanford B. Dole - President of the Republic of Hawaii 1893-1900 and as Governor of the Territory of Hawaii 1900-1903|years=1891 - 1893}}
1838 births | 1917 deaths | Royal Family of Hawaii | Queens regnant | Hawaiian writers | Hawaiian songwriters
Liliuokalani | Reina Liliuokalani | Liliuokalani | Liliuokalani | Lydia Liliuokalani | 릴리우오칼라니 | Liliuokalani | リリウオカラニ (ハワイ女王) | Liliuokalani | Liliuokalani | Краљица Лилиуокалани | Kuningatar Liliuokalani | Lili'uokalani | 利留卡拉尼女王
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the "Liliʻuokalani".
Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world