the Hawaiian Kingdom and its future

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Brief History

By the mid-Nineteenth Century, the Hawaiian Kingdom was a progressive, literate, flourishing, peaceful, independent, Christian nation, conducting lively trade and discourse among the nations of the world. Hawaii’s enlightened leaders had instituted a constitutional form of government in 1840 (long before many other nations), and became the first non-Euro/American member of the Family of Nations. The Hawaiian monarchy also entered into formal relationships with the crown heads of Europe, Asia and the Pacific. The Hawaiian Kingdom initiated an association of the nations of Oceania. The Hawaiian Kingdom had more than 90 diplomatic legations around the world.

In January 1893, without provocation and without warning, the United States landed marines in Honolulu to support a coup d’etat of the Hawaiian Kingdom government by a handful of powerful businessmen. To avoid needless bloodshed, the Queen, Liliuokalani, wisely yielded to the superior power of the United States — not to the insurrectionists — thus placing the responsibility to rectify the unlawful action, squarely upon the shoulders of the United States.

After concluding an official investigation, U.S. President Grover Cleveland, in an address to the U.S. Congress, admitted that the United States’ actions in assisting the takeover of the Hawaiian Kingdom was illegal and constituted “an act of war” against a friendly nation, an egregious violation of international law. To rectify this regretful action, Cleveland pledged U.S. assistance to restore the Hawaiian Kingdom. That pledge has yet to be honored.

Up until that admitted illegal action, the United States had consistently and unconditionally recognized Hawaii as a sovereign national state. This was affirmed by several treaties and conventions made between these two countries. Though the United States committed numerous breaches over the years, these treaties have not been abrogated. Thus, they still stand.