Back More
Salem Press

Table of Contents

From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues

Liliuokalani (1838-1917)

The last sovereign queen of the Hawaiian Islands, Liliuokalani took the throne in 1891, during a turbulent time in the islands’ history. Born in Honolulu, Liliuokalani attended a missionary school, where she learned English. She inherited the throne from her brother King David Kalakaua, who had ruled the islands from 1874 until his death in 1891. In 1887, he had accepted a new constitution, demanded by American interests, that forfeited much of the power of the monarchy to a Cabinet controlled by Americans. When Queen Liliuokalani ascended to the throne, she sought to restore some of the monarchy’s power by issuing a new constitution, which was her historic right as monarch. Native Hawaiians supported her plan, but Americans who had financial interests in the islands’ sugar plantations wanted the United States to annex the islands. Her attempt to balance the interests of native islanders and of foreigners was interpreted as a capricious act by the Americans on the islands.

Lawyer Sanford Ballard Dole, who was the son of missionaries and who had grown up on the islands, led a group that responded to Liliuokalani’s new constitution by establishing a republic in 1893 and deposing Liliuokalani. They hoped to convince the United States to annex the islands. President Grover Cleveland sent a representative to attempt to negotiate a solution to the problem, but was unsuccessful. Cleveland sent another representative who offered to support the queen if she would grant amnesty to the annexationists, but she hesitated and the opportunity was lost.

On July 4, 1894, Sanford Dole and his followers announced that he had become president of the Republic of Hawaii and the United States government recognized the new government. Hawaiian royalists protested the action and were jailed. Early in 1895, Liliuokalani formally abdicated the throne in exchange for the freedom of the royalists. She was imprisoned for misprision of treason, that is, knowing that a treasonous act was planned by someone else. Tried and convicted, she was imprisoned in Iolani Palace until February 1896. The United States annexed Hawaii in 1898.

See also: Mink, Patsy Matsu Takemoto

References: Allen, The Betrayal of Liliuokalani: Last Queen of Hawaii, 1838-1917 (1982); Garraty and Carnes, eds., American National Biography (1999).

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"Liliuokalani (1838-1917)." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, edited by Suzanne O’Dea, Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0562.
APA 7th
Liliuokalani (1838-1917). From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, In S. O’Dea (Ed.), Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0562.
CMOS 17th
"Liliuokalani (1838-1917)." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, Edited by Suzanne O’Dea. Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0562.