Liliuokalani was Hawaii’s first queen and final sovereign ruler before the islands were annexed by the United States in 1898.
Liliuokalani was born Lydia Kamakaeha in 1838 in Honolulu, Hawaii to the High Chieftess Analea Keohokālole and High Chief Caesar Kaluaiku Kapaʻakea. Her mother served as an adviser to King Kamehameha III. Liliuokalani was educated at the missionary-run Royal School, where she learned to speak English and gained some training in music. She also toured the Western world, as was common for young members of the Hawaiian nobility. Liliuokalani then became a member of the court of Kamehameha IV.
In 1862, she married John Owen Dominis, an official in the Hawaiian government. A year later, her brother, David Kalakaua became king. In 1877, after her brother W.P. Leleiohoku died Liliuokalani became the heir to the throne. As crown Princess she was known by her royal name, Liliuokalani. For the next 14 years she laid the foundations for her succession to the throne. She devoted herself to establishing schools for Hawaiian children and served as regent during the king’s 1881 tour of the world. In 1887, Liliuokalani, along with Kalakaua’s wife, Kapiolani served as Hawaii’s representatives at Queen Victoria’s Crown Jubilee in London, where they were received by the queen herself as well as U.S. President Grover Cleveland. That same year, Kalakaua was coerced by an armed militia to sign the “Bayonet Constitution,” which limited the power of the monarchy in Hawaii and placed all the power in the hands of white American and European businessmen. Liliuokalani was opposed to the constitution, along with the Reciprocity Treaty, in which Kalakaua had granted commercial privileges to the United States and the control of Pearl Harbor. Her opposition made her an enemy of Hawaii’s Haole (foreign businessmen).
In 1891, Kalakaua died and Liliuokalani became the first woman ever to rule Hawaii. Shortly after her reign began, and believing that it was the will of the Hawaiian people to try and attempt to take back the power the monarchy had lost, she attempted to repeal the Bayonet Constitution. Liliuokalani drafted a new constitution designed to restore the veto power to the monarchy and voting rights to economically disenfranchised native Hawaiians and Asians. In 1893, a group calling themselves the “Committee of Safety” made up of Americans and Europeans staged a coup with the support of U.S. Minister John Stevens. Stevens sent 162 sailors and U.S Marines to Hawaii, and on January 16, 1893 they came ashore at Honolulu Harbor. The presence of troops made it impossible for the monarchy to protect itself. Liliuokalani sent policemen to I’olani palace to arrest any members from the Committee of Safety who tried to enter, but shooting broke out and one of the policemen was shot. The palace was left open for the Committee of Safety to enter, and while inside they signed a document that ended the Hawaiian monarchy. Liliuokalani would not discover this until the next day.
On January 17, 1893 Liliuokalani was deposed and, wishing to spare her people conflict she stepped down. She appealed to President Grover Cleveland to restore her to power, but he was unsuccessful. A provisional government led by Sanford Dole was then instituted. The Grover Cleveland administration commissioned the Blount report, which concluded that the overthrow of Liliuokalani was illegal and in November 1893, Cleveland proposed that if she granted amnesty to those responsible, she would be reinstated. In December that year, her reinstatement was demanded but Dole’s provisional government refused. A US Senate investigation followed, resulting in the Morgan Report which concluded that all parties were innocent, apart from Liliuokalani. A year later, annexationists established the Republic of Hawaii and Dole was named its first president.
Loyalist Robert Wilcox led the January 1895 Counter-Revolution in an attempt to restore Liliuokalani to the throne, but it failed. Liliuokalani was placed under house arrest and charged with treason. Later that month, she signed a formal abdication in order to win pardons for her supporters who had been jailed as a result of the revolt. During her time under house arrest, she composed songs including “The Queen’s Prayer” (Ke Aloha o Ka Haku – “The Grace of the Lord”) and began writing her memoirs.
A year later, she was released with a full pardon and travelled to the United States to try and convince President Cleveland to restore the Hawaiian monarchy. She was unsuccessful, and established the “Oni pa’a” (Stand Firm) movement to fight against annexation. In July 1898, President McKinley’s government annexed Hawaii. Liliuokalani published Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen that year, becoming the first Native Hawaiian female author. She also composed “Aloha Oe,” a song which came to be regarded as a symbol of, and lament for, the loss of her country. She continued to fight against the U.S, entering claims against the U.S from 1905 to 1907 for property and other losses following the U.S taking control of the 1,200,000 acres of land that had formerly been held in trust by the monarchy and was known as “Crown Land”. She was eventually granted an annual pension of $4,000 and the income from the sugar plantation she had formerly owned. Unsatisfied, she brought a lawsuit against the U.S. seeking compensation under the Fifth Amendment for the loss of the Hawaiian crown land. She was unsuccessful.
In 1917, Liliuokalani died following complications from a stroke. She was given a state funeral. In her will, she stated that all of her possessions and property were to be sold to raise money for the Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Trust to help orphaned and indigent children. It still exists today. Liliuokalani wrote more than 160 songs over the course of her life and in 1999 a compilation of her works, titled The Queen’s Songbook, was published by the Liliʻuokalani Trust.