'''Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen''' (ISBN 0-8048-1066-4) is a book written by
Liliuokalani, the last
Queen of Hawaii. It was published in
1898, five years after the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown. In it, Liliuokalani gives her account of her upbringing, her ascension to the throne, the overthrow of her government by pro-American forces, her appeals to the
United States of America to restore the Hawaiian monarchy, and her arrest and trial following an unsuccessful 1895 rebellion against the Republic of Hawaii.
Her appeals immediately after the Hawaiian Revolution were acted upon by her friend President
Grover Cleveland, who demanded her reinstatement from the President of Hawaii,
Sanford B. Dole following a confidential investigation and report by
James Henderson Blount submitted 7/17/1893. President Dole refused Cleveland's demands. Cleveland then referred the matter to Congress. Congress investigated further and produced the
Morgan Report on 2/26/1894 which concluded that the U.S. had no role in the Hawaiian Revolution. Following the
Morgan Report, the Turpie Resolution of 5/31/1894 ended any hope for further assistance in regaining her throne, and her further appeals for help were rebuffed by the Cleveland administration.
In
1898, the same year the book was published, Hawaii was formally annexed by the United States of America.
This book is seen by many in the
Hawaiian sovereignty movement as a key source documenting the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. Many of her assertions regarding the overthrow are contradicted by other primary sources, including the
Morgan Report and the Native Hawaiians Study Commission Report of 1983
[1].
In either case, many people believe that the work is successful in conveying the frustration and sadness by the Queen and her supporters both for her loss of the throne, as well as the end of the independent nation of Hawaii upon annexation to the United States.
External links
★
Online edition at
A Celebration of Women Writers
★
The Morgan Report
Further reading
Hawaiian Sovereignty: Do the Facts Matter?, Thurston Twigg-Smith, , , Goodale Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-9662945-1-3 Online Edition