The Hawaiian Islands were changing rapidly in the late 1900s. Migrant workers from Japan were rushing in. The native Hawaiians had their Royal Family but lacked good governance. There was however a large group of Hawaii born Americans who thought the answer was becoming an American territory. Something that might be agreed upon was that they should have spent more time convincing before acting. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This stamp shows a view of Honolulu harbor. The image displays a sleepy backwater. It was the policy of the republic government to seek American annexation. Encountering surprise resistance from the USA might have lead to views that imply we will be no trouble for you.
Todays stamp is issue A27 a two cent stamp issued by the Republic of Hawaii in 1894. It was a six stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 60 cents used.
In 1887, Hawaii born ethnic Americans who were serving in the legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii drafted a new constitution. The elements of it were limiting the vote to ethnic Hawaiians, Americans, and Europeans. This would prevent the large numbers of Japanese contract workers being brought in from coming into political power. Though the Constitution still recognized the Monarchy, it made it ceremonial and passed most power to the Legislature that was under the control of American businessmen. There was to be a new House of Nobles, to whom only wealthy landowners could vote, that would further consolidate power.
Hawaiians referred to this as a bayonet constitution. The Hawaiian Rifles, the Palace Guard unit was all white and thus could threaten the Royals if they did not bend. A new Queen in 1891 tried not bending and rejected the “Bayonet Constitution”. Legislatures than formed a committee of public safety that declared an end to the Monarchy and the formation of a republic. Serving as President was Sanford Dole, a Hawaii born and speaking American who had served in legal capacities. A petition was presented to the sympathetic American Ambassador seeking immediate annexation. The Queen was still in her Palace.
Unfortunately for President Dole, the American President Grover Cleveland was against colonial adventures as unAmerican and not worth it. He commissioned a study on where the proposal came from. The resulting Blount Report found those involved as conspiring against the rightful Hawaiian Royal Government. Cleveland proposed to the Hawaiian Queen that she accept the 1887 constitution and amnesty the coup plotters in return for American support of a reinstated Kingdom. The Queen was by then agreeable on the constitution but wanted the ethnic Americans serving in the Republic government tried and hung for treason.
Grover Cleveland thought her position unreasonable and washed his hands of the situation by recognizing the government of the Republic but refusing to annex. President of Hawaii Dole now had unexpectedly to serve for five years while facing many intrigues from the maybe former Queen. She eventually abdicated in exchange for ending her house arrest in the Palace. For the rest of her life she spent her time selling her story and suing people for the return of Royal lands. The constant begging for money did not improve her standing in Hawaii. The Hawaiian territory eventually granted her a $1250 a month pension. A lot of money then but far less than she asked for. During World War I, after 5 ethnic Hawaiians died in a sunk American submarine, she for the first time flew the American flag, at half staff, from her homes flag pole.
In 1898 there was a new President in the USA, William McKinley was more amenable to colonial adventures. A day before the Spanish American War was declared, Hawaiian President Dole signed the papers for annexation of Hawaii by the USA. Dole than became the first Governor of Hawaii as a US territory. The Dole Food Company was founded in Hawaii after it was a USA territory by a cousin.
Well my drink is empty. Come again soon when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2021.