The Overthrow That the Palace Still Remembers

On January 17, 1893, a group of American and European businessmen — sugar planters and merchants who had grown wealthy under the Hawaiian monarchy's trade agreements — staged a coup against Queen Lili'uokalani with the support of 162 U.S. Marines landed from the USS Boston, which was anchored in Honolulu Harbor. The Queen, to avoid bloodshed, yielded her authority "until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon the facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives." The United States did not undo the action. It annexed Hawaii five years later.

The story is not ancient history to the people of Hawaii. The sovereignty movement is active, the legal arguments are ongoing, and the 'Iolani Palace — where the Queen was imprisoned in an upstairs room for eight months after the overthrow — stands in the center of Honolulu as both a museum and a reminder that the American flag flies over a kingdom that was taken, not given.

President Grover Cleveland investigated the overthrow and concluded it was illegal. He recommended restoration of the monarchy. Congress ignored him. The Newlands Resolution of 1898 annexed Hawaii without a treaty — the only time the United States acquired territory by joint resolution rather than international agreement — and the legal irregularity of that act remains a live issue in Hawaiian law and politics.

In 1993, exactly 100 years after the overthrow, the United States Congress passed the Apology Resolution, signed by President Clinton, which acknowledged that "the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States" and that "the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty." The resolution apologized. It did not return anything.

Walking the grounds of 'Iolani Palace with this history in mind changes everything about Honolulu. The beaches are still beautiful. The trade winds still blow. And the palace still stands on King Street, holding a story that is not over.