|
Overthrow of Hawaii
PL 103-150, , 107 Stat 1510 (November 23, 1993)
|
| Joint Resolution to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the
January 17, 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and to
offer an apology to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the United
States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. |
| Whereas |
prior to the arrival of the first Europeans in 1778,
the Native Hawaiian people lived in a highly
organized, self-sufficient, subsistent social system
based on communal land tenure with a sophisticated
language, culture, and religion; |
| Whereas, |
a unified monarchical government of the Hawaiian
Islands was established in 1810 under Kamehameha I,
the first King of Hawaii; |
| Whereas, |
from 1826 until 1893, the United States recognized
the independence of the Kingdom of Hawaii, extended
full and complete diplomatic recognition to the
Hawaiian Government, and entered into treaties and
conventions with the Hawaiian monarchs to govern
commerce and navigation in 1826, 1842, 1849, 1875,
and 1887; |
| Whereas, |
the Congregational Church (now known as the United
Church of Christ), through its American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions, sponsored and
sent more than 100 missionaries to the Kingdom of
Hawaii between 1820 and 1850; |
| Whereas, |
on January 14, 1893, John L. Stevens (hereafter
referred to in this Resolution as the "United States
Minister"), the United States Minister assigned to
the sovereign and independent Kingdom of Hawaii
conspired with a small group of non-Hawaiian
residents of the Kingdom of Hawaii, including
citizens of the United States, to overthrow the
indigenous and lawful Government of Hawaii; |
| Whereas, |
in pursuance of the conspiracy to overthrow the
Government of Hawaii, the United States Minister and
the naval representatives of the United States caused
armed naval forces of the United States to invade the
sovereign Hawaiian nation on January 16, 1893, and to
position themselves near the Hawaiian Government
buildings and the Iolani Palace to intimidate Queen
Liliuokalani and her Government; |
| Whereas, |
on the afternoon of January 17, 1893, a Committee of
Safety that represented the American and European
sugar planters, descendents of missionaries, and
financiers deposed the Hawaiian monarchy and
proclaimed the establishment of a Provisional
Government; |
| Whereas, |
the United States Minister thereupon extended
diplomatic recognition to the Provisional Government
that was formed by the conspirators without the
consent of the Native Hawaiian people or the lawful
Government of Hawaii and in violation of treaties
between the two nations and of international law; |
| Whereas, |
soon thereafter, when informed of the risk of
bloodshed with resistance, Queen Liliuokalani issued
the following statement yielding her authority to the
United States Government rather than to the
Provisional Government: |
|
"I Liliuokalani, by the Grace of God and under the
Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen, do
hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done
against myself and the Constitutional Government of
the Hawaiian Kingdom by certain persons claiming to
have established a Provisional Government of and for
this Kingdom. |
|
"That I yield to the superior force of the United
States of America whose Minister Plenipotentiary, His
Excellency John L. Stevens, has caused United States
troops to be landed at Honolulu and declared that he
would support the Provisional Government. |
|
"Now to avoid any collision of armed forces, and
perhaps the loss of life, I do this under protest and
impelled by said force yield my authority until such
time as the Government of the United States shall,
upon facts being presented to it, undo the action of
its representatives and reinstate me in the authority
which I claim as the Constitutional Sovereign of the
Hawaiian Islands." |
|
Done at Honolulu this 17th day of January, A.D. 1893. |
| Whereas, |
without the active support and intervention by the
United States diplomatic and military
representatives, the insurrection against the
Government of Queen Liliuokalani would have failed
for lack of popular support and insufficient arms; |
| Whereas, |
on February 1, 1893, the United States Minister
raised the American flag and proclaimed Hawaii to be
a protectorate of the United States; |
| Whereas, |
the report of a Presidentially established
investigation conducted by former Congressman James
Blount into the events surrounding the insurrection
and overthrow of January 17, 1893, concluded that the
United States diplomatic and military representatives
had abused their authority and were responsible for
the change in government; |
| Whereas, |
as a result of this investigation, the United States
Minister to Hawaii was recalled from his diplomatic
post and the military commander of the United States
armed forces stationed in Hawaii was disciplined and
forced to resign his commission; |
| Whereas, |
in a message to Congress on December 18, 1893,
President Grover Cleveland reported fully and
accurately on the illegal acts of the conspirators,
described such acts as an "act of war, committed with
the participation of a diplomatic representative of
the United States and without authority of Congress",
and acknowledged that by such acts the government of
a peaceful and friendly people was overthrown; |
| Whereas, |
President Cleveland further concluded that a
"substantial wrong has thus been done which a due
regard for our national character as well as the
rights of the injured people requires we should
endeavor to repair" and called for the restoration of
the Hawaiian monarchy; |
| Whereas, |
the Provisional Government protested President
Cleveland's call for the restoration of the monarchy
and continued to hold state power and pursue
annexation to the United States; |
| Whereas, |
the Provisional Government successfully lobbied the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate
(hereafter referred to in this Resolution as the
"Committee") to conduct a new investigation *1512
into the events surrounding the overthrow of the
monarchy; |
| Whereas, |
the Committee and its chairman, Senator John Morgan,
conducted hearings in Washington, D.C., from December
27, 1893, through February 26, 1894, in which members
of the Provisional Government justified and condoned
the actions of the United States Minister and
recommended annexation of Hawaii; |
| Whereas, |
although the Provisional Government was able to
obscure the role of the United States in the illegal
overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, it was unable to
rally the support from two-thirds of the Senate
needed to ratify a treaty of annexation; |
| Whereas, |
on July 4, 1894, the Provisional Government declared
itself to be the Republic of Hawaii; |
| Whereas, |
on January 24, 1895, while imprisoned in Iolani
Palace, Queen Liliuokalani was forced by
representatives of the Republic of Hawaii to
officially abdicate her throne; |
| Whereas, |
in the 1896 United States Presidential election,
William McKinley replaced Grover Cleveland; |
| Whereas, |
on July 7, 1898, as a consequence of the Spanish-American War, President McKinley signed the Newlands
Joint Resolution that provided for the annexation of
Hawaii; |
| Whereas, |
through the Newlands Resolution, the self-declared
Republic of Hawaii ceded sovereignty over the
Hawaiian Islands to the United States; |
| Whereas, |
the Republic of Hawaii also ceded 1,800,000 acres of
crown, government and public lands of the Kingdom of
Hawaii, without the consent of or compensation to the
Native Hawaiian people of Hawaii or their sovereign
government; |
| Whereas, |
the Congress, through the Newlands Resolution,
ratified the cession, annexed Hawaii as part of the
United States, and vested title to the lands in
Hawaii in the United States; |
| Whereas, |
the Newlands Resolution also specified that treaties
existing between Hawaii and foreign nations were to
immediately cease and be replaced by United States
treaties with such nations; |
| Whereas, |
the Newlands Resolution effected the transaction
between the Republic of Hawaii and the United States
Government; |
| Whereas, |
the indigenous Hawaiian people never directly
relinquished their claims to their inherent
sovereignty as a people or over their national lands
to the United States, either through their monarchy
or through a plebiscite or referendum; |
| Whereas |
on April 30, 1900, President McKinley signed the
Organic Act that provided a government for the
territory of Hawaii and defined the political
structure and powers of the newly established
Territorial Government and its relationship to the
United States; |
| Whereas |
on August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th State of
the United States; |
| Whereas, |
the health and well-being of the Native Hawaiian
people is intrinsically tied to their deep feelings
and attachment to the land; |
| Whereas, |
the long-range economic and social changes in Hawaii
over the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
have been devastating to the population and to the
health and well-being of the Hawaiian people; |
| Whereas, |
the Native Hawaiian people are determined to
preserve, develop and transmit to future generations
their ancestral territory, and their cultural
identity in accordance with their own spiritual
and traditional beliefs, customs, practices,
language, and social institutions; |
| Whereas |
in order to promote racial harmony and cultural
understanding, the Legislature of the State of Hawaii
has determined that the year 1993 should serve Hawaii
as a year of special reflection on the rights and
dignities of the Native Hawaiians in the Hawaiian and
the American societies; |
| Whereas, |
the Eighteenth General Synod of the United Church of
Christ in recognition of the denomination's
historical complicity in the illegal overthrow of the
Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 directed the Office of the
President of the United Church of Christ to offer a
public apology to the Native Hawaiian people and to
initiate the process of reconciliation between the
United Church of Christ and the Native Hawaiians;
and |
| Whereas, |
it is proper and timely for the Congress on the
occasion of the impending one hundredth anniversary
of the event, to acknowledge the historic
significance of the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom
of Hawaii, to express its deep regret to the Native
Hawaiian people, and to support the reconciliation
efforts of the State of Hawaii and the United Church
of Christ with Native Hawaiians: Now, therefore, be
it |
| Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, |
|
SECTION 1. ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND APOLOGY.
The Congress- |
|
(1) on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the illegal
overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893,
acknowledges the historical significance of this event which
resulted in the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the
Native Hawaiian people; |
|
(2) recognizes and commends efforts of reconciliation
initiated by the State of Hawaii and the United Church of
Christ with Native Hawaiians; |
|
(3) apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of
the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on
January 17, 1893 with the participation of agents and citizens
of the United States, and the deprivation of the rights of
Native Hawaiians to self-determination; |
| (4) expresses its commitment to acknowledge the ramifications
of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, in order to provide
a proper foundation for reconciliation between the United
States and the Native Hawaiian people; and |
|
(5) urges the President of the United States to also
acknowledge the ramifications of the overthrow of the Kingdom
of Hawaii and to support reconciliation efforts between the
United States and the Native Hawaiian people. |
| SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Joint Resolution, the term "Native Hawaiian"
means any individual who is a descendent of the aboriginal
people who, prior to 1778, occupied and exercised sovereignty
in the area that now constitutes the State of Hawaii. |
|
SEC. 3. DISCLAIMER.
Nothing in this Joint Resolution is intended to serve as a settlement of any claims against the
United States. |
| Approved November 23, 1993. |
