Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen (ISBN 0-8048-1066-4) is a book written by Liliʻuokalani, the last Queen of Hawaiʻi. It was published in 1898, five years after the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown. In it, Liliʻuokalani 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, Hawaiʻi 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. Some critics, however, have questioned both the accuracy of the Queen's recollections, and whether or not the former Queen authored the entire book.

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.