King
Kam I Day
King
Kamehameha Day is the only ali'i (royalty) holiday established
during the monarchy and observed continually since its establishment
by royal proclamation in 1871.
The
day is celebrated to honor King Kamehameha who unified the
Hawaiian Islands and who stands as an exponent of Hawaiian
self-determination. The first observance of this holiday was
held on June 11, 1872. Kamehameha V designated June 11 as
a public holiday to honor the memory of his great-grandfather
who was the first ruler of the United Hawaiian Islands.
Kamehameha
("The Lonely One") was born between 1736 and 1758
in Kohala on the island of Hawaii. His father was Keoua Kupuapaikalani,
chief of Kohala and a grandson of Keawe who once ruled over
a powerful kingdom on the island of Hawaii. Kekuiapoiwa, Kamehameha's
mother, was the daughter of a chief from Kona. The King was
a courageous man of unbridled ambition. He became chief of
his western Big Island district in 1781 and waged war against
the other chiefs. He accomplished his mission of conquering
all the islands, except Kauai which joined the kingdom voluntarily.
Kamehameha
became the first ruler of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1795. During
his reign, he encouraged his people to pursue agriculture
to restore the ravaged land, and promoted the introduction
of new animals and plant life into the islands. Kamehameha
united the Hawaiian Islands into a single kingdom through
war and diplomacy. However, there are some who believe that
he was a ruthless opportunist who used Western weapons to
kill his own people and seize power.
In 1878, the
Hawaiian legislature commissioned Thomas B. Gould, an American
sculptor living in Italy, to produce a statue of Hawaii's
greatest king. The heroic-looking bronze statue bears little
resemblance to drawings made of Kamehameha during his lifetime
and was modeled after a Caucasian-Tahitian named John Timoteo
Baker. Gould cast the statue in Paris in 1880 and shipped
it to Hawaii, but off Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands,
the ship caught fire and sank. The statue unveiled in front
of the Judiciary building in 1883 for King Kalakaua's coronation
was a copy. The original statue was raised later in a salvage
operation and brought to Hawaii. It now stands in front of
the Kohala courthouse in Hawaii, near Kamehameha's birthplace.
The statue unveiled in front of the Judiciary building in
1883 for King Kalakaua's coronation was a copy. The original
statue was raised later in a salvage operation and brought
to Hawaii. It now stands in front of the Kohala courthouse
in Hawaii, near Kamehameha's birthplace.
Prince
Kuhio Day
Kuhio was known
as the "Citizen Prince" and was in line to become
king before the monarchy was overthrown in 1893. He died of
heart disease on January 7, 1922, at the age of 50 and was
buried at the royal mausoleum in Nuuanu Valley on Oahu. Kuhio
is best remembered for his successful effort to get Congress
to pass the 1920 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, which provides
homesteads for native Hawaiians. It was his dream to save
the rapidly declining Hawaiian race from extinction. His plan
was to return tenement dwellers to the land and encourage
them to be self-sufficient farmers, ranchers and homesteaders
on leased parcels of reserved land.
Admission
Day
The third Friday
in August is observed as a state holiday each year, recognizing
the anniversary of Hawaii's statehood. Hawaii's efforts to
obtain statehood involved a long political struggle which
had to overcome many obstacles and prejudices. In 1919, Prince
Kuhio, Hawaii's delegate to Congress at that time, introduced
Hawaii's first statehood bill in the 65th Congress. But it,
and another bill submitted the following year, died in the
House Committee on Territories. In December of 1931, Delegate
Victor Houston introduced another statehood bill in Congress.
However, it did not get very far.
The statehood
bill of Samuel King in 1935 also didn't make it, however it
did prompt a Congressional investigating committee to visit
Hawaii in Oct of 1935. The extensive hearing brought out a
number of negative reasons why statehood should be postponed.
Some of these included the distance of Hawaii from the mainland,
the lack of a substantial middle class, the large proportion
of citizens of Japanese ancestry, and the alleged control
of a strong group ("The Big Five') over the political
and economic activities in the islands.
Unsuccessful
statehood bills were introduced again in 1947 and in 1950.
It was only in 1959, during the first session of the 86th
Congress That Hawaiian statehood bills were finally acted
upon with dramatic swiftness. After some debate, the Senate
bill passed on March 11 by a vote of 76 to 15. The House bill
reached the floor on the same day and the House substituted
the Senate version for it and passed it on March 12 by a vote
of 323 to 89.
A primary election
took place in Hawaii on June 27, 1959, and on that day the
various statehood propositions were voted on. Following the
certification of the election results, President Eisenhower
signed a proclamation on August 21, 1959 declaring Hawaii
to be the 50th state. Also on that day, William F. Quinnand
James K. Kealoha were sworn in as Hawaii's first elected governor
and lieutenant governor, respectively.
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