On the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, many in Hawai’i, the 50th territory to “join”/acquire U.S. statehood, decided not to celebrate.
When you better know the history of how rich and greedy U.S. citizens, many of them descendants of the missionaries from the 1830s, conducted a coup that overthrew the government of the Kingdom of Hawai’i in 1893, you will understand why, for many in Hawai’i, both Hawaiians and settler-colonists like me, there was no celebration on July 4th.
For Hawaiians, the overthrow of the government of the Kingdom of Hawai’i in 1893, the establishment of the illegal “Republic of Hawai’i” on July 4, 1894, and the imprisonment of the Queen of Hawai’i by the white, male, rich oligarchs and, ultimately, the annexation of Hawai’i by the United States are the reasons for many in Hawai’i to demand the return of the stolen sovereignty of the Hawaiian Islands and refuse to celebrate the anniversaries of the founding of the United States.
The descendants of the missionaries who arrived in Hawai’i in the 1830s (primarily Presybterians and Congregationalists) became businessmen when the New England missionary association that had sent them to Hawai’i (the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, or ABCFM, headquartered in Boston) told the missionaries they had converted enough Hawaiians and stopped funding the churchmen.
The men of God quickly acquired land and built extractive industries such as sugar cane. To gain more revenues and greater profits from these industries, the oligarchs needed to eliminate U.S. tariffs on the Kingdom of Hawai’i’s export of sugar cane to the United States.
The easiest way to eliminate the tariffs would be if the U.S. annexed the Kingdom of Hawai’i as a territory.
And to annex the sovereign nation of Hawai’i, they first needed to overthrow the government of the Kingdom of Hawai’i which they did with help from a U.S. military ship in Honolulu harbor and the complicity of a U.S. official in Hawai’i.
How the Goals of Men Who Orchestrated the Illegal Annexation Are Reflected in 2026 Political Environment, 132 Years Later
It is chilling to read the history of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai’i by white, rich males and find many of the same issues of race and wealth reflected in the Trump administration 132 years later. Fundamentally, the U.S. has not changed—it is still dominated by a white, male, rich nationalist class.
The diversity, equality and inclusiveness as goals of our country to counteract the historic racism and wealth disparities of the nation have been gleefully thrown out the window by the racist Trump administration with lawsuits filed against universities, college presidents and professors fired and company CEOs and government departments and agencies running scared of “political correctness” as mandated by the Trump administration.
How Coup-Maker Writings in 1894 Reflect Many Attitudes and Policies of the Trump Administration
The rich, oligarch coup-makers of Hawai’i, led by the Committee of Safety composed of seven foreign residents—five Americans, one Scotsman, and one German from the “Missionary Party—quickly set themselves up as the provisional, then permanent government of the “Republic of Hawai’i” and decided they needed their own constitution throwing out the Hawaiian constitution.
The March 10, 1894, letter that Lorrin Thurston, a descendent of the original missionaries who came to Hawai’i from New England, wrote the new President of “Republic of Hawai’i” Sanford Dole (yes, of Dole pineapple fame), summarized attitudes and thoughts on what the new government should represent.
The letter and the subsequent actions of the Coup government remind one of the current political and governmental environment in the United States 132 years later. For this article, I have used quotes from the March 10, 1894, letter which can be found in a book about the history of Hawai’i (pp. 210-17).
Necessities of the Present Situation
As the powerful white man Thurston wrote, “I hope that those who are drafting the constitution will not allow fine theories of free government to predominate over the necessities of the present situation.”
Trump considers anything that he wants as a “necessity of the present situation” and no need to worry about laws and regulations.
Free Speech
Thurston counseled against free speech because that would only encourage the native opposition:
“To treat them with forbearance and courtesy is like trying to disinfect leprosy with rose water.”
Trump no doubt considers the free speech of Senator (and former astronaut) Mark Kelly in challenging Trump’s and Hegseth’s wars and the duty of military personnel to refuse illegal orders as a form of “leprosy.”
Trial by Jury
Thurston casually dismissed the need to guarantee trial by jury, which had been a bedrock legal principle in the English-speaking world for more than 800 years.
Thurston simply pointed out: “We may get into such a condition that all trials will be a farce.”
To Trump, it would be much worse than a farce when a jury of an accused’s peers finds against the interests of his rich friend, members of an oligarchy. But I guess it really does not matter to Trump as he will pardon the rich and those convicted of criminal actions, like the President of Honduras who was sentenced to 45 years in a U.S. prison on drug charges and, yet, was pardoned by Trump.
Freedom of the Press
Thurston anticipated Trump when he stated: “I feel that the power to suppress the revolutionary press and to deport conspirators are the key to the present situation.”
Trump’s treatment of the press, particularly women journalists, is hard to believe in its meanness and gender-disparaging tone and, no doubt, he would love to deport journalists along with the hundreds of thousands that he has deported over the past 18 months.
Loyalty Oath
Trump mirrors Thurston on the idea of requiring a loyalty oath from those participating in the constitutional convention—Trump’s requirement goes to agencies of the federal government.
Thurston saw two advantages in this prerequisite which Trump would no doubt support.
First: “To finally impress upon the world, and more particularly the Kanaka [i.e., native] mind the fact that monarchy is pau [finished].” Trump’s opponents would say that “democracy is finished.”
Second: “To so far as possible shut out from participation in the reorganization of the government all those who are not with us.”
Thurston was right in his second assumption, as the vast majority of the Hawaiian minority who were allowed to vote in the 1890s refused to pledge an oath of loyalty to a government they despised, thus cutting themselves out of the political process.
Trump’s Office of Personnel Management now has a loyalty oath that federal government employees must sign.
What to Name Hawai’i? What in the U.S. Will Next Be Named for Trump?
Thurston proposed, “I think that whatever else it is called it should have the word “Republic” in the name.” He wanted Hawai’i to be called a republic without it actually being one.
The one thing Trump has not yet tried to do is name the United States after himself, although he added for a short time his name to “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” until a federal district court judge ordered that his name be removed.
Not to be deterred, Trump put his name onto the U.S. Institute of Peace despite two wars on Iran, the kidnapping of the President of Venezuela and his spouse, and the killing of more than 200 persons in military strikes on alleged narcotics boat, with no evidence of narcotics being on board the boats.
Trump has named a new class of U.S. Navy battleships after himself. And he has named a new program of children’s savings accounts as Trump Accounts.
A special edition of U.S. passports for America’s 250th anniversary has Trump’s photograph in it.
Trump’s photo is next to George Washington’s in the new National Park passes.
What will be next?
Election of a President—Trump Loves This One!
In 1894 Thurston said: “I do not think that under the existing conditions we are safe in leaving election of President to a popular vote.”
There is no doubt that Trump and his election conspiracy theorists feel this way too. When Trump or the Republicans lose an election, he calls the election a fraud and claims that “voting is rigged.”
Possibility of Female Voting to Increase the Non-Hawaiian Voting Numbers
After all, “Even in liberty-loving Massachusetts over one half of the population is disenfranchised.” (Remember; this was in 1894.)
It should be pointed out, however, that, in a letter to Dole later that month, he changed his mind about this, adding that women’s suffrage “has grown on me.” He saw the advantage of beefing up the small white minority in Hawai’i with “a large number of the lady teachers” and “the wives of nearly all the prominent citizens.”
Trump would go with the wives of white men and, especially, those wearing MAGA hats.
Voters Should Be Able to Speak, Read and Write Correctly from Dictation the English Language
Finally, Thurston said that voters for senators in the Republic’s Congress should be restricted “absolutely to those who can speak, read and write the English language.”
In this, Thurston suggested that Dole track down a copy of the new Mississippi State Constitution, because the post-Reconstruction Jim Crow constitution had figured out innovative ways to deny Blacks the right to vote, which the Dole government could apply to Native Hawaiians.
Thurston believed they could go further, refining Mississippi’s requirement that a voter should understand the constitution with a Hawaiian update in which “the voter be able to write correctly from dictation any portion of the constitution.” Thurston noted, “This limitation of the electorate is of course going to raise a great howl from many of the natives.”
Let’s not give this idea about voting requirements to Trump and his “Make America Great and White” cronies.
Why Many in Hawai’i Did Not Celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the United States on the 4th of July
For the warmongering history of the United States, including the illegal annexation of the Kingdom of Hawai’I, and because of the rich, greedy oligarchs who run the United States at the moment and who are using the 250th anniversary of the United States to destroy the White House building and national monuments and cheapen the White House with “fight nights,” put their names on cultural institutions, issue a passport with Trump’s photo in it, attempting to create a new 250-dollar bill with Trump’s likeness on it, the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, the U.S.-Israel genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and the kidnapping and imprisonment of undocumented friends and neighbors who are not criminals, many of us in Hawai’i, and I suspect around the United States, decided not to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Gathering at Iolani Palace Instead of 4th of July Parade
Instead of going to the 4th of July parades around the islands of Hawai’i, and particularly on Oahu, many Hawaiians and friends gathered at Iolani Palace, the home of the monarchs of Hawai’i and the home of the last Queen of Hawai’i, Queen Lili’uokalani, whose reign was overthrown in 1893, and where she was kept as a prisoner for two years.
Instead of celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States, to make sure the younger generation knows the history of Hawai’i, the group re-enacted aspects of the illegal takeover of Hawai’i by the U.S.
To ensure that current issues affecting Hawai’i are acknowledged, there were presentations on the militarism of Hawai’I and the huge Rim of the Pacific naval war practice currently happening in the land, air and sea of Hawai’i with 31 countries, 40 ships, 200 aircraft, five submarines and 25,000 military personnel in Hawai’i for the war exercises.
Other important issues under discussion in the community on July 4 included the true cost of the U.S. military in Hawai’i, the Navy’s jet fuel contamination of the drinking water of Oahu, and land back for the return of 47,000 acres of land that had been leased to the U.S. military for 65 years for $1.
CovertAction Magazine is made possible by subscriptions, orders and donations from readers like you.
Blow the Whistle on U.S. Imperialism
Click the whistle and donate
When you donate to CovertAction Magazine, you are supporting investigative journalism. Your contributions go directly to supporting the development, production, editing, and dissemination of the Magazine.
CovertAction Magazine does not receive corporate or government sponsorship. Yet, we hold a steadfast commitment to providing compensation for writers, editorial and technical support. Your support helps facilitate this compensation as well as increase the caliber of this work.
Please make a donation by clicking on the donate logo above and enter the amount and your credit or debit card information.
CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your gift is tax-deductible for federal income purposes. CAI’s tax-exempt ID number is 87-2461683.
We sincerely thank you for your support.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the author(s). CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI), including its Board of Directors (BD), Editorial Board (EB), Advisory Board (AB), staff, volunteers and its projects (including CovertAction Magazine) are not responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. This article also does not necessarily represent the views the BD, the EB, the AB, staff, volunteers, or any members of its projects.
Differing viewpoints: CAM publishes articles with differing viewpoints in an effort to nurture vibrant debate and thoughtful critical analysis. Feel free to comment on the articles in the comment section and/or send your letters to the Editors, which we will publish in the Letters column.
Copyrighted Material: This web site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. As a not-for-profit charitable organization incorporated in the State of New York, we are making such material available in an effort to advance the understanding of humanity’s problems and hopefully to help find solutions for those problems. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. You can read more about ‘fair use’ and US Copyright Law at the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School.
Republishing: CovertAction Magazine (CAM) grants permission to cross-post CAM articles on not-for-profit community internet sites as long as the source is acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original CovertAction Magazine article. Also, kindly let us know at info@CovertActionMagazine.com. For publication of CAM articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: info@CovertActionMagazine.com.
By using this site, you agree to these terms above.
About the Author
Ann Wright is a retired United States Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official.
She was one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.
Since that time Colonel Wright has been a dedicated peace activist.
Ann can be reached at annw1946@gmail.com.
