Provisional Government of Hawaii
The Provisional Government of Hawaii (abbr.: P.G.; Hawaiian: Aupuni Kūikawā o Hawaiʻi) was proclaimed after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom on January 17, 1893, by the 13-member Committee of Safety under the leadership of its chairman Henry E. Cooper and former judge Sanford B. Dole as the designated President of Hawaii. It replaced the Kingdom of Hawaii after the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani as a provisional government until the Republic of Hawaii was established on July 4, 1894.
Provisional Government of HawaiiAupuni Kūikawā o Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian)
January 17 1893
14 December 1893 - 11 January 1894
July 4 1894
Provisional government[edit]
Following the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the coup leaders established the Provisional Government and set out to effect Hawaii's speedy annexation by the United States. The provisional government sent a commission including Lorrin A. Thurston to the U.S. and negotiated a treaty with President Benjamin Harrison that was quickly sent to the U.S. Senate for approval. At the same time Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani was in Washington D.C. to campaign for the monarchist side and against the coup, which she decried as illegal.
Shortly after assuming office in March 1893, President Grover Cleveland, himself an anti-imperialist, withdrew the treaty and ordered a congressional investigation into the events surrounding the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. After receiving the committee's official report (that July), Cleveland stated that the U.S. had unlawfully used military force and called for the reinstatement of Queen Liliʻuokalani. The matter was referred by Cleveland to Congress after Sanford Dole refused Cleveland's demands, and the U.S. Senate held an unofficial investigation, culminating in the Morgan Report,[2] which completely rejected that there had been any U.S. involvement in the overthrow. After the findings of this committee were submitted, Cleveland reiterated his position, and denounced the Provisional Government as being neither de facto or de jure.
Hawaiian Army[edit]
Following the overthrow of the monarchy a military was formed on January 27, 1893, and put under the command of Colonel John Harris Soper. This military consisted of four companies: three national guard companies and one regular army company. The national guard companies were: the A Company made up of ethnic German volunteers, commanded by Charles W. Zeigler;[3] B Company made up of members of the Honolulu Rifles, commanded by Hugh Gunn; and C Company made up of ethnic Portuguese volunteers, commanded by Joseph M. Camara. The regulars were D company made up, like B Company, from the Honolulu Rifles, commanded by John Good.
The military was active under the Provisional Government of Hawaii where they were activated in the Leprosy War in 1893 and the Republic of Hawaii and were again activated during the 1895 Counter-Revolution in Hawaii in 1895. After Hawaii was annexed becoming the Territory of Hawaii in 1898, the companies entered the Army National Guard system and became part of the Hawaii Army National Guard.
Republic of Hawaii[edit]
Following the Morgan Report, and the Turpie Resolution which stated a policy of non-interference in Hawaiian affairs by the U.S., Lorrin A. Thurston and the Provisional Government of Hawaii convened a constitutional convention and established the Republic of Hawaii. This government maintained power until the U.S. annexed Hawaii in 1898 with the Newlands Resolution.