The Hawaiian Revolution (1893-94) - Softcover

Russ, William Adam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0945636539 ISBN 13: 9780945636533

Publisher: Susquehanna University Press, 1992

Synopsis

In this study, William Adam Russ, Jr. details the events of the turn-of-the-century revolution that abrogated the monarchy and ended the sovereignty of the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands. First published in 1959, The Hawaiian Revolution (1893-94) uses as its primary sources the official documents of the United States government and those of the governments of Hawaii: Kingdom, Provisional, and Republic. Other primary sources include the collections in archives and libraries of the major figures of the period; the printed works of governments and individuals; secondary works in books, periodicals, and articles; and newspapers in key cities.
In nine chapters, the author focuses on the days of the revolution, the reactions to the news in the United States, the attempts to annex the islands, the policies of the presidents and the secretaries of state, and the debates in Congress. He concludes with the failure of passage of the annexation treaty of 1893.
Critical but not condemning of the actions and policies of the American leadership at the time, Russ does not write as if the United States were never mistaken and unjust in its behavior. If the annexation of the Hawaiian Kingdom was an extension of American imperialist expansion, it was not an official movement of the government. It was instead the final legalization of what had been decades of American dominance of Hawaii. It was the inevitable exchange of island sovereignty for American sovereignty. Russ censors the mechanism (revolution) by which the exchange was accomplished but not the end result (annexation). Thus, if the truth of the events of 1893 demands that American actions be fully exposed, Russ does so only to clarify and condemn the deeds and misdeeds of American leadership. It is as if he were giving Americans a lesson in morality to ease the American conscience and respond to its sensibilities.
To Russ, the story of Hawaii at the end of the nineteenth century is also the story of America's part in the expansion of world imperialism. Candor demanded, he says, that the United States' acquisitions in the 1890s be recognized as part of that trend and that justice should be given the colonized world. But American action was necessary, he contends, to preserve and advance its power and position in relation to the imperialist nations.
The narrative detail in this work is not found elsewhere even today, and therein lies its continuing usefulness. This accomplishment is based on extensive scholarly research with a careful analysis and criticism of the opinions and actions of the leaders of the revolution in Hawaii and of the Americans in Hawaii and Washington, D.C.
The timing of the original publication of this volume was to coincide with the granting of statehood to the Territory of Hawaii in 1959. This reprint, with an introduction by Pauline N. King, coincides with the hundredth anniversary of the revolution and remains a rich source of information about this period of Hawaiian and American history. It should prove to be a valuable resource for any student of the period who needs the accessibility of diverse points of view in order to gain a thorough understanding of these important events.

About this edition

• Publisher: Susquehanna University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0945636539
• ISBN 13: 9780945636533
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 372