A bill at the state Legislature would declare July 31 an official state day of observance commemorating King Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III’s accomplishments in restoring the Hawaiian kingdom after a British navy captain seized control in 1843.
The occasion would differ from the 13 paid state holidays, when government offices are closed and state and county workers receive paid time off. Instead, it would join the list of 23 other proclaimed days of observance, such as Arbor Day and Lei Day, according to the state government website.
The “Paulet Affair,” as it became known, started when Richard Charlton,
Hawaii’s first British ambassador, arrived in 1840 and began illegally claiming certain lands on Oahu, according to House Bill 2475. When his claims were rejected by Kamehameha III, Charlton left Hawaii to return to England to press his cause before Britain’s Foreign Office.
During a stopover in
Mexico, Charlton met Lord George Paulet, a British navy captain, and persuaded him to travel with him to Hawaii to investigate. Arriving in February 1843, Paulet then seized military control of the government, and during his five-month occupation ordered all Hawaiian flags to be lowered and burned.
The Paulet Affair was one of the two most traumatic events of the Hawaiian monarchy, according to Adam Jansen, archivist for the
Hawaii State Archives. The other, of course, was the 1893 illegal overthrow of Queen Lili‘uokalani by a group of businessmen backed by American troops.
Rather than retake the land by force, Kamehameha sent envoys to the United States, Britain and France, where they lobbied for Hawaii to be released from Paulet’s control. In July 1843, Britain dispatched Adm. Richard Thomas to remove Paulet for “his unwarranted transgressions” and restore the kingdom.
On July 31, 1843, subjects of the kingdom gathered on the grounds of what is now Thomas Square to witness the admiral officially restore Kamehameha as king. Later that day at Kawaiahao Church, the monarch spoke the phrase that is now the state motto: “Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina I Ka Pono,” which roughly translates to “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”
He declared the day La Hoihoi Ea, or Restoration Day, Hawaii’s first national holiday.
“It was a really important milestone in the growth and evolution of the Hawaiian government,” Jansen said. “Hawaii received recognition from both France and England as having diplomatic status on the world stage. And from that point forward, it
really
propelled Hawaii’s ability to negotiate treaties with all of the nations of the day.”
There is no consensus on
the exact meaning and context behind Kamehameha’s words, “Ua Mau Ke Ea
O Ka Aina I Ka Pono,” Jansen said. But some believe he was referring to the restoration of Hawaii’s sovereignty and land by the righting of a wrong.
Kamehameha deftly handled the traumatic occupation, he added.
“He chose diplomacy as a method to handle this,” Jansen said. “If he would have chosen force of arms to try and resist, it very easily could have gone the other way.”
After Kamehameha’s historic speech, the site sat idle until 1882, when Princess Kaiulani’s father, Archibald Cleghorn, was assigned the task of beautifying the park. He built an artesian well, a pool and a bandstand and planted banyans and other trees.
Since then, Thomas Square has seen roads built around it and at one point housed a barracks for soldiers from 1943 to 1945. In 2018, a 12-foot statue of Kamehameha III was unveiled on the side of the park bordering King Street.
Jansen said he sees HB 2475 as an opportunity to spread awareness of the historic events.
“It’s an opportunity to help educate modern society on what it took to get to where we are today, and how important and monumental the task that had to be undertaken by our ancestors, and how masterfully they navigated those issues,” Jansen said.
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means has scheduled public decision making on HB 2475 when it meets at 10:30 a.m. today.
