American History Tellers - Hawaiʻi's Journey to Statehood | The Last Queen | 1

Episode Date: March 22, 2023

In 1893 the independent island kingdom of Hawaiʻi flourished under the leadership of its monarch, Queen Lili’uokalani. But as the leaders of Hawaiʻi’s lucrative sugar industry gained power, the Queen struggled to maintain control. Soon, the so-called sugar barons, with the backing of American politicians, began plotting to overthrow the Queen.The contested and controversial removal of Hawaiʻi’s last reigning monarch would pave the way for the kingdom to be annexed as a U.S. territory, forever changing the fate of the islands.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's the afternoon of January 14th, 1893. You're a longtime friend and advisor to Hawaii's Queen Lili'uokalani. She summons you to Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu, and you're fighting your way through a crowd of her supporters who have gathered outside. It's been a tumultuous few months. Tensions have escalated between Native Hawaiians and those beholden to the powerful sugar lobby in the islands.

Yesterday, the Queen asked you to become her Minister of Foreign Affairs, just two days after her previous cabinet resigned. You enter a reception area called the Blue Room, named for its thick satin drapes. The 54-year-old Queen arrives, wearing a lavender gown and limping slightly, still bothered by a childhood injury. She then sits at a head of a long table and nods for you and three other newly appointed ministers to join you. Did you hear that crowd outside, gentlemen? They're expecting me to announce the passage of a new replacement constitution and restore the Hawaiian people's right to vote. You've all had a chance to read it, and I expect you to do the right thing today and sign it. Well, Your Majesty, why such haste? I believe we need more time to review the document. Such a bold move requires approval by the legislature as well. Plus, we need to consider

the consequences. There are men in the business community here who will strongly oppose this. Oh, I'm well aware, but that's not your concern. As your queen, I command you to sign this document. The queen handpicked you, expecting your unquestioned loyalty. And you are loyal to her. But you and the other ministers are also under intense pressure from her powerful opponents, a group of American businessmen and sugar barons known as the Annexation Club.

Majesty, you must understand, this constitution will be viewed as a revolutionary act. It's my duty to advise you to proceed with more caution. The Queen sits up straight, her face growing red with anger. Gentlemen, if you won't sign it, then you too must resign. And I'll appoint another cabinet, one that will do what must be done. Now sign it. Then, as if they had planned it in advance, the other three ministers rise in unison and walk out. It's now just you and the Queen who appears distraught. Your Majesty, listen. I'll support

you whatever you decide, but if you insist on enacting this new constitution today, the annexation club, the sugar men, they're going to strike back. They'll say you're stripping them of their livelihoods, like they've stripped my people of their voting rights. You know as well as I do how much our people have suffered. I'm tired of letting these outsiders run our country. Delays and negotiations will not serve us, even if it will avoid bloodshed. Your Majesty, please do not underestimate what these men are capable of. The Queen glances out the windows toward the crowds

that have begun chanting outside. Their words echo through the palace, Hawaii for Hawaiians, and you can feel how strongly your Queen is drawn to them, how much she wants to step out on that balcony and proclaim that a new constitution has been signed. So you hope you can convince the queen to choose a safer path and delay her push for a new constitution. Hawaii is your home, and it should be a free place for free Hawaiians

who can vote and participate in its governance. But you don't want to see it torn apart. I'm Saatchi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagee. And we're the hosts of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of the most infamous scams of all time, the impact on victims, and what's left once the facade falls away. Follow Scamfluencers on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with.

Listen to The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. On our show, we'll take you to the events, the times, and the people that shaped America and Americans. Our values, our struggles, and our dreams. We'll put you in the shoes of everyday citizens as history was being made. And we'll show you how the events of the times affected them, their families, and affects you now. The Hawaiian Islands are one of the most remote places on Earth, thousands of miles from any mainland. Eight major islands and scores of smaller islands and atolls make up an archipelago that stretches across 1,500 miles in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

For centuries, that geographic isolation protected Hawaii and its inhabitants from outside influences. But by the 19th century, that had begun to change. The arrival of American and European missionaries, whalers, and farmers transformed Hawaii's culture, economy, and landscape. The growth of the powerful sugar industry brought fresh waves of immigrant laborers and drew the attention of political leaders from the mainland U.S. who began to see the island's economic and strategic potential. Still, the islands remained an independent kingdom until 1893. That year, a clash between Hawaii's monarch, Queen Liliuokalani, and American business interests set in motion a series of events that would remake Hawaii into a U.S. territory and eventually the 50th state.

This is Episode 1 of our four-part series on Hawaii's journey to statehood, The Last Queen. The first Polynesian explorers to reach the Hawaiian Islands over a thousand years ago found an untouched paradise, a land of folded cliffs and towering waterfalls, deep green hillsides spotted with colorful flowers. There were no predators, no snakes, and very few insects. It offered abundant drinkable water, and its shores teemed with fish. Over the centuries, as more settlers arrived from Samoa, Tahiti, and other South Pacific islands, various priests and chiefs

ruled numerous different Hawaiian tribes. Then in the late 1700s, one man began to unite the islands. King Kamehameha I conquered all the other chiefs and by 1810 had unified the islands into one kingdom. The king expanded trade and created a unified legal system. When he died in 1819, his son became king, and his grandson after that. The House of Kamehameha would reign for eight decades, but the island would not be theirs alone. Explorers from other parts of the world had also begun visiting Hawaii, starting with British explorer James Cook in 1778. Captain Cook and his men marveled at the lush paradise of what Cook called the Sandwich Islands, and their arrival quickly brought conflict. In 1779,

during Cook's second visit to the islands, tensions between native Hawaiians and Cook's men escalated. Until, in one incident, angry Hawaiians stabbed and killed Cook as he was attempting to kidnap a local chief in retaliation for a stolen boat. After the captain's death, Cook's men killed as many as 30 Hawaiians. And after Cook, more Europeans followed. Christian missionaries began arriving from New England in the 1820s. After them came the whalers, who visited Hawaii on their way to and from whale hunting grounds off the coast of Japan. The whalers turned the island's largest city, Honolulu, into a bustling seaport full of sailors and merchants from every corner of the globe. Most native Hawaiians viewed

these newcomers not as a threat, but as a source of new ideas and customs. Many willingly converted to Christianity, including King Kamehameha II. His successor, King Kamehameha III, brought Western-style changes to Hawaii's government, transitioning from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one, with a Bill of Rights and a judiciary and national legislature. Starting in the 1840s, Hawaiians could vote for their representatives in government. The king also enacted western-style land reforms.

Traditionally, all Hawaiian land was held under the stewardship of the king and communally shared. But starting in 1848, Kamehameha III decided to introduce private land ownership. At first, under a new system called mahele, only native Hawaiians could own land. Then, in 1850, the Hawaiian legislature passed the Alien Land Ownership Act, which for the first time allowed foreigners to buy or lease property. One group in particular soon took advantage of the new law—sugar growers. In the 1850s, American and European farmers discovered that

the Hawaiian Islands' climate, soil, and water were ideal for cultivating sugarcane. Under allowances given them by the Alien Land Ownership Act, they began scooping up vast parcels of land. A few pioneers created large-scale sugar plantations on the islands of Oahu, Maui, and Lanai. And a number of businesses expanded into sugar exports, including many started by the descendants of missionaries. Hawaiian sugar also got a boost from the American Civil War, which decimated plantations in the southern American states and caused sugar prices to soar. To keep up with demand and compete with Caribbean sugar, Hawaii's plantation owners brought in immigrant contract

workers from China, Japan, and Portugal to work the fields. By the mid-1860s, more than 30 Hawaiian plantations were exporting 18 million pounds of refined sugar every year. But market turbulence and consolidation compressed the sugar industry into just a handful of companies, which became known as the Big Five. Over the course of the 1870s, these five companies expanded into every corner of Hawaii's economy, from banking to shipping to real estate. Many of the leaders of these businesses, the so-called sugar barons, became politicians and judges. Some developed close ties to the monarchy, even marrying into the extended royal family,

further cementing their power and influence on the economy and government of the islands. But the explosive growth of Hawaii's sugar economy did little to benefit native Hawaiians. Some found work on plantations, but most owners preferred laborers from abroad, who could be indentured and forced to work for less. More troubling for native islanders were the infectious diseases introduced by foreigners. Indigenous Hawaiians with no natural immunity died by the thousands to diseases like influenza, cholera, tuberculosis, the mumps, measles, and smallpox. At the time of Captain Cook's arrival, Hawaii's Native population was estimated to be between 200,000 and 1 million. But by 1874, only a century later, their numbers had dropped to roughly 50,000.

That same year, Hawaii saw the crowning of a new king, whose policies would further transform the island kingdom. Known as the Merry Monarch, King David Kalakaua was a champion of Hawaiian culture, history, music, and dance. He liked to drink, sing, and play the ukulele, an instrument that had been introduced to the islands by Portuguese immigrants. Under King David Kalakaua's rule, advances in business and education brought prosperity to the islands. He even brought electricity to the royal palace four years

before the White House got electric lights. King Kalakaua also became increasingly friendly with the powerful owners of the Big Five sugar companies. And at their behest, the king traveled the world to encourage immigrants to come work the sugar plantations. In 1875, Kalakaua signed a free trade agreement with the United States known as the Reciprocity Treaty, which eliminated taxes on Hawaiian sugar. The treaty also allowed the U.S. Navy to use a lagoon west of Honolulu called Pearl Harbor to anchor, refuel, and repair its ships. Many Native Hawaiians and their legislatures opposed the American naval presence at Pearl Harbor, as well as the broader influx of American citizens

that had increased in the first years of Kalakaua's reign. Hawaiians called these white outsiders haole, and many worried as they began to exert more influence, in the first years of Kalakaua's reign. Hawaiians called these white outsiders haole, and many worried as they began to exert more influence, at times seeming to challenge the independence of the monarchy itself. One of the leaders of the so-called haole was a son of Christian missionaries named Loren Thurston. Thurston was born and raised in Hawaii and became a prominent lawyer and legislator,

closely tied to the Sugar Barons. Deeply conservative in his politics, Thurston headed the Missionary Party, founded by descendants of the missionary families. By 1887, Thurston also helped organize a secret group of white business leaders known as the Hawaiian League. This group opposed many of King Kalakaua's policies and began scheming to depose him and take more control of Hawaii's government. In June of that year, Thurston drafted a proposed new constitution, one that would strip power from the monarchy in favor of Thurston and his allies, and then demanded that the king sign it. Thurston's Hawaiian League was backed by an all-white

volunteer militia called the Honolulu Rifles. The king knew the militia might be called into action if he resisted, and so reluctantly he gave in and signed what came to be known as the Bayonet Constitution, so called because Kalakaua had apparently consented to it only at gunpoint. This new charter shifted power into the hands of the legislature, which was increasingly controlled by American and European business interests. It eliminated the king's veto power and his ability to appoint members to the legislature, reducing him to a mere figurehead. It also established land ownership requirements in order to vote or hold legislative office, which disenfranchised many Native Hawaiians while granting foreign landowners, like Thurston's Hawaiian League, the right to vote.

And then, after the signing of the new constitution, in a weakened political position, Kalakaua made more concessions. He agreed to add Thurston to his cabinet as interior minister. And in late 1887, he reluctantly signed a new treaty that gave the U.S. an exclusive lease to Pearl Harbor. The Kingdom of Hawaii seemed to be in the throes of a hostile takeover. Opponents and loyalists alike, alarmed by King Kalakaua's ineffectual leadership, urged him to abdicate.

But the merry monarch clung to what remained of his dwindling power base. Then, in 1890, the king's health began failing. Against his family's wishes, he decided to travel to California, hoping the mild climate there would help him recover. But instead, his condition only got worse. Imagine it's January 16, 1891. You are the manager of the Pacific Phonograph Company, which markets and sells an exciting recent invention, Thomas Edison's wax cylinder recording machines. Today, you're at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, not far from your office. You're here, though,

to meet with Hawaii's king, David Kalikawa, who's on an extended visit to California. You plan to give the king a demonstration of Edison's cutting-edge technology and maybe capture the king's voice for posterity. He recently suffered a stroke, and when you find him, he's in bed, propped up by pillows. Working quickly, you explain the machine as you set up a wax recording cylinder in place and adjust the cone-shaped mouthpiece. Your Majesty, this is the greatest achievement of Edison's inventive genius. You speak into this cone, loudly if you can,

and your people will be able to hear your words many years from now. What would I say? Well, perhaps you could tell a story about your visit to California. I'm quite tired. Let's do a trial run. Just a few words, and then more when I'm feeling better. You nod and turn the hand crank on the machine, and the wax cylinder begins to spin. King sits up and leans forward, and you motion for him to speak into the funnel-shaped receiver. Aloha kawa. Aloha kawa. The King's next few words are also in Hawaiian. They make no sense to you, but you're sure his people will understand.

And then thankfully he switches to English. We greet each other. Here we are in California. We'll soon be leaving here to return to my people back home to Hawaii. This magical machine is recording my voice, and my people will one day hear what I have said. You encourage the king to keep speaking, but he does seem exhausted. He manages a few more words in Hawaiian before switching back again to English. I am a man who The king then lays back in bed. His eyes flutter and he appears to drift off. One of his assistants asks you to pack up the machine and leave. As you put everything away, looking at the king, almost perfectly still in bed, you can tell he is gravely ill.

You wonder if you've just recorded the king of Hawaii's final words. On January 18th, 1891, while staying at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, King David Kalakaua slipped into a coma. Two days later, he died. He was only 54 years old. Hawaiians wouldn't learn of the merry monarch's death until January 29th,

when a U.S. naval cruiser, the USS Charleston, arrived at Honolulu Harbor carrying his remains. For years, the men of Big Sugar had conspired to reduce the king's power and manipulate Hawaii's laws to support the sugar industry. Kalakaua had been friendly to U.S. sugar concerns, but these men had long viewed the monarchy itself as an obstacle. They didn't want to have to deal with a new king,

and they had little interest in protecting the rights of his subjects. So when Kalakaua died, the sugar barons and their allies saw an opening. They may have controlled much of the kingdom's business and trade, but they did not fully control the government. Not yet. But the sugar barons soon realized that they faced a formidable new opponent. With the king's death, his sister, Liliuokalani, ascended to the throne. And from the start, the new queen let it be known that she would not be a pawn to Big

Sugar. One of her first acts was to request the resignation of her brother's cabinet. After that, she planned to strengthen the power of the monarchy and restore voting rights to Native Hawaiians, who had begun petitioning the queen to replace the Bayonet Constitution. Hawaii for Hawaiians became a rallying cry. The new queen became a force for change and an advocate for her people above all else. She had long felt that her brother had been too friendly with the sugar barons and men like Lauren Thurston, so she began working to reverse many of his decisions and policies. This was an alarming turn of events for Thurston's Hawaiian League and the Big Five sugar businesses. Growing concerned, they believed that it was now time to

put an end to Hawaii's outdated monarchy, even if doing so would require a revolution. In November 1991, media tycoon Robert Maxwell mysteriously vanished from his luxury yacht in the Canary Islands. But it wasn't just his body that would come to the surface in the days that followed. It soon emerged that Robert's business was on the brink of collapse, and behind his facade of wealth and success was a litany of bad investments, mounting debt, and multi-million dollar fraud. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show Business Movers. We tell the true stories of business leaders who risked it all,

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Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. In 1892, Hawaii's sugar-based economy took a sharp downturn. A year earlier, the McKinley Act had gone into effect. This policy eliminated tariffs on sugar imports into the United States from other countries and provided financial support for U.S. sugar manufacturers, bringing an end to the advantage Hawaii's sugar exporters had enjoyed since the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875. And as Hawaii's economy entered a depression, the executives of Big Sugar became convinced that controlling the legislature was not enough. They decided the best way to save their industry was to get rid of Queen Liliuokalani, who had fought them at every turn, and the best way to oust her was to arrange for Hawaii to be

annexed by the United States. So in 1892, the Hawaiian League reformed under a bolder name, one that clearly stated their aim, the Annexation Club. Their most vocal leader was still Loren Thurston, the ringleader behind the Bayonet Constitution. And in March 1892, Thurston traveled to Washington, D.C. to gain support for his plan to annex Hawaii by force if necessary. He was well-known in Washington and had the ear of powerful men in the capital. He received encouragement from the Secretary of the Navy and indirectly from President Benjamin Harrison, who declined to meet with Thurston in person, but sent an aid to

let him know that the administration was sympathetic to his cause. Later that year, in late 1892, having learned of Thurston's efforts, one of the queen's advisors warned her by letter, the enemy is in the household. So on January 12, 1893, in an effort to protect the embattled monarchy, Lili Okolani dismissed the entire legislature, which had completed its term. She then secretly drafted a new constitution

to replace the bayonet constitution her brother had signed under duress. The terms of this new constitution would change voter eligibility requirements, restoring voting rights to Native Hawaiians, and even enfranchising Asian immigrant laborers for the first time. Such changes, she felt, would reduce the power of Thurston and his white allies and give her more political clout to continue advancing her Hawaii for Hawaiians agenda. Next, Lili'okalani replaced her cabinet ministers with four men she hoped would be more amenable to her plans, including two with Hawaiian ancestry. On January 14th, she met with these new ministers and insisted that they either sign the new constitution or

resign. She had wanted to announce the new, signed constitution that afternoon from the balcony of Iolani Palace. But Thurston and his allies had caught wind of this new constitution and pressured her ministers not to sign it. When the queen threatened to appoint a new cabinet that would, all but one of her ministers walked out. The fourth, a plantation owner with Hawaiian ancestry named Sam Parker, convinced the queen to delay her plans in the hopes of avoiding reprisals from the annexation club. Lili Okolani appeared on the balcony that afternoon and told a crowd of supporters that obstacles had arisen, but she would soon deliver a new constitution. Thurston and his allies were not going to let that happen.

That very night, members of the annexation club met and renamed themselves yet again, this time to the Committee of Safety. They were convinced the Queen was acting recklessly, that their lives and property were in peril, and it was time to take matters into their own hands. Thurston worked late into the night to draft documents and create a new provisional government for Hawaii. He and his committee called on allies to gather for a mass meeting at the downtown armory on Monday, January 16th, to air their grievances against the queen. Meanwhile, the queen's supporters urged her to declare martial law and arrest her opposition. But the Committee of Safety had enlisted help. They were now backed by U.S. armed forces on the naval ship the USS Boston,

anchored in Honolulu Harbor. A showdown seemed imminent. Imagine it's January 16, 1893, two days after Queen Liliuokalani replaced her entire cabinet and introduced a controversial new constitution. She'd threatened to enact it by royal fiat, bypassing her cabinet and the legislature. You and other members of the Committee of Safety are determined to stop her, but you're worried things are moving too fast. A crowd has gathered inside the armory in downtown Honolulu, waiting for you and other members of the committee to address them.

You've been encouraging the committee to proceed with patience and moderation, but neither interests Lauren Thurston, who desperately wants the Committee of Safety to depose the Queen. Knowing you're an obstacle to his plans, Thurston corners you and pokes a skinny finger into your chest. You hear that grumbling crowd out there? That is the sound of progress, my friend. Those people want a new regime, and we can give it to them, tonight. I agree that it might be time for change, but there are constitutional steps we can take to achieve that. We don't need to escalate an already risky situation. Constitutional steps? What the Queen has done is the opposite.

It's downright treasonous. The conservative members of the community want a representative and responsible government, not this tyranny. Inside the armory, the crowd has grown larger and louder. They're eager for Thurston's upcoming speech. No, I still think cooler heads can prevail here, Lauren. Let me address the crowd first. I believe I can make a case for negotiating with the Queen. I'll shout you off the stage.

No, no, no. The time for negotiating has passed. We must stand firm and protect America's interests in Hawaii. It's time to act. But if that action ends in bloodshed, just think about what the instability could do to our businesses. No, it's the Queen who's instable. She's violated her oath of office. And unless radical measures are taken, she will continue to ride roughshod over our liberties. Well, what would you have us do? Bring in the Marines? Yes. Yes, that's precisely what we should do. I've already discussed it with Stevens, and he agreed to have the Marines ready to go. What? You understand if you do this, there's no turning back. I understand perfectly.

Last Saturday, the sun rose on a peaceful and smiling city, but today it does not. And whose fault is that? Queen and no one else's. So for the sake of all Hawaiians, she has to go. You realize it's no use. Thurston loves his rhetoric and his mind is made up. Nothing you can say will sway him, so you fold your arms and stand down. Then watch as he struts onto stage to cheers and chants of more than a thousand people, all hungry to bring an end to Hawaiian self-rule. The afternoon and evening of January 16, 1893, was a turning point in Hawaii's history. At their rally at the downtown armory, members of the Committee of Safety whipped the

crowd into a frenzy. Lauren Thurston claimed the Queen's actions would destroy us all. Men like Henry Baldwin, a one-armed sugar man from Maui, recommended moderation but were shouted down. Into the escalating tension stepped another player, John Stevens, the U.S. Minister to Hawaii. A pastor and former newspaper man from Maine, Stevens had been appointed to the State Department role in 1889 by an old friend who now happened to be President Harrison's Secretary of State. During his tenure, Stevens had aligned himself with white businessmen like Thurston and had openly voiced his support for annexation. He did not hide his disdain for the monarchy. Even so, the Queen now appealed to Stevens,

offering to back down from her pursuit of a new constitution and uphold the current one. In return, though, she wanted Stevens to protect her and her government. Stevens declined. Acting on his own authority, but convinced the State Department would support him, he decided to side with Thurston and the Committee of Safety. Stevens agreed to commit armed Marines from the USS Boston, a naval cruiser stationed at Honolulu Harbor. On the afternoon of the 16th, Stevens sent a letter to the commander of the cruiser, ordering the Marines and sailors

on board to come ashore to secure the safety of American life and property. At 5 p.m. that day, four boats delivered platoons totaling 164 men to the Honolulu waterfront. Armed with rifles and machine guns, they marched uphill toward the Royal Palace. The unpaved streets of downtown were nearly deserted. The Queen stood on the balcony and watched the men from the USS Boston approach in formation. A drummer kept a steady beat, and trumpets blared until, just below the Queen's balcony, the Marines stopped and raised their rifles. The parade was designed to look like a royal tribute, but the Queen saw for what it was—an armed threat. Meanwhile, both Stevens and

Thurston took to their beds that evening, claiming illness and refusing to see any visitors. From bed, Thurston began dictating the draft of a proclamation that would abolish the monarchy and create a new government. Other members of the Committee of Safety visited the home of Sanford Dole, another descendant of missionaries who had helped draft the Bayonet Constitution back in 1887 and was then serving as a justice on Hawaii's Supreme Court. They asked Dole to become president of a new provisional government. Dole had worked closely with the Queen and her brother before, and was seen as a more

moderate choice of leader than the fiery Thurston. Dole initially declined the offer, but the next day he visited John Stevens, who encouraged him to embrace the position as a great opportunity. After that conversation with Stevens, Sanford Doyle agreed to serve as president of Hawaii. And later that morning, a representative from the Committee of Safety read Thurston's proclamation from the steps of the building that was home to the Kingdom of Hawaii's legislative offices and courts. The proclamation called for abolishing Hawaii's monarchy and replacing it with a provisional government. Again from bed, Stevens authorized the new government in a letter to his superiors at the State Department, writing, The Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe, and this is

the golden hour for the United States to pluck it. As soon as the new government took over, Dole declared martial law and the U.S. flag was raised over government buildings. From Washington, D.C., outgoing U.S. President Benjamin Harrison supported the bloodless coup. And seeing that resistance would only lead to bloodshed and perhaps her own death, the Queen surrendered to what she called the superior force of the United States of America. But Queen Lili Okolani was not willing to go quietly. Though she agreed to vacate the palace, she refused to abdicate and refused to recognize the provisional government or Dole's leadership. In a statement of protest delivered to Dole on the night of January 17th, the queen said

she was not done fighting and insisted that Dole's leadership was temporary. She believed that once officials in Washington learned the facts and the world came to her defense, the coup would be overturned and she would be reinstated as the rightful sovereign of her land and people. Queen Lili Okolani was placing her hopes on the global community and on the incoming Democratic president, Grover Cleveland, believing that the fate of her kingdom hung in the balance. Richard Bandler revolutionized the world of self-help all thanks to an approach he developed called neuro-linguistic programming. Even though NLP worked for some, its methods have been criticized for being dangerous in the wrong hands.

Throw in Richard's dark past as a cocaine addict and murder suspect, and you can't help but wonder what his true intentions were. I'm Saatchi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagee. And we're the hosts of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of the most infamous scams of all time, the impact on victims, and what's left once the facade falls away. We recently dove into the story of the godfather of modern mental manipulation, Richard Bandler, whose methods inspired some of the most toxic and criminal self-help movements of the last two decades. Follow Scamfluencers on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Scamfluencers and more Exhibit C true crime shows like Morbid and Kill List early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+. Check out Exhibit C in the Wondery app for all your true crime listening.

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and President Harrison to take the next step and annex Hawaii. On February 14, 1893, less than a month after the coup, outgoing President Harrison complied, signing a treaty of annexation which he submitted to the Senate. But Harrison's successor, Grover Cleveland, had no intention of seeing the treaty through. He had already served one term as president before Harrison, during which time he had maintained friendly relations with the Hawaiian monarchy. In 1887, he had welcomed then-princess Liliuokalani to the White House, but he lost his re-election bid to Harrison in 1888. Cleveland ran again, though, in 1892, this time defeating his Republican rival.

An anti-imperialist, Cleveland was vocally critical of the coup in Hawaii, which he later called an act of war. So shortly after returning to the presidency on March 4, 1893, Cleveland withdrew the Treaty of Annexation. He also dismissed John Stevens as minister to Hawaii and recalled him to Washington. Cleveland then assigned James Blunt, a former congressman from Georgia, to visit Honolulu and investigate the situation. In July, Blunt submitted a scathing report to the president. His findings declared that a deep wrong had been done,

that John Stevens and the military had abused their authority, and that the queen should be reinstated. Cleveland concurred. He called the coup an embarrassment and said the U.S. should take steps to repair the monarchy. But attempts at reconciliation failed when Queen Lili'uokalani stubbornly declined to offer amnesty to Thurston and other members responsible for the coup. Later that year, in late 1893, President Cleveland sent former Kentucky Congressman Albert Willis to serve as the new minister to Hawaii.

In meetings with Willis, the deposed queen suggested that the men responsible for the takeover were guilty of treason and deserved death, not amnesty. According to Willis, the queen went so far as to suggest that men like Thurston should be beheaded. Faced with the queen's refusal to grant amnesty, Cleveland grew reluctant to further a restoration of the monarchy and referred the matter to Congress, which had issued a report in 1894 that refuted James Blunt's findings and exonerated Stevens and the others. So on July 4, 1894, the Senate passed a resolution that opposed restoring the Queen to power and supported the new government, which was still being led by Sanford Dole. The Senate chose not to pursue formal annexation at the time, but its inaction in restoring the

queen effectively created the Republic of Hawaii, led by Sanford Dole. Then in January of 1895, a group of roughly 200 armed men loyal to the queen attempted to retake control of the islands by force. They were quickly disarmed by policemen and volunteer soldiers loyal to the provisional government and forced to surrender. Queen Liliuokalani was accused of supporting the failed rebellion, even though there was no real evidence she played a role in it. Still, she was sentenced to house arrest inside Iolani Palace. Released after eight months, she undertook a tour of the U.S., again lobbying against

annexation and seeking support for restoration of her monarchy. But the U.S. was set for another change in leadership. In 1897, William McKinley became president and quickly abandoned Grover Cleveland's tentative efforts at reconciliation. McKinley agreed to support Sanford Dole's request to annex Hawaii, in part because he feared Japan's growing interest in the islands. The Japanese population of Hawaii had risen sharply as Japanese laborers came to work on the sugar plantations. McKinley and others believed Japan had its eye on the Hawaiian islands, and if the U.S. didn't take them, Japan would. So in late 1897, Lily Okolani was back in the United States, lobbying members of Congress to reinstate her,

and she found some sympathetic ears. But then, in February of 1898, the USS Maine exploded and sank in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing 267 American sailors and igniting the Spanish-American War. That conflict bolstered the case for annexing Hawaii, which would become an important naval refueling stop between the West Coast and fighting in the Philippines, then still a Spanish colony. With war fever sweeping through the United States, Queen Liliuokalani was running out of options.

Imagine it's May 30, 1898, a few months since the start of the Spanish-American War, and you are back in Hawaii, where you were born. But it's been a while since you left your home in Oahu to attend school in the States and enlist. Now you're a soldier, on shore leave while your troop carrier, the USS Charleston, refuels for the rest of the journey to the Philippines. But to welcome you and your fellow servicemen, and to wish you well as you head out to fight, it seems like the whole city of Honolulu has closed down and come out into the streets, waving and cheering as you and your fellow

soldiers march by. You turn to another man in your unit, who looks to be enjoying the attention. I can't believe this. I hardly recognize this place. It's gotten so Americanized. And what is everyone so excited about? They know we're going to war, right? We sure are. Remember the maid. It just doesn't look like Hawaii. What do you mean it doesn't look like Hawaii? You're from here, right? Everyone here looks pretty much just like you. You realize the soldier is right. You were born in Oahu, but you're white, like most everyone in the cheering crowd around you. You wonder where the native Hawaiians are. No, this isn't Hawaii.

I guess you're right, because it'll be America soon. Annexation! Annexation! Hey, look, I don't know why you're so glum. If this isn't Hawaii, then what was all that at the pier yesterday, huh? We arrived to a tropical feast, a big spread. I must have eaten six of those ham sandwiches. I never would have thought of eating ham with pineapple, but that was delicious. And tomorrow, I heard they're sending us off with some Hawaiian ceremony

and a flag made by some Hawaiian ladies. Our ship carried the Hawaiian king here when he died back in 91. This isn't Hawaii. You ignore your fellow soldier and scan the crowd as you march further through the streets of Honolulu. You finally spot a native face, but he quickly turns and heads inside a building, the door shutting tight behind him. The Hawaii you remember was vibrant, peaceful, and joyful, with men like him and other native Hawaiian and mixed-race people,

each contributing to Hawaii's unique independence and blend of cultures. But you realize that the sight of you and the other American soldiers in uniform probably just bring back bad memories of the coup. You're a walking, armed reminder of who's in charge of these islands now. No, this isn't Hawaii. President McKinley considered Hawaii a strategic stepping stone, economic and military, between the U.S. and Asia, and he felt that annexing Hawaii would keep it out of the hands of Japan. But at first, his efforts to gain congressional support for annexation stalled. That changed when on April 25, 1898, the U.S. declared war on Spain, and Commodore George Dewey attacked

and defeated the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in the Philippines. The unexpected victory was a sensation in the press and stoked public support for expanding the war effort. McKinley agreed to send more troops, and ships began departing from San Francisco in late May, bound for Manila. They all stopped in Honolulu to load up on coal and provisions. By mid-1898, it had become apparent that Hawaii was indeed a vital naval outpost. Dole and other leaders of the provisional government welcomed the U.S. military with open arms. They created coal storage lots at the Honolulu piers and offered to send local volunteers from the Hawaiian National Guard to fight in Cuba and the Philippines. Meanwhile, Queen Lily Okolani was

still traveling in the U.S., lobbying members of Congress and other civic leaders to help reinstate her. But she couldn't compete with America's sudden imperialist fever. On July 6, 1898, Congress passed a joint resolution annexing Hawaii into the United States. McKinley signed the resolution the next day. Now retired in Princeton, New Jersey, former President Cleveland wrote, I am ashamed of the whole affair. As news of annexation reached the island, some Native Hawaiians wore black armbands in protest. Others sent petitions with tens of thousandsation reached the island, some Native Hawaiians wore black armbands in protest. Others sent petitions with tens of thousands of signatures to Washington,

but all their efforts were in vain. Just past midnight on August 2nd, Liliuokalani returned home to Honolulu, having failed to prevent the final takeover of her country. Wearing black, she was greeted by hundreds of supporters. A reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle described the queen breaking the somber silence with a greeting of aloha to the crowd. A chorus of alohas broke out, and as the crowd followed the queen toward her recently built home at Waikiki, many of them began to sob and wail. Ten days later, Sanford Dole was again sworn in as Hawaii's leader, this time under the title governor.

The stars and stripes rose above Iolani Palace. The Hawaiian national flag was lowered and folded up. As the new flag rose, the former Royal Hawaiian Band, joined by musicians from the ship USS Philadelphia, played the Star Spangled Banner. In tears, some of the Hawaiian musicians dropped their instruments in protest. Two years later, the islands officially became the U.S. territory of Hawaii. But while the Sugar Barons had finally succeeded in their quest to destroy Hawaii's monarchy, their struggles to maintain sugar's dominance over the islands weren't over. In the early years of the new century, a rival crop would begin to boom,

and soon the competition for land, labor, and profit would lead to an economic showdown, setting the stage for a new period of transition and turmoil as embattled Hawaii entered the 20th century. From Wondery, this is Episode 1 of Hawaii's Journey to Statehood from American History Tellers. On the next episode, a distant cousin of Hawaii's new governor introduces pineapples to a windy plateau in central Oahu. Within a decade, this new crop and the immigrant workers brought in to farm it will reshape the landscape and economy of the Hawaiian islands. If you like American history tellers,

you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. If you'd like to learn more about the overthrow of Hawaii, we recommend Lost Kingdom by Julia Flynn Seiler and Captive Paradise by James Haley. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship.

Audio editing by Christian Paraga. Sound design by Molly Bach. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written by Neil Thompson. Edited by Dorian Marina. Produced by Alida Rosansky. Our production coordinator is Desi Blaylock. Managing producer is Matt Gant.

Senior managing producer, Tanja Thigpen. Senior producer, Andy Herman. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer-Beckman and Marshall Louis for Wondery. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal.

There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that would still a virgin. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years, I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with.

In the Pitcairn trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.