Consent of the Governed

As a patriotic American who believes strongly in the American values I was raised up with, I am very thankful for the freedoms I enjoy. And of course that includes the freedom to express myself regarding Hawaii's independence here at this blog.

One of the most important principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence is this:

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

So today I would like to offer some citations that reflect on the failure of this principle to be applied in the case of Hawaii.

First, from the words of President Cleveland, addressing Congress on December 18, 1893, following the report of Commission James H. Blount into the invasion of Hawaii, regarding the nature of the U.S. involvement and the character of the "Provisional Government" that had resulted, with regard to the principle of consent:

This military demonstration upon the soil of Honolulu was of itself an act of war, unless made either with the consent of the Government of Hawaii or for the bona fide purpose of protecting the imperiled lives and property of citizens of the United States. But there is no pretense of any such consent on the part of the Government of the Queen, which at that time was undisputed and was both the de facto and the de jure government.
[...]
Thus it appears that Hawaii was taken possession of by the United States forces without the consent or wish of the government of the islands, or of anybody else so far as shown, except the United States Minister.
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I believe that a candid and thorough examination of the facts will force the conviction that the provisional government owes its existence to an armed invasion by the United States. Fair-minded people with the evidence before them will hardly claim that the Hawaiian Government was overthrown by the people of the islands or that the provisional government had ever existed with their consent. I do not understand that any member of this government claims that the people would uphold it by their suffrages if they were allowed to vote on the question.
[...]
The provisional government has not assumed a republican or other constitutional form, but has remained a mere executive council or oligarchy, set up without the assent of the people. It has not sought to find a permanent basis of popular support and has given no evidence of an intention to do so. Indeed, the representatives of that government assert that the people of Hawaii are unfit for popular government and frankly avow that they can be best ruled by arbitrary or despotic power.

Once Cleveland had withdrawn the treaty of annexation from the Senate, the "Provisional Government" recognized that it would have to bide its time, and it chose the date of July 4, 1894, to essentially change its name and declare itself to be the "Republic of Hawaii," seeking to cloth itself in the spirit of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, when in fact it represented exactly the opposite.

Then, from the 1993 Apology Resolution, there is this, regarding the purported annexation of Hawaii in 1898:

...the Republic of Hawaii also ceded 1,800,000 acres of crown, government and public lands of the Kingdom of Hawaii, without the consent of or compensation to the ... people of Hawaii or their sovereign government

Thus, I choose to exercise my freedom on this day, bequeathed to me by the wise founders of my country, by expressing my view that my country has failed to exercise the hallowed principle of "consent of the governed" when it comes to Hawaii.

And finally, this letter from Shana Logan in today's Advertiser:

In the words of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, and from the pen of Hawai'i's last ruling monarch, Queen Li-li'uokalani in 1893, while imprisoned in 'Iolani Palace by American soldiers and businessmen (taken from the book "Hawai'i's Story," Mutual Publishing, 1990), let us ponder America's freedom and independence, in contrast to Hawai'i's unsuccessful quest for a similar goal: freedom from unlawful rule.

Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. ...

"But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Excerpts from "Hawai'i's Story" (pages 373-374):

"Oh, honest Americans, as Christians hear me for my down-trodden people! Their form of government is as dear to them as yours is precious to you. Quite as warmly as you love your country, so they love theirs. ... It is for them that I would give the last drop of my blood; it is for them that I would spend, nay, am spending, everything belonging to me. Will it be in vain? It is for the American people and their representatives in Congress to answer these questions. As they deal with me and my people, kindly, generously, and justly, so may the Great Ruler of all nations deal with the grand and glorious nation of the United Stated of America." — Queen Li-li'uokalani, 1893

Posted: Mon - July 4, 2005 at 09:25 AM

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Consent of the Governed

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