The Wilcox Rebellions were an armed rebellion in 1888, a revolt in 1889, and a

counter-revolution A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...

in 1895, led by

Robert William Wilcox Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox (February 15, 1855 – October 23, 1903), nicknamed the Iron Duke of Hawaii, was a Native Hawaiian whose father was an American and whose mother was Hawaiian. A revolutionary soldier and politician, he led uprisi ...

against the promulgation of the

Bayonet Constitution The 1887 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom was a legal document prepared by anti-monarchists to strip the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority, initiating a transfer of power to American, European and native Hawaiian elites. It became k ...

in 1888 and 1889, and against the overthrow of the monarchy in 1895. He was considered a

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

and dedicated to the monarchy of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Wilcox's revolts were part of the Hawaiian Rebellions.

Wilcox rebellion

Robert William Wilcox sitting in police station

The plot was to overthrow King David Kalākaua, king of Hawaii, and replace him with his sister in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

Background

In 1887, in response to increased political tension between the legislature and the king, a group of government ministers led by Interior Minister

Lorrin A. Thurston Lorrin Andrews Thurston (July 31, 1858 – May 11, 1931) was an American lawyer, politician, and businessman born and raised in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Thurston played a prominent role in the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom that replaced Q ...

with the support of the

Honolulu Rifles The Honolulu Rifles were the name of two volunteer military companies of the Hawaiian Kingdom. First company In 1857, the First Hawaiian Cavalry, an artillery and infantry company which was originally established in 1852, was renamed the Honolulu ...

, forced King David Kalākaua to promulgate the

. The constitution stripped Asians of their voting rights while at the same time limited suffrage to wealthy Native Hawaiians, Americans and other Europeans. The king's own powers were limited substantially. Hostilities grew over the new constitution that limited mostly non-white commoners' rights and power. Kalākaua's sister, Princess Liliuokalani and wife, Queen Kapiolani returned from Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee immediately after news reached them in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

Plot and outcome

In April 1887, Princess Liliʻuokalani attended the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria as part of Kalākaua's delegation. Soon after the Jubilee celebrations, the delegation learned of the

that Kalākaua had been forced to sign under the threat of death. A planned tour of Europe was cancelled and the group returned to Hawaii. Liliʻuokalani felt that her brother, Kalākaua, was not competent to be King. In October 1887 and about the same time as Liliʻuokalani, Kalākaua's distant cousin, a native Hawaiian officer and veteran of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

returned to Hawaii. Wilcox had returned when the funding for his study program stopped after the new constitution was signed. Wilcox,

Charles B. Wilson Charles Burnett "C.B." Wilson (4 July 1850 – 12 September 1926) was a British and Tahitian superintendent of the water works, fire chief under Kalākaua, King Kalākaua, and Marshal of the Kingdom under Liliuokalani, Queen Liliuokalani. Wilson w ...

, Princess Liliuokalani, and Sam Nowlein plotted to overthrow King Kalākaua to replace him with his sister, Liliuokalani. They had 300 Hawaiian conspirators hidden in

Iolani Barracks Iolani is a masculine Hawaiian name meaning "royal ''hawk''." It comes from the Hawaiian words ''ʻio'', meaning " Hawaiian hawk," and ''lani'', meaning "royal." It may refer to: * ʻIolani School, a private school located in Hawaii *ʻIolani Pal ...

and an alliance with the Royal Guard, but the plot was accidentally discovered in January 1888, less than 48 hours before the revolt would have been initiated. No one was prosecuted but Wilcox was exiled. So on February 11, 1888, Wilcox left Hawaii for San Francisco, intending to return to Italy with his wife.

A second plot

Princess Liliuokalani was offered the throne several times by the

Missionary Party The Reform Party, also referred to as "the Missionary Party", or the "Down-Town Party", was a political party in the Kingdom of Hawaii. It was founded by descendants of Protestant missionaries that came to Hawaii from New England. Following the Ann ...

who had forced the Bayonet Constitution on her brother, but she believed she would become a powerless figurehead like her brother and rejected the offers outright.

Wilcox Rebellion of 1889

In 1887, in response to increased political tension between the legislature and the king, a group of government ministers led by Interior Minister Lorrin A. Thurston with the support of an armed

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, forced King David Kalākaua to promulgate the

1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii The 1887 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom was a legal document prepared by anti-monarchists to strip the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority, initiating a transfer of power to American, European and native Hawaiian elites. It became ...

. The

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

stripped Asians of their voting rights while at the same time limited suffrage to wealthy native Hawaiians, Americans and other Europeans. The king's own powers were limited substantially. A native Hawaiian officer and veteran of the

, organized a rebellion on July 30, 1889, to revive the powers of the monarch over administration. The rebellion was thwarted by the absence of the King at

ʻIolani Palace The Iolani Palace ( haw, Hale Aliʻi ʻIolani) was the royal residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaii beginning with Kamehameha III under the Kamehameha Dynasty (1845) and ending with Queen Liliʻuokalani (1893) under the Kalākaua D ...

(who was needed to promulgate a new constitution), and the Honolulu Rifles. Wilcox was tried for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, and acquitted despite his obvious guilt.

Burlesque Conspiracy

The Burlesque Conspiracy is also known as an event called the Sandbag Incident. The name of the conspiracy, Burlesque, was mainly to mock Marshal of the Kingdom Charles Wilson for appearing to have been tricked into putting the Kingdom on a high state of alert for no reason.

Background

After the rise to power by Queen Liliuokalani, members of the National Liberal Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom became frustrated with her over a feeling of neglect to removing the

. Wilcox organized another plot in 1892 by forming a group called the Hawaiian Patriotic League which included John Edward Bush, Volney V. Ashford, and J. W. "Bellowing" Bipikane. The intentions of this group were to overthrow the monarchy and establish a republic.

Sandbag Incident

Wilcox and Bush's speeches drew the attention of Charles Wilson. He had agents infiltrate the group and inform him of the League's activities. In March 1892 Wilson was informed of an imminent Coup d'état. In response he put the Kingdom under high alert and sandbagged

(hence the name of the incident), effectively diverting the attempt. In response by the League to the Kingdom's lockdown, they aborted the coup and no event occurred. To the public the heightened alertness appeared to have no basis, since no confrontation happened, making Wilson look like a paranoid fool (hence the name of the conspiracy).

Aftermath

Wilson raided the League on May 20 arresting and jailing more than a dozen conspirators including Wilcox for plotting to overthrow the government. Wilcox spent 36 days in jail and was not convicted, leading to his release. Ministers to the queen felt that the exposing of the conspiracy made it harmless. The conspiracy was received by Liliuokalani as one of many voices demanding the removal of the 1887 Constitution, subsequently she drafted the 1893 Constitution.

1895 Counter-Revolution in Hawaii

In 1895, Wilcox participated in another attempt, this time to overthrow the

Republic of Hawaiʻi The Republic of Hawaii ( Hawaiian: ''Lepupalika o Hawaii'') was a short-lived one-party state in Hawaii between July 4, 1894, when the Provisional Government of Hawaii had ended, and August 12, 1898, when it became annexed by the United States ...

and to restore Liliuokalani to power. Royalist supporters landed a cargo of arms and ammunition from San Francisco, California in a secret Honolulu location. At the location on January 6, 1895, a company of royalists met to draft plans to capture the government buildings by surprise. A premature encounter with a squad of police alarmed Honolulu and the plans were abandoned as the royalists were quickly routed. Wilcox spent several days in hiding in the mountains before being captured. The son of one pro-annexationist was killed. Several other skirmishes occurred during the following week resulting in the capture of the leading conspirators and their followers. The government allegedly found arms and ammunition and some potentially evidential documents on the premises of Washington Place, Liliʻuokalani's private residence implicating her in the plot.

Wilcox's continued resistance

A few years later, after Wilcox's final rebellion, he organized the Hawaiian Independent Party, later renamed the Home Rule Party, and won the majority of the seats in the

Legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

. Wilcox was elected and served in Congress from November 6, 1900, to March 3, 1903, an advocate for Hawaiian rights and

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

, and against annexation. But tensions between Governor

Sanford B. Dole Sanford Ballard Dole (April 23, 1844 – June 9, 1926) was a lawyer and jurist from the Hawaiian Islands. He lived through the periods when Hawaii was a kingdom, protectorate, republic, and territory. A descendant of the American missionary ...

(with veto power) and the Home Rule Party did not allow legislation to be passed. Wilcox died the same year he left office. Wilcox continues to be regarded as a hero by the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement.

References

Bibliography

;Dominis Conspiracy * * * ;Burlesque Conspiracy * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilcox Rebellions 1888 in Hawaii 1889 in Hawaii 1895 in Hawaii Hawaiian Kingdom Republic of Hawaii Battles involving Hawaii Riots and civil disorder in Hawaii Military of the Hawaiian Kingdom