| Kamehameha II | |
|---|---|
| King of the Hawaiian Islands | |
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| Reign | May 20, 1819 — July 14, 1824 (5 years, 55 days) |
| Predecessor | Kamehameha I |
| Successor | Kamehameha III |
| Spouse | Victoria Kamāmalu Elizabeth Kīnaʻu Miriam Auhea Kekauluohi Kalanipauahi Anna Keahikuni-i-Kekauonohi |
| Full name | |
| Kalani Kalei`aimoku o Kaiwikapu o La`amea i Kauikawekiu Ahilapalapa Keali`i Kauinamoku o Kahekili Kalaninui i Mamao `Iolani i Ka Liholiho | |
| House | House of Kamehameha |
| Father | Kamehameha I |
| Mother | Queen Keōpūolani |
| Born | c. 1797 Hilo, Hawaiʻi |
| Died | July 14, 1824 (aged 27) London, England |
| Burial | Mauna ʻAla Royal Mausoleum |
Kamehameha II (c. 1797–July 14, 1824) was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu `Iolani. It was lengthened to Kalani Kalei`aimoku o Kaiwikapu o La`amea i Kauikawekiu Ahilapalapa Keali`i Kauinamoku o Kahekili Kalaninui i Mamao `Iolani i Ka Liholiho when he took the throne.
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Early life
He was born in Hilo, on the island of Hawaiʻi, the eldest son of Kamehameha I and his highest-ranking consort Keōpūolani. He was groomed to be heir to the throne from age five. It was originally planned that he would be born at the Kukaniloko birthstone on the island of Oʻahu but because of the Queen's sickness this never occurred. He was put in the care of Queen Kaʻahumanu (another wife of Kamehameha I), who was appointed as the Liholiho's official guardian. He was trained to become a warrior like his father.
Ascension
Liholiho officially inherited the throne upon Kamehameha I's death in May 1819. However, Queen Kaʻahumanu had no intention to give him actual leadership. When Liholiho sailed toward the shores of Kailua Kona (the capital at the time), she greeted him wearing Kamehameha's royal red cape, and she announced to the people on shore and to the surprised Liholiho, "We two shall rule the land." Liholiho, young and inexperienced, had no other choice. Kaʻahumanu became the first Kuhina Nui (co-leader) of Hawaii. He was forced to take on merely a ceremonial role; administrative power was to be vested in Kaʻahumanu. He took the title "King Kamehameha II", but preferred to be called ʻIolani, which means "heavenly (or royal) hawk".[1]
Reign
Kamehameha II is best remembered for the 'Ai Noa, the breaking of the ancient kapu (taboo) system of religious laws six months into his reign when he sat down with Kaʻahumanu and his mother Keopuolani and ate a meal together. What followed was the disbanding of the social class of priest and the destruction of temples and images.
Kamehameha I had bequeathed his war god Kū-kaʻili-moku, co-responsibility for the care of the gods, their temples, and the support of their worship to his cousin Kekuaokalani. Kekuaokalani demanded that Liholiho withdraw his edicts against the Hawaiian priesthood, permit rebuilding of the temples, and dismiss both Kalanimoku and Kaʻahumanu. Kamehameha II refused. At the battle of Kuamoʻo on the island of Hawaiʻi, the king's better-armed forces, led by Kalanimoku, defeated the last defenders of the Hawaiian gods, temples, and priesthoods of the ancient organized religion. The first Christian missionaries arrived only a few months later in the Hawaiian Islands.
He never officially converted to Christianity because he refused to give up four of his five wives and his love of alcohol. He (like his father) married several relatives of high rank, but he was the last Hawaiian king to practice polygamy. His favorite wife was his half-sister Victoria Kamāmalu Kekuaiwaokalani. Elizabeth Kīnaʻu (Kamāmalu's full-blood sister) was his second wife who would later remarry and become Kuhina Nui. Princess Kalanipauahi was his niece by his half-brother Pauli. She later remarried and gave birth to Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani. High Chieftess Miriam Auhea Kekauluohi was the half-sister of Kamāmalu and Kīnaʻu through their mother Kalakua Kaheiheimaile, and one of his father's wives. Princess Anna Keahikuni-i-Kekauonohi was Liholiho's niece and granddaughter of Kamehameha I, and would later become royal governor of the island of Maui and Kauai.
He was known to be impulsive. For example, in the summer of 1821, he was in a small boat intended for the ʻEwa beach, just west of Honolulu. A few nobles such as Chiefess Kapiʻolani and Governor Boki were aboard, with about 30 men. He ordered the ship to instead cross a dangerous channel all the way to the island of Kauaʻi, despite having no compass, charts, nor provisions on board. Luckily, they made it to Kauaʻi, and when they arrived, the local Chief Kaumualiʻi did not fire his cannons. After staying for over a month, he invited Kaumualiʻi on board, and then abruptly left in the night. Upon returning to Honolulu, he had Kaumualiʻi "marry" Kaʻahumanu and kept him under house arrest until his death.[2]:138
Fatal visit to Great Britain
Another of his voyages would prove fatal. In November 1823 Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu, commissioned Capt Valentine Starbuck of the British whaling ship Aigle, to carry them to London to complete negotiations for an alliance between Hawaii and Great Britain. Going along were High Chief Boki, High Chieftess Kuini Liliha, High Chief James Kānehoa, High Chief Mataio Kekuanaoa and Chief Naukane who had already been to America (where he picked up the name John Coxe) and then England.[3]
Kānehoa was the son of Englishman John Young, who was a senior advisor to King Kamehameha I and Royal Governor of Hawaii. With superior English language skills conferred by his English father, Kānehoa was entrusted with the official letters of introduction and served as translator.
They toured London, visiting Westminister Abbey, but he refused to enter because he did not want to desecrate their burial place: "Liholiho, King Kamehameha II, refused to step in there, because he wasn’t blood-connected. These were the kings, and he felt he had no right, to walk around their caskets. He didn’t even step foot in there, he didn’t want to desecrate their burial places with his presence or his feet stepping in that area."[4] and a Theatre Royal. He and Kamāmalu were an unusual sight to the British people who had never seen a Hawaiian, moreover, Kamāmalu was said to stand over six-feet tall.
Before he could meet with King George IV, he and Kamāmalu caught measles, to which they had no immunity. Kamāmalu died on July 8, 1824. The grief-stricken Kamehameha II died six days later on July 14, 1824. The bodies were returned to Hawaii on the Royal Navy boat HMS Blonde under the command Captain George Anson Byron.[5] They were buried on the grounds of the ʻIolani Palace in a coral house meant to be the Hawaiian version of the tombs Liholiho had seen in London. Due to lack of space they were eventually moved to the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii known as Mauna 'Ala.[4]
Kamehameha II was succeeded by his younger brother Kauikeaouli, who became King Kamehameha III.
References
- ^ James Macrae (1922). William Frederick Wilson. ed. With Lord Byron at the Sandwich Islands in 1825: Being Extracts from the MS Diary of James Macrae, scottish botanist. ISBN 9780554605265. http://books.google.com/books?id=6aYcAAAAMAAJ.
- ^ Hiram Bingham I (1855) [1848]. A Residence of Twenty-one Years in the Sandwich Islands (Third ed.). H.D. Goodwin. http://books.google.com/books?id=T1VFAAAAYAAJ.
- ^ Duncan, Janice K. (1973). "Kanaka World Travelers and Fur Company Employees, 1785-1860". Hawaiian Journal of History. Hawaii Historical Society. p. 99. http://hdl.handle.net/10524/133. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
- ^ a b Dunmore, John (1992); Who's Who in Pacific Navigation, Australia:Melbourne University Press, ISBN 052284488X, p 238
- ^ Andrew Bloxam (1925). Diary of Andrew Bloxam: naturalist of the Blonde on her trip from England to the Hawaiian islands, 1824-25. Volume 10 of Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication.
External links
- Liholiho
- Kamehameha II (Liholiho) 1797-1824
- Biography from the Hawaiʻi Royal Family's official site
- Kamehameha II at Find a Grave
- Aloha-Hawaii.com
- PictureHistory Kamehameha II
| Hawaiian royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Kamehameha I |
King of Hawaiʻi 1819 – 1824 |
Succeeded by Kamehameha III |
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