Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 9 Comments

Hawaiian … Banned?

Simply stated … the Hawaiian language was never banned.

That does not mean, however, that the use of the Hawaiian language did not diminish, nor that Hawaiian language speakers did not decline. But it is not correct to say the Hawaiian language was ever banned or outlawed.

Many Point to a 2022 Resolution as ‘Evidence’ that the Hawaiian Language was Banned

In 2022, the Hawai‘i legislature adopted HCR 130 and “offers this resolution as an apology to the Native Hawaiian people for the effective prohibition in Hawaii schools of the instructional use of ‘Ōlelo Hawaii from 1896 to 1986”.

Like a lot of others, the legislature overlooks some historical facts and historical context, including,

The Resolution states Act 57, Laws of the Republic of Hawaii 1896 “declared an English-only law over Hawaii’s public schools, prohibiting the use of ‘Olelo Hawaii as a medium instruction”.

  • Like many others, the legislature only referenced one part of the sentence in Act 57; the entire sentence reads, “The English language shall be the medium and basis of instruction in all public and private schools, provided that where it is desired that another language shall be taught in addition to the English language, such instruction may be authorized by the Department, either by its rules, the curriculum of the schools, or by direct order in any particular instance.”

The plain language of the law is clear and unambiguous; and, there is no statement that the Hawaiian language was banned. If a school wanted to teach Hawaiian, it could seek permission from the Department.

An example of non-English language school instruction in the Islands was the formation and upward trend of instruction in the Japanese language schools in Hawai‘i. (These were typically after school instruction.)

This claim of ‘banning the Hawaiian language’ (because of this law or for other theories) ignores what people back then believed and/or preferred.

The legislature overlooked that Kings of the Hawaiian Kingdom wanted English language instruction and the people asked for it.  By 1850, English had become the language of business, diplomacy, and, to a considerable extent, of government itself.

The legislature overlooks the downward trend in enrollment and number of Hawaiian language schools that was evident well before the enactment of the law.

  • In 1854, there were 412-Hawaiian language instruction common schools with a total enrollment of 11,782-pupils; By 1874, the number of common schools declined to 196, with only 5,522-students enrolled (71% of the overall student population.) By 1878, 61% of the students were still enrolled in Hawaiian language schools; by 1882, that figure had dropped to 33%.
  • In 1895, the year before Act 57 was implemented, there were only 3 Hawaiian language schools with only 59 students – at the same time, there were 184 English language schools with 12,557 students – 99.5% of the students were in English language schools.

According to the Alexander and Atkinson, the reason for such a decline in Hawaiian language schools was,

“the desire of the Hawaiians to have their children taught the English language. Petition after petition is constantly being received by the Board asking to have the Common Schools [i.e., those taught in Hawaiian] changed into English Schools. The result will be then in a very few years more the Common Schools will have ceased to exist.”

The legislature overlooks the existence and expansion of the Hawaiian Language Newspapers in circulation; the numerous Hawaiian language newspapers that existed well beyond Act 57 (1896) confirms the Hawaiian language was not banned.

  • Between 1834-1948, Hawaiʻi saw the publication of over 100 different Hawaiian language newspapers. Approximately 125,000 pages were published, equating to roughly 1.5 million pages of ‘ike if transferred to A4 typescript.

I agree with the legislature that “due to Act 57, many students were punished for speaking ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i at school.”  Others were punished at home.

However, those were personal family and school decisions, a choice each of them made; that was not the result of a broad ban on the language.  And, we need to consider the norms at the time related to Corporal Punishment – back then, many believed that corporal punishment was necessary to the maintenance of proper discipline, and it was common to use Corporal Punishment for disruptive and/or disrespectful behavior.

In reality, then and now, the use of force (by parents on their children and teachers on students) was an allowed and accepted practice of discipline.

Corporal Punishment was allowed under Hawaiian Kingdom law authorized by the King and Privy Council; as noted in Statute Laws of His Majesty Kamehameha III, 1846, Chapter III.

Use of force continues to be allowed under existing Hawai‘i law.  Today, in Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS)  §703-309  Use of force by persons with special responsibility for care, discipline, or safety of others, the use of force upon or toward the person of another is justifiable.

This discussion is not a defense of nor support for Corporal Punishment; it is presented so readers have the correct historical context.

Simply stated … use of the Hawaiian language was never banned by law and the historical facts prove it.  This is further explained in the following.

Early Education Programs in the Islands

When Captain Cook first made contact with the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, Hawaiian was a spoken language but not a written language. Historical accounts were passed down orally, through oli (chants) and mele (songs).

Before the foreigners arrived, Hawaiians had a vocational learning system, where everyone was taught a certain skill by the kahuna. Skills taught included canoe builder, medicine men, genealogists, navigators, farmers, house builders, priests, etc.

The arrival of the first company of American missionaries marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing. The missionaries established schools associated with their missions across the Islands.

Interestingly, these same early missionaries taught their lessons in Hawaiian to the Hawaiians, rather than English. The missionaries learned the Hawaiian language, and then taught the Hawaiians in their language. In part, the mission did not want to create a separate caste and portion of the community as English-speaking Hawaiians.

Kuykendall (Volume 2) helps to explain the formation/operations of the early education programs in the Islands, “[T]he American Protestant missionaries were the most potent driving force in the educational system of the kingdom; natives educated in schools founded and carried on by missionaries and missionary children constituted a great majority of the teachers in the common schools, while many missionary children became teachers in select schools.”

“All the schools in the kingdom could be divided into two main categories: (1) common schools and (2) select schools. The common schools were the free public schools maintained by the government. whose object was ‘to instruct the children of the nation in good morals, and in the rudiments of reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, and of other kindred elementary branches.’”

“They were taught in the Hawaiian language by native Hawaiian teachers and afforded the only educational opportunity available to the great majority of the children of the nation.”

“Select schools, besides being, as the term implied, of better quality than the common schools, had various special objectives: to qualify their students for positions above the level of the common laborer, to teach them the English language, to supply teachers for the public schools, to train girls to be good housewives and mothers. In most of the select schools, English was the medium of instruction and a tuition fee was charged.”

“The Missionaries have been the fathers, the builders and the supporters of education in these Islands”. (Lee, December 2, 1847, Privy Council Minutes)

As time moved forward from the mid-nineteenth-century, to the end of the nineteenth-century, and after many meetings of the Board of Education, vocational education was implemented in to the school system. (Iaukea)

King Kamehameha III also saw the importance of education for all. “Statute for the Regulation of Schools” was adopted on October 15, 1840. Its preamble stated,

“The basis on which the Kingdom rests is wisdom and knowledge.”

“Peace and prosperity cannot prevail in the land, unless the people are taught in letters and in that which constitutes prosperity. If the children are not taught, ignorance must be perpetual, and children of the chiefs cannot prosper, nor any other children”.

The Law People Cite Does Not Ban Hawaiian – No Other Law Banned the Hawaiian Language

Many point to Act 57, Sec. 30 of the 1896 Laws of the Republic of Hawai‘i as the justification for their claim that Hawaiian was banned. That law states:

“The English language shall be the medium and basis of instruction in all public and private schools, provided that where it is desired that another language shall be taught in addition to the English language, such instruction may be authorized by the Department, either by its rules, the curriculum of the schools, or by direct order in any particular instance. Any schools that shall not conform to the provisions of this section shall not be recognized by the Department.”

Some suggest that the law passed by the Provisional Government that required English language instruction was “an intentional effort to strip language and culture from Native Hawaiians and other groups that came here. But it was more harmful to Hawaiians because Hawaiian had been the primary language for centuries.” (Star Advertiser article)

Statements like this ignore the facts. A simple review of the law shows that the language was not banned.

The plain language of the law is clear and unambiguous.

There is no statement in that that the Hawaiian language was banned. While it did say that “English language shall be the medium and basis of instruction,” the very next words in the same sentence of the law says, “provided that where it is desired that another language shall be taught in addition to the English language, such instruction may be authorized by the Department.” So, if a school wanted to teach Hawaiian, it could seek permission from the Department.

Growth in the Japanese Language Schools

An example of non-English language school instruction in the Islands was the formation and upward trend of instruction in the Japanese language schools in Hawai‘i.  (These were typically after school instruction; however, they were schools providing instruction in another language, other than English.)

In 1898 (well after the law was passed mandating English as the medium and basis for instruction), Rev. Okumura wanted to create educational opportunities for children of Japanese immigrants and requested the Ministry of Education in Japan to help provide Japanese language textbooks.

These textbooks were identical to the ones used in Japan and had been used by many schools. The number of schools expanded to a total of 134 by 1915.

Kings of the Hawaiian Kingdom Wanted English Language Instruction; the People Asked For It

This claim of ‘banning the Hawaiian language’ (because of this law or for other theories) ignores what people back then believed and/or preferred.

English was taught in Select Schools; that program was not funded by the government. As early as 1851, it was noted (Richard Armstrong, Minister of Public Education to the Hawaiian Legislature), that,

“What seems to be most needed now, is provision for the instruction of the interesting and increasing numbers of white and half-caste children in the several white settlements on the Islands; but more especially in Honolulu: and for natives who wish to acquire the English language.” (emphasis added)

Kuykendall (Volume 1) notes that the people wanted their children to be taught in English; in 1853, Armstrong wrote,

“On my tours around the Islands, I have found parents everywhere, even on the remote island of Niihau, most anxious to have their children taught the English language; and the reason they generally gave was a most sound and intelligent one, that without it – they will, by-and-by be nothing, and the white man everything.” (emphasis added)

Interest and motivation for Native Hawaiians to learn English had the attention of Kamehameha III. At the opening of the 1854 legislative session, King Kamehameha III gave the following remarks (in part),

“I have ordered my Minister of Public Instruction to submit to you, at length, the important subject of the education of my people, as the surest means of elevating them in the scale of morals, and of usefulness to themselves and the State.”

“There is a growing desire among my native subjects, that their children should acquire a knowledge of the English language, and considering the universality of that language in all the transactions of business, such a desire is very natural.” (emphasis added)

Accordingly, the legislature passed An Act for the Encouragement and Support for English Schools for Hawaiian Youth, July 20, 1854.

At the opening of the 1855 legislative session, King Kamehameha IV gave the following remarks (in part), saying,

“To foster education and widen every channel that leads to knowledge, is one of our most imperative duties. … It is of the highest importance, in my opinion, that education in the English language should become more general, for it is my firm conviction that unless my subjects become educated in this tongue, their hope of intellectual progress, and of meeting the foreigners on terms of equality, is a vain one.” (emphasis added)

At the opening of the 1856 legislative session, King Kamehameha IV gave the following remarks (in part),

“It is particularly gratifying to know that instruction in the English language is prosecuted with so much success among my native subjects. I recommend you to make as liberal a provision for the support of this class of schools as the state of my Treasury will admit.” (emphasis added)

At the opening of the 1860 legislative session, King Kamehameha IV gave the following remarks (in part),

“The all-important subject of Education now occupies the public mind with more than usual interest, and I particularly recommend to your favorable notice the suggestions of the President of the Board of Education, with reference to substituting English for Hawaiian schools, in so far as may be practicable, and also in relation to the granting of Government aid towards independent schools for the education and moral training of females.” (emphasis added)

At the opening of the 1862 legislative session, King Kamehameha IV gave the following remarks (in part),

“The importance of substituting English for Hawaiian schools I have already earnestly recommended, and in again bringing the subject to your attention, I would touch upon a matter which I think of equal importance, and that is in raising the standard of elementary education in the Common Schools.” (emphasis added)

Wist, in A Century of Public Education noted,

“Native youths, and to some extent their parents, saw the economic advantages in a knowledge of English. Kamehameha IV and later monarchs favored the change. Thus gradually there were accumulating numerous forces in favor of the dominance of English.” (emphasis added)

Enrollment Declines in Hawaiian Language Schools

Another issue people overlook was the obvious downward trend in enrollment and number of schools that taught in the Hawaiian language that was evident well before the enactment of the 1896 law.

Al Schutz, in The Voices of Eden, notes that School Attendance records clearly show the downward trend of student enrollment in Hawaiian language schools and the increases in enrollment for English language schools. That trend started well before the 1896 law. The following is a copy of Schutz’s table 16.1 (p. 352)

As noted by Schutz, “The figures in table 16.1 are corroborated by statistics from a different source, an article on the history of education in Hawai’i (Alexander and Atkinson 1888): in 1878, the schools that taught in Hawaiian contained 61.8% of the total school population, but in 1888, only 15.7%.

In the year the law that mandated English as the medium of instruction (1896), the number of Hawaiian language schools had dropped to only 3 schools and 59 students in Hawaiian language schools. In contrast, the year the law was adopted, the number of English language schools had grown to 184 schools and over 12,500 students – 99.5% of the total school enrollment in the year the law was passed was in English language schools.

According to the Alexander and Atkinson, the reason for such a decline in Hawaiian language schools was,

“the desire of the Hawaiians to have their children taught the English language. Petition after petition is constantly being received by the Board asking to have the Common Schools [i.e., those taught in Hawaiian] changed into English Schools. The result will be then in a very few years more the Common Schools will have ceased to exist. (emphasis added)

It is very likely that the change to English only in instruction was at least in part a business decision; but nobody suggests that – they fall back to the colonialism and race-based claims.

However, the attendance data is clear, enrollment (and the number of school) in Hawaiian language schools had been in decline for many years and were almost gone at the time the law that mandated English as the medium of instruction was passed.

The Existence and Expansion of the Hawaiian Language Newspapers (1834 – 1948) Confirms the Hawaiian Language Was Not Banned

The proliferation of Hawaiian language newspapers, well after the so-called ‘ban,’ verifies that Hawaiian was not banned and was part of society. Of note, “Between 1834-1948, Hawaiʻi saw the publication of over 100 different Hawaiian language newspapers.” (Lorenzo-Elarco)

The University of Hawai‘i prepared a brief chronicle on the Hawai‘i newspapers,

The first newspaper printed in Hawaii was a student newspaper, Ka Lama Hawaii (The Hawaiian Luminary), produced Feb. 14, 1834 at Lahainaluna on Maui. It was written in Hawaiian, as were many of the early Island newspapers. …

The longest running of these papers was Ke Aloha Aina, begun in 1895 by Joseph and Emma Nawahi. Joseph Nawahi was a journalist – statesman who severed in the first Territorial legislatures. After his death, Emma Nawahi edited the paper through its last issues in 1920.

A summary prepared by J. Hauʻoli Lorenzo-Elarco titled ‘He Hōʻiliʻili Hawaiʻi: A Brief History of Hawaiian Language Newspapers’ confirms the existence and continuation of Hawaiian language newspapers that went well beyond the effective date of the law that many claim ‘banned’ the use of the Hawaiian language.

That summary states,

Between 1834-1948, Hawaiʻi saw the publication of over 100 different Hawaiian language newspapers. Approximately 125,000 pages were published, equating to roughly 1.5 million pages of ‘ike if transferred to A4 typescript.

Another summary by Joan Hori, Hawaiian Collections curator at Hamilton Library, University of Hawai‘i noted,

Ka Hoku o ka Pakipika (started in September [1861]), edited by David Kalākaua, was followed by Ka Nupepa Kuokoa in October. This latter newspaper was to become the longest lasting Hawaiian language newspaper, published monthly in October, November, and December of 1861, and weekly thereafter until December 29, 1927. In the course of its history it would absorb a number of rival newspapers. According to Helen Chapin the editors of Kuokoa …

John Reinecke writes, ‘The Kuokoa (1861 to 1927) in particular was for the long while a journal of opinion as well as information and afforded an outlet for the literary and didactic ambitions of Hawaiians.’ (Hori, Hamilton Library, UH)

Corporal Punishment

As noted, there are many reports of families not letting children speak Hawaiian – those were personal family decisions, a choice each of them made; that was not the result of a broad ban on the language. Likewise, people report they or their family members were beaten for speaking Hawaiian in school.

The following is not a defense of nor support for Corporal Punishment; it is presented so readers have the correct historical context.

In order to understand his position, we need to look at the historical context of corporal punishment. Why is this important?

It is important because the claims the people were beaten for speaking Hawaiian give the impression that Corporal Punishment at home and in the schools was beyond the norm and was an unacceptable form of discipline.

Calling it out gives the impression that this form of discipline was overly aggressive and punitive, beyond the standard of the day. Doing so gives a false impression of what was the norm/acceptable at the time.

In reality, then and now, the use of force (by parents on their children and teachers on students) was an allowed and accepted practice of discipline.

Corporal Punishment was allowed under Hawaiian Kingdom law authorized by the King and Privy Council; as noted in Statute Laws of His Majesty Kamehameha III, 1846, Chapter III. Of the Public and Private Schools:

“Section XV. It shall be lawful for any licensed teacher in actual employment in any sub-division of any of said districts to administer correctional punishment to the pupils of his school when, in his judgment, necessary, and the teacher so acting shall not be in any way amenable therefor:”

Use of force continues to be allowed under existing Hawai‘i law.

Today, in Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) §703-309 Use of force by persons with special responsibility for care, discipline, or safety of others. the use of force upon or toward the person of another is justifiable.

That commentary within the Hawai‘i State laws goes on to state,

“The section is substantially in accord with preexisting Hawaii law. Hawaii law permits parents “to chastise [their children] moderately for their good.” Under prior law, any corporal punishment was permitted if reasonable. To the extent that Hawaii case law suggests that the parents have uncontrolled discretion to discipline their children, the Code represents a change.”

“Similarly, teachers have had authority under Hawaii case and statutory law to use force to maintain discipline in the schools. The punishment must have been reasonable, and the teachers’ discretion was considered less extensive than that of parents.”

This was not unique to Hawai‘i.

A 2016 book abstract of Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: Prevalence, Disparities in Use, and Status in State and Federal Policy by Elizabeth Gershoff and Sarah Font states, “School corporal punishment is currently legal in 19 states, and over 160,000 children in these states are subject to corporal punishment in schools each year.”

There are men alive today (in the Islands and on the continent) who, when students, made their own paddles in shop class – and, when discipline at school was necessary, carried that paddle to the principal’s office for a paddling.

Other stories of Corporal Punishment by Nuns in Catholic Schools, as well as teachers in other schools, are notorious.

This discussion is not a defense of nor support for Corporal Punishment; it is presented so readers have the correct historical context.

(I realize this is already long, but the following link provides additional information showing that the Hawaiian language was not banned:)

Click to access Hawaiian-Language-Was-Never-Banned.pdf

Simply stated … use of the Hawaiian language was never banned.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hawaiian Alphabet
Hawaiian Alphabet
Pīʻāpā
Pīʻāpā
Act_57-Section_30-Laws_of_the_Republic_of_Hawaii-Passed_by_the_Legislature-1896
Act_57-Section_30-Laws_of_the_Republic_of_Hawaii-Passed_by_the_Legislature-1896
Civil Laws-Chapter_10-Dept_of_Public_Instruction-paragraph_123-1897
Civil Laws-Chapter_10-Dept_of_Public_Instruction-paragraph_123-1897
Act_191-Laws_of_the_Territory_of_Hawaii-Passed_by_the_Legislature-1919
Act_191-Laws_of_the_Territory_of_Hawaii-Passed_by_the_Legislature-1919
Hawaiian-English Schools Number and Attendance

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kihapū

Triton shell trumpets were used in Italy as long ago as 5150 BC. “Blowing shells” are called Shanka in India, Dung-dkar in Tibet, Quiquizoani in Mayan culture, Nagak in Korea, and Horagai in Japan. (Tarleton)

Conch is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized gastropods (sea snails).  The pū is a Hawaiian conch shell; most in Hawai‘i are from the Triton’s Trumpet and the Helmet Shell.  (Tarleton)

The Pū was used to accompany chants, to announce the beginning of a ceremony, and to communicate across the ocean between people in canoes and those on land.  The blowing of the Pū should always be accompanied by protocol.

When it’s blown, how many times and in which directions all have a complex set of meanings. Traditionally, the Pū was not blown at night; it was thought that doing so would be a call to spirits of the night and darkness. (Hoewa‘a)

We first learn of conch shell use in Hawai‘i in a February 1779 entry in Cook’s Journal.  Initially, Cook “had been received with honour and various rites which he had failed to understand as identifying his arrival as that predicted for Lono, a local deity.”

“Having then left Hawaii he was forced back by storm and a broken mast – a return which caused confusion among the Hawaiians as not conforming to their understanding of the situation.”

The Journal notes, “During the whole morning, we heard conchs blowing in different parts of the coast; large parties were seen marching over the hills …”

“… and, in short, appearances were so alarming, that we carried out a stream anchor, to enable us to haul the ship abreast of the town, in case of an attack; and stationed boats off the north point of the bay, to prevent a surprise from that quarter. …”

Pukui provides insight on a conch story that happened a few centuries prior, “In the days when Kiha was chief of Waipi‘o life in that valley was made miserable by the sounding of the menehune pū. Above the cliff-walled valley was [menehune] land ,where the little people lived their lives with small concern for the Hawaiians below.”

“Our night was day for them and it was then they blew upon their pū, or conch-shell trumpet. Down into the valley came the clear sound of the pū to be tossed back and forth by echoing cliffs till all Waipi’o was filled with sound. Dogs woke and barked, babies cried and there was little sleep to be had the whole night through.”

“Kiha, the chief, offered a reward to any man who would steal the pū and bring it to him. … [Kiha approached a dog owner and] A sudden thought came to Kiha.”

“‘Do you think,’ he asked the old man, ‘that your dog [Puapua] could get something for me? Each night the menehune blow their conch-shell trumpet. There is no sleep for me! No sleep for all Waipi‘o! Do you think your dog can get that pu?’”  The dog then went to retrieve the pū.

“It was a big yellow dog who loosened the conch-shell trumpet, got it firmly in his mouth and stole out of the village onto the trail. Then he ran! But, as he ran swiftly, the wind blew through the conch with a low whistling. That sound woke the menehune. Their pū! Their pū was gone!”

“[T]he big dog scrambled from the river and dropped the pū at Kiha’s feet. Eagerly the chief picked it up. He had it! No more sleepless nights!”

“Kiha kept the pū. With it he sent messages or summoned workers. From that time it bore his name – the Kihapū.” (Pukui)

Kalākaua has a somewhat different take on Kihapū; he noted, “Many legends are related of the manner in which Kiha became

possessed of this marvellous shell …”

“… but the most probable explanation is that it was brought from some one of the Samoan or Society Islands three or four centuries before, and had been retained in the reigning family of Hawaii as a charm against certain evils.”

“In the hands of the crafty Kiha, however, it developed new powers and became an object of awe in the royal household. Whatever may have been the beneficent or diabolic virtues of this shell-clarion of Kiha-of the Kiha-pu, as it is called”.

In Kalakaua’s version, Kiha-pū was stolen from Kiha and he asked a man to have his dog retrieve it; “In a marshy forest in the mountains back of Waipio a band of conjuring outlaws have lately found a retreat.”

“A magic shell of great power, stolen from me many years ago, is now in the possession of some one of them-probably of Ika, their chief.”  The dog retrieved it for Kiha.

“The overjoyed king raised and placed the trumpet to his lips, and with a swelling heart roused the people of Waipio with a blast such as they had not heard for more than eight years.” (Kalakaua) Kahipū is at the Bishop Museum.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Poll Tax

Capitation Taxes, or poll taxes, are levied on each person without reference to income or property. The US Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, forbids the federal government from levying a capitation or other direct tax “unless in Proportion to the Census of Enumeration” provided for in Section 2.

Section 9, however, in accord with colonial practices of placing taxes on the importation of convicts and slaves, permits a tax or duty to be imposed on persons entering the United States, ‘not exceeding ten dollars for each person.’  The poll-tax restriction does not apply to the states. (Encyclopedia-com)

Virginia, the earliest settlement (1607) levied the first known colonial tax – a poll (head) tax in 1619. The universal poll tax, New York being the only exception, applied to free men regardless of occupation or the amount of property holdings. (Howe and Reeb)

Capitation, major direct tax in France before the Revolution of 1789, was first established in 1695 as a wartime measure. Originally, the capitation was to be paid by every subject, the amount varying according to class.

For the purpose of the tax, French society was divided into 22 classes, ranging from members of the royal family who owed 2,000 livres (basic monetary unit of pre-Revolutionary France) to dayworkers who owed only one livre. (Britannica)

Begun in the 1890s as a legal way to keep African Americans from voting in southern states, poll taxes were essentially a voting fee. Eligible voters were required to pay their poll tax before they could cast a ballot.

A “grandfather clause” excused some poor whites from payment if they had an ancestor who voted before the Civil War, but there were no exemptions for African Americans. (Smithsonian National Museum of American History)

In the Islands, tax laws through the early 1840s illustrate a gradual transition to Western-style tax law, while initially allowing some familiar Hawaiian commodity payments in lieu of currency.

The first written Hawaiian tax law, dated December 27, 1826, allowed payment in specific goods or Spanish currency. The law required each able man in the Kingdom to pay their konohiki half a picul of good sandalwood, or four Spanish dollars, or another commodity worth that amount.

Each woman was directed to provide authorities with a mat six by twelve, or tapa of equal value, or one Spanish dollar.  (Woods)

In the Kingdom laws of 1842, “The prerogatives of the King are as follows: He is the sovereign of all the people and all the chiefs. The kingdom is his. He shall have the direction of the army and all the implements of war of the kingdom. “

“He also shall have the direction of the government property – the poll tax – the land tax – the three days monthly labor, though in conformity to the laws. He also shall retain his own private lands, and lands forfeited for the nonpayment of taxes shall revert to him. …”

“There shall be two forms of taxation in the Hawaiian Kingdom. The one a poll tax, to be paid in money, the other a land tax, to be paid in Swine; or these shall be the standard of taxation, though in failure of these articles other property will be received. The amount of poll tax shall be as follows.

  • For a man, one dollar.
  • For a woman, half a dollar.
  • For a Boy, one fourth of a dollar.
  • For a girl, one eighth of a dollar.”

“This is the ratio of taxation for adults and children above 14 years of age. But feeble old men and women shall not be taxed at all. In the back part of the islands where money is difficult to be obtained.”

“Arrow Root will be a suitable substitute. Thirty-three pounds of good arrow root will be taken for a dollar. Cotton also is another suitable article; sixteen pounds will be accounted equal to a dollar. Sugar is another suitable article; also nets.”

“If any individual do not obtain the money at the time when every man, is to pay his taxes, and if he do not obtain arrow root, nor sugar, nor nets, until the specified months for payment are passed, viz October, November and December …”

“… and if the last days of December have passed, then every man shall be fined the value of two dollars, (if his tax is not paid) and the same rates of increase shall be observed in relation to those whose taxes are less than that of a man.”

“The fine shall be paid in some property that can be sold for the value of two dollars, but not in property subject to immediate decay or death.”  (Constitution and Laws of the Hawaiian Islands, 1842)

Later, the poll tax swallowed up the formerly separate road and school taxes; it accounted for one-eighth of Hawaii’s revenues in 1902. It had fallen to be a mere nuisance tax, bringing in only 2 per cent, when it was abolished in 1943.  (Although called a poll tax, in the Islands it was never a qualification to participate in the election process.  (Tax Foundation of Hawai‘i))

In 1964 the Twenty-Fourth amendment prohibited the use of poll taxes for federal elections. Five states enforced payment of poll taxes for state elections until 1966, when the US Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional.  (Smithsonian National Museum of American History))

There is no Poll Tax – Vote.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

It all happened in about a year …

A lot went on in other parts of the world:

February 17, 1818 – Henry ‘Ōpukaha‘ia died at the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall CT

October 20, 1818 – the 49th parallel was established as the border between US & Canada

November 21, 1818 – Russia’s Czar Alexander I petitioned for a Jewish state in Palestine

December 24, 1818 – ‘Silent Night’ composed by Franz Joseph Gruber and first sung the next day (Austria)

December 25, 1818 – Handel’s Messiah, premiered in the US in Boston

January 2, 1819 – The Panic of 1819 began, the first major financial crisis in the US

January 25, 1819 – Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia

February 6, 1819 – Sir Stamford Raffles entered into a treaty with the deposed Sultan of the area which gave Britain authority over the island of Singapore in return for a pension and recognition of that Sultan’s status as legitimate ruler.  (The event which founded modern Singapore.)

February 15, 1819 – The US House of Representatives agrees to the Tallmadge Amendment barring slaves from the new state of Missouri (the opening vote that led to the Missouri Compromise)

February 22, 1819 – Spain cedes Florida to the US

March 2, 1819 – Arkansas Territory is created

May 22 – June 20, 1819 – The SS Savannah became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean (Savannah, Georgia to Liverpool, England

July 4, 1819 – Arkansas Territory is effective

August 6, 1819 – Norwich University is founded by Captain Alden Partridge in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.

August 7, 1819 – Battle of Boyacá: Simón Bolívar was victorious over the Royalist Army in Colombia. Colombia acquired its definitive independence from Spanish monarchy.

August 24, 1819 – Samuel Seymour sketches a Kansa lodge and war dance at the present location of Manhattan, Kansas, while part of Stephen Harriman Long’s exploring party. This work is now the oldest drawing known to be made in the state of Kansas.

October 23, 1819 – led by Hiram Bingham, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)  The Mission Prudential Committee in giving instructions to the pioneers of 1819 said:

“Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. … Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale, but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your marks high. You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of Christian civilization.”  (The Friend)

December 14, 1819 – Alabama is admitted as the 22nd US state

A lot went on in the Islands:

To set a foundation, we are reminded that in 1782 Kamehameha I began a war of conquest, and, by 1795, with his superior use of modern weapons and western advisors, he subdued all other chiefdoms, with the exception of Kauai.  King Kamehameha I launched two invasion attempts on Kauai (1796 and 1804;) both failed.

In 1804, King Kamehameha I moved his capital from Lāhainā, Maui to Honolulu, O‘ahu.  In the face of the threat of a further invasion, in 1810, Kaumuali‘i decided to peacefully unite with Kamehameha and ceded Kauai and Ni‘ihau to Kamehameha and the Hawaiian Islands were unified under a single leader. The agreement with Kaumuali‘i marked the end of war and thoughts of war across the archipelago.  Later, Kamehameha returned to his home, Kamakahonu, in Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

Here is some of what happened in Hawaiʻi in that fateful time:

September 11, 1818, Argentine corsair Hipólito (Hypolite) Bouchard (1783–1843,) signed and Kamehameha placed his mark on a Treaty of Commerce, Peace and Friendship with Hipólito Bouchard, that, reputedly, made Hawaiʻi the first country to recognize United Provinces of Rio de la Plata (Argentina) as an independent state.  In recognition of the reported ‘treaty’, there is a street in Buenos Aires, Argentina named Hawai (a bit misspelled.)

April of 1819, Don Francisco de Paula Marin was summoned to Kailua-Kona the Big Island of Hawai‘i to assist Kamehameha, who had become ill.  Although he had no formal medical training, Marin had some basic medical knowledge, but was not able to improve the condition of Kamehameha.

May 8, 1819, King Kamehameha I died.

“Kamehameha was a planner, so he talked to brothers Hoapili and Hoʻolulu about where his iwi (bones) should be hidden,” noting Kamehameha wanted his bones protected from desecration not only from rival chiefs, but from westerners who were sailing into the islands and sacking sacred sites. (Maiʻoho)

Their father, High Chief Kameʻeiamoku, was one of the “royal twins” who helped Kamehameha I come to power – the twins are on the Islands’ coat of arms – Kameʻeiamoku is on the right (bearing a kahili,) his brother, Kamanawa is on the left, holding a spear.

September 19, 1819, Edmond Gardner, captain of the New Bedford whaler Balaena (also called Balena,) and Elisha Folger, captain of the Nantucket whaler Equator, became the first American whalers to visit the Hawaiian Islands

November 1819, Kamehameha I, his son, Liholiho (King Kamehameha II) declared an end to the kapu system.   “An extraordinary event marked the period of Liholiho’s rule, in the breaking down of the ancient tabus (kapu), the doing away with the power of the kahunas to declare tabus and to offer sacrifices, and the abolition of the tabu which forbade eating with women (ʻai noa, or free eating.)”  (Kamakau)

“The custom of the tabu upon free eating was kept up because in old days it was believed that the ruler who did not proclaim the tabu had not long to rule…. The tabu eating was a fixed law for chiefs and commoners, not because they would die by eating tabu things, but in order to keep a distinction between things permissible to all people and those dedicated to the gods”. (Kamakau)

Kekuaokalani, Liholiho’s cousin, opposed the abolition of the kapu system and assumed the responsibility of leading those who opposed its abolition.  Kekuaokalani (who was given Kūkaʻilimoku (the war god) before his death) demanded that Liholiho withdraw his edict on abolition of the kapu system.  (If the kapu fell, the war god would lose its potency.)  (Daws)

The two powerful cousins engaged at the final Hawaiian battle of Kuamoʻo; Liholiho’s forces defeated Kekuaokalani.

December 1819, just seven months after the death of Kamehameha I, the allies of his two opposing heirs met in battle on the jagged lava fields south of Keauhou Bay.  Kekuaokalani (wanting restoration of the kapu) marched up the Kona Coast from Kaʻawaloa and met the warriors under Liholiho (Kamehameha II) at Kuamo‘o, just south of Keauhou.  Liholiho’s forces won.

April 4, 1820 (after 164-days at sea) the Thaddeus arrived and anchored at Kailua-Kona with the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.)

At the time,

“This village (Honolulu,) which contains about two hundred houses, is situated upon a level plain extending some distance back from the bay part of which forms the harbour, to the foot of the high hills which abound throughout the Island. The little straw-huts clusters of them in the midst of cocoanut groves, look like bee-hives, and the inhabitants swarming about them like bees.”

“In passing through the midst, in our way to the open plain, it was very pleasant to hear their friendly salutation, Alloah (Aloha,) some saying, e-ho-ah, (where going?) We answered, mar-oo, up yonder. Then, as usual, they were pleased that we could num-me-num-me Owhyhee (talk Hawaiian.)”  (Sybil Bingham)

“Passing through the irregular village of some thousands of inhabitants, whose grass thatched habitations were mostly small and mean, while some were more spacious, we walked about a mile northwardly to the opening of the valley of Pauoa, then turning south-easterly, ascended to the top of Punchbowl Hill an extinguished crater, whose base bounds the north-east part of the village or town.”  (Hiram Bingham)

“Below us (below Punchbowl,) on the south and west, spread the plain of Honolulu, having its fish-pond and salt making pools along the sea-shore, the village and fort between us and the harbor, and the valley stretching a few miles north into the interior, which presented its scattered habitation and numerous beds of kalo (taro) in it various stages of growth, with its large green leaves, beautifully embossed on the silvery water, in which it flourishes.”  (Hiram Bingham)

“The soil is of the best kind, producing cocoanuts, bananas, and plantains, bread fruit, papia, ohia, oranges, lemons, limes, grapes, tamarinds, sweet potatoes, taro, yams, watermelons, muskmelons, cucumbers and pineapples, and I doubt not would yield fine grain of any kind.”  (Ruggles, The Friend)

“We were sheltered in three native-built houses, kindly offered us by Messrs. Winship, Lewis and Navarro, somewhat scattered in the midst of an irregular village or town of thatched huts, of 3,000 or 4,000 inhabitants.”  (Hiram Bingham)  “(O)ur little cottage built chiefly of poles, dried grass and mats, being so peculiarly exposed to fire, beside being sufficiently filled with three couples and things for immediate use, consisting only of one room with a little partition and one door.”  (Sybil Bingham)

“In addition to their homes, the missionaries had grass meeting places, and later, churches.  One of the first was on the same site as the present Kawaiahaʻo Church.  On April 28, 1820, the Protestant missionaries held a church service for chiefs, the general population, ship’s officers and sailors in the larger room in Reverend Hiram Bingham’s house.  This room was used as a school room during the weekdays and on Sunday the room was Honolulu’s first church auditorium.”  (Damon)

The image shows Liholiho eating with women (Mark Twain-Roughing It.) 

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lili‘uokalani Educational Society

“‘Lili‘uokalani Educational Society’ is the name of an association of Hawaiian ladies. Its founder and president is Princess Liliuokalani, the Crown Princess of Hawaiʻi nei. Its other officers are a secretary, a treasurer, and five directresses.”

“None but native Hawaiians, with aboriginal blood in their veins, are admitted to active membership. Others may become honorary members.”

“An entrance fee of fifty cents and a monthly subscription of twenty-five cents are the conditions of membership. Honorary members are admitted on the same terms.” (Daily Bulletin, August 4, 1886)

“(T)he intention of which was to interest the Hawaiian ladies in the proper training of young girls of their own race whose parents would be unable to give them advantages by which they would be prepared for the duties of life.”

“As no such association had ever existed, although there had been frequent cases of private benevolence, it seemed a good time to interest those who had the means in this important work.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“It is the intention to gather up destitute orphans, place them in boarding schools, and furnish them with a plain English education. In the case of girls, they are also to be instructed in needle work and household duties.” (Daily Bulletin, August 4, 1886)

“Therefore I called a meeting, notifying all whom I thought would be likely to attend. The response was very gratifying, and on the appointed afternoon a goodly number of our best ladies assembled in the Kawaiahaʻo church.”

“The meeting was opened with prayer; after which I arose, made a short address, and explained to the audience my purpose in requesting attention to the moral and intellectual needs of those of our sex who were just beginning life.”

“These remarks seemed to meet the approval of all present; but yet, in looking around, it was evident to me that the society would be more prosperous in two divisions, as there were those in attendance who could not work well together.”

“My sister, the Princess Likelike, was of our number; so I suggested that she should be the head or president of one division, and I would take the other. … Both branches then began their work, which went on with results that at one time appeared to be most encouraging.” (Liliuokalani)

Through the Lili‘uokalani Education Society, Liliʻuokalani sponsored many girls in the community in their attendance at the Kawaiahaʻo Seminary.

Queen Lili‘uokalani was not just a benefactor, but was active in school leadership, working collaboratively on many issues, including discipline.

Particularly when the Lili‘uokalani Education Society was paying the tuition, the queen took an active interest in the girls’ progress. (Bonura)

“But my sister did not live a year after this movement had begun, and on her death circumstances operated to impair the efficiency of the society.”

“However, her branch of it came under my personal direction; and the object for which I had called the meeting was never forgotten, nor was the education of the young girls of Hawaiian birth neglected either by myself or by those I had interested in its importance, until the changed conditions of January, 1893, obliged me to live in retirement. (Liliʻuokalani)

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