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December 21, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

1821

Napoleon I, French Napoléon Bonaparte, original Italian Napoleone Buonaparte, byname the Corsican or the Little Corporal, French byname Le Corse or Le Petit Caporal, (born August 15, 1769, Ajaccio, Corsica—died May 5, 1821, St. Helena Island), French general, first consul (1799–1804), and emperor of the French (1804–1814/15), one of the most celebrated personages in the history of the West.

He revolutionized military organization and training; sponsored the Napoleonic Code, the prototype of later civil-law codes; reorganized education; and established the long-lived Concordat with the papacy.  (Britannica)

After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804. Shrewd, ambitious and a skilled military strategist, Napoleon successfully waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire.

After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe and Napoleon maintained the French sphere of influence through the formation of extensive alliances. 

However, after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon abdicated the throne two years later and was exiled to the island of Elba.

In 1815, he briefly returned to power in his Hundred Days campaign. After a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, he abdicated once again and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena. (History-com)

Napoleon Bonaparte died (apparently of stomach cancer) at 5:49pm on May 5, 1821, at Longwood on the island of Saint Helena.

Napoleon’s rise and prominence in power was concurrent with George Washington, and … Kamehameha.

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)

The first president of the United States, George Washington, serving from 1789 to 1797, is often referred to as the Father of Our Country.

He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783.

After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to the emerging American political ideology of republicanism.  Washington was elected as the first president in 1789, and re-elected 1792.

Dissatisfied with the weaknesses of Articles of Confederation, in 1787, Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution. 

Kamehameha I (ca. 1758 – May 8, 1819)

Kamehameha was initially known as Paiʻea, which means “hard-shelled crab;” Kamehameha means “The Lonely One.” Raised in the royal court of his uncle, Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Kamehameha achieved prominence in 1782, upon Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death.

While the kingship was inherited by Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s son Kiwalaʻo, Kamehameha was given the prominent position of guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kūkaʻilimoku.

In 1785, Kamehameha married Ka‘ahumanu, the daughter of one of his most trusted advisors.  In 1790, he attained control of Hawai‘i Island, then he successfully invaded the Islands of Maui, Lāna‘i, Molokai and O‘ahu, by 1795.

Ultimately, in 1810, Kauai’s Kaumuali‘i decided to peacefully yield and unite with Kamehameha and join the rest of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

Kamehameha instituted the Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the Law of the Splintered Paddle.  The law, “Let every elderly person, woman and child lie by the roadside in safety,” is enshrined in the state constitution, Article 9, Section 10, and has become a model for modern human rights law regarding the treatment of civilians and other non-combatants.

In the Islands …

1821 Wood Frame House

The wood-framed Mission House, built in 1821, was one of the first wood-framed buildings built in Hawai‘i. The frame house stands on the grounds of the Hawaiian Mission Houses, near Kawaiahaʻo Church on the makai side of King Street.

It is the oldest wood frame structure and the oldest intact Western structure still standing in the Hawaiian Islands.

The timbers of Maine white pine were cut and fitted in Boston in 1819 and came around the Horn on the brig Thaddeus with the first mission company in April 1820, arriving first in Kona.  The frame of the house arrived in Honolulu on Christmas morning of that year on board the ship Tartar.

Since the lumber for this New England plan type was actually pre-cut prior to shipment, it could also be considered in a broad sense a very early example of prefabrication.

Architecturally, it has a simple and straight-forward design; the relatively low ceilings, and basement are strong evidence of its New England concept, foreign to the temperate climate of Honolulu.

The Frame House was used as a communal home by many missionary families who shared it with island visitors and boarders.  It served as a residence for various missionaries, including Hiram Bingham, Gerrit Parmele Judd and Elisha Loomis.

Today the frame house is maintained by the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society as a memorial to the early missionary effort in the Hawaiian Islands.

Liholiho Moves Royal Center from Kailua-Kona to Honolulu

Early in 1821, Liholiho moved his court from Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i Island to Honolulu. The royal siblings, Kauikeaouli and Nahiʻenaʻena, together with their mother, Keōpūolani and her husband Hoapili, journeyed with the chiefs to Oʻahu.

As was traditional, one of the first acts of the new mōʻī was to make a royal progression around Oʻahu to visit the people. Lilholiho’s selected route took him from Honolulu through the Koʻolau region to Waialua to “enjoy the fat mullet of Ukoʻa and to catch aholehole fish” and then by way of “Kaʻena point to Waiʻanae and then to Honolulu.” He then went to Kauai (McGregor and MacKenzie)

Liholiho Buys Cleopatra’s Barge for 1-million Pounds of Sandalwood

In the central Pacific, practically every vessel that visited the North Pacific in the closing years of the 18th century stopped at Hawai‘i for provisions and recreation; then, the opening years of the 19th century saw the sandalwood business became a recognized branch of trade.

Sandalwood, geography and fresh provisions made the Islands a vital link in a closely articulated trade route between Boston, the Northwest Coast and Canton, China.

At the same time, the Hawaiian demand for American goods was rapidly increasing, owing to the improved standards of living.  The central location of the Hawaiian Islands brought many traders, and then whalers, to the Islands.

For a while, sandalwood was a medium of exchange in the Islands.

A boat named Cleopatra’s Barge arrived at Lāhainā, Maui, on November 6, 1820; the very next day Liholiho (Kamehameha II) was welcomed aboard along with some family members and attendants.

Liholiho’s father Kamehameha had loved foreign ships; over time he had collected a sizable fleet of Western vessels, which, with guns and training by the foreigners, were a major asset in unifying and maintaining his kingdom across the islands.

Liholiho inherited his father’s love of ships; one of his childhood companions remembered seeing Liholiho frequently sailing a boat model “like a real man-of-war” on a pond and also recalled that their favorite boyhood pastime was drawing ships in the sand at the beach.

Just ten days after his first visit to the ship, Liholiho purchased Cleopatra’s Barge and her cargo for 1.07-million pounds of sandalwood, worth $80,000 at the time.

On January 4, 1821, King Liholiho took formal possession of Cleopatra’s Barge, appointing his personal secretary, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Rives, as temporary captain.

Liholiho then renamed the yacht ‘Ha‘aheo O Hawai‘i’ (Pride of Hawaiʻi.)

© 2021 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Prominent People, Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks Tagged With: Napoleon, Timeline Tuesday, Timeline, 1821, Kamehameha, Liholiho, Kamehameha II, 1821 Frame House, Haaheo O Hawaii, Cleopatra's Barge

May 5, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Million Pounds Of Sandalwood

The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne,
Burn’d on the water: the poop was beaten gold;
Purple the sails, and so perfumed that
The winds were love-sick with them; the oars were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water which they beat to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes.
(Antony and Cleopatra, Act II, Scene II, William Shakespeare)

Built at Salem, Massachusetts in 1816 for George Crowninshield Jr., the brig ‘Cleopatra’s Barge’ was America’s first oceangoing private yacht.

At the time, the concept of a ship built for pleasure was unknown on the western side of the Atlantic, where ships were built only for trade or war.

“Without any other model than his own mind supplied, he produced the celebrated ‘Cleopatra’s Barge,’ which has been admired in both hemispheres, and accomplished in her all he wished”. (Salem Gazette)

The yacht was built of solid oak as a schooner and had all the qualities of a good sea-going vessel. She was armed simply and well, and beautifully fitted out on the exterior, with fine carving on bow and stern. She had fourteen gun ports.

Her lavish furnishings included custom silver, glass and china services, and her interior decor rivaled that of the wealthiest homes.

Her exterior was distinguished by a herringbone paint scheme on the port side and multicolored horizontal stripes to starboard, a life-sized painted wooden Indian on deck, velvet-served quarter-deck lines, considerable gilding, and the latest patent windlass, pump and rudder technology.

At her stern were a salon finished with pink and deep blue mountings and gilt, a bedroom, a buffet, and a stairway leading up to her deck.

Mid-ship was a captain’s cabin and, forward, quarters for a crew, a storage area for tackle and so forth, a galley above and, finally, a spacious lounge containing tables of the finest workmanship, inlaid with palm and lacquered redwood.

She had five staterooms off the cabin, while the forecastle had accommodations for ten men and three boys.

Her registered tonnage was 191½-tons; she was 83-feet long on the water line, 23-feet beam and 11½- feet deep.

The owner, Captain George Crowninshield died suddenly on November 26, 1817. In settling the estate, the yacht was sold at auction.

She made one voyage to Rio Janeiro, after which she was sold again, and run as a packet between Boston and Charleston, SC.
In 1820, in fulfillment of a previous agreement with Kamehameha, she sailed from Salem or Boston on June 18, 1820.

“Although she bore a general cargo of “Axes, Brandy, Cottons, Gin, Hats, Hard Ware, Lead, Looking Glasses, Molasses, Muskets, Swords, Rum, Dry Goods, Sugar, Tea, Wine, Boots,” copper, umbrellas and a wagon, she left New England with a far different purpose in mind than general trade.”

“In their letter of instruction to their partner Captain Suter dated two days before he departed, Bryant & Sturgis wrote: ‘The Cleopatra’s Barge of which you have the immediate command is intended to be Sold Vessel & Cargo at the Sandwich Islands …’”

“‘… in this case you must endeavor to make your agreement with the King in the clearest manner — Stating how many Pikels of wood you are to Receive what the quality is to be & when it is to be delivered to your agent.’”

“The partners intended from the outset to sell the famous yacht to Hawaiian King Kamehameha II, son of Kamehameha the Great, who had united the Sandwich Islands and only recently died, leaving his son in power.” (Johnson)

The Logbook for the Barge’s outbound voyage from Boston to the Sandwich Islands tell the tale of an uneventful voyage whose monotony was broken only by frequent sail changes and an occasional squall.

After 138-days at sea, Cleopatra’s Barge arrived at Lāhainā, Maui, on November 6, 1820; the very next day Liholiho (Kamehameha II) was welcomed aboard along with some family members and attendants.

Liholiho’s father Kamehameha had loved foreign ships; over time he had collected a sizable fleet of Western vessels, which, with guns and training by the foreigners, were a major asset in unifying and maintaining his kingdom across the islands.

Liholiho inherited his father’s love of ships; one of his childhood companions remembered seeing Liholiho frequently sailing a boat model “like a real man-of-war” on a pond and also recalled that their favorite boyhood pastime was drawing ships in the sand at the beach.

Just ten days after his first visit to the ship, Liholiho purchased Cleopatra’s Barge and her cargo for 1.07-million pounds of sandalwood, worth $80,000 at the time.

On January 4, 1821, King Liholiho took formal possession of Cleopatra’s Barge, appointing his personal secretary, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Rives, as temporary captain.

Liholiho then renamed the yacht ‘Ha‘aheo O Hawai‘i’ (Pride of Hawaiʻi.)

Kamehameha II was quite proud of his ship; in the words of Charles Bullard, the agent for the ship-owner: “If you want to know how Religion stands at the Islands I can tell you; all sects are tolerated but the King worships the Barge.”

During the next three years she made frequent voyages between the islands.

On one of those trips in July 1821, Liholiho sailed to Kaua‘i, intent on confirming allegiance from Kaumuali‘i (whom his father had negotiated peace and, ultimately, united the islands under Kamehameha’s rule.)

When Kaumuali‘i unwittingly boarded and was seated in the cabin, orders were secretly given to make sail for Honolulu – Kaumuali‘i was taken prisoner.

In November 1823, Liholiho traveled to England, he died of measles in London on July 14, 1824.

According to a passage from Hiram Bingham, in April 1824, “Cleopatra’s Barge was wrecked in the bay of Hanalei, Kaua‘i, and lay not far from the beach dismantled and ruined … and was given up as unrecoverable.”

“(S)he ended her career as she had commenced it – a yacht.” (Salem Gazette; Crowninshield))

Whaling soon replaced the sandalwood trade of ʻiliahi wood in economic importance. It lasted about fifty years, from 1820 to 1870. During this time Hawaiʻi provided support services to the whaling ships; people grew crops and sold fresh fruits, vegetables and salted-meat to the ships. (Lots here from Johnson and Alexander.)

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The only image of Cleopatra’s Barge in Hawaii - here at Lahaina, Maui
The only image of Cleopatra’s Barge in Hawaii – here at Lahaina, Maui
Cleopatra's_Barge,_undated
Cleopatra’s_Barge,_undated
Cleopatra's-Barge
Cleopatra’s-Barge
Cleopatra's_Barge,_undated
Cleopatra’s_Barge,_undated
Cleopatra's_Barge
Cleopatra’s_Barge
Cleopatra's_Barge,_undated
Cleopatra’s_Barge,_undated
Cleopatra's Barge-Hanalei-MSN
Cleopatra’s Barge-Hanalei-MSN
Cleopatra's Barge-Hanalei_MSN
Cleopatra’s Barge-Hanalei_MSN

Filed Under: Economy, General Tagged With: Hawaii, Sandalwood, Kaumualii, Haaheo O Hawaii, Cleopatra's Barge, Liholiho, Kamehameha II, Hiram Bingham

August 24, 2012 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Liholiho – Kamehameha II

Liholiho was born circa 1797 in Hilo, on the island of Hawaiʻi, the eldest son of Kamehameha I and his highest-ranking consort Queen Keōpūolani.

Kamehameha the Great died in 1819, and Liholiho officially inherited the role of King; however, Ka‘ahumanu would serve as kuhina nui (the rough equivalent of the 19th-century European office of Prime Minister.)

His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani.  It was lengthened to Kalani Kaleiʻaimoku o Kaiwikapu o Laʻamea i Kauikawekiu Ahilapalapa Kealiʻi Kauinamoku o Kahekili Kalaninui i Mamao ʻIolani i Ka Liholiho when he took the throne.

Liholiho had five wives, Kamāmalu, Kekāuluohi, Kalanipauahi, Kekauʻōnohi and Kīna‘u; he had no children with any of his wives.

The new king was generally well-liked and admired.  As one American missionary observed, “There is nothing particularly striking about his countenance, but his figure is noble, perhaps more so than that of any other chief; his manners polite and easy, and his whole deportment that of a gentleman.”

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 Keōpūolani and ate a meal together.

The religious and political code of old Hawai‘i, collectively called the kapu system, was abolished.

While the islands were united by his father, after the abolition of the kapu, Keaoua Kekuaokalani (Liholiho’s cousin) led the forces supporting the ancient Hawaiian religion; Kekuaokalani, his wife Manono and his warriors were overwhelmed.  Lekeleke Burial Grounds, 7 miles south of Kailua, commemorates the battle.

Sandalwood was an important export at the time.  In 1819, Liholiho ended the controls on harvesting ‘iliahi initiated by his father.  In their rush to collect wood, the chiefs ordered even young trees to be cut down.

New trees were not planted to replace those cut down.  Soon there was little ʻiliahi worth gathering in Hawaiʻi.  As the supply dwindled the trading of ʻiliahi came to an end.

On April 4, 1820, the initial group of missionaries came to Hawai‘i and Liholiho granted them permission to stay in the Hawaiian Islands.

Later, in 1820, Liholiho bought a Royal Yacht known as Cleopatra’s Barge in exchange for reportedly 1-million pounds of sandalwood; he renamed the yacht Ha‘aheo o Hawaii (Pride of Hawaiʻi).

Kamehameha II was quite proud of his ship; in the words of Charles Bullard, the agent for the ship-owner: “If you want to know how Religion stands at the Islands I can tell you; all sects are tolerated but the King worships the Barge.”

Whaling soon replaced the sandalwood trade of ʻiliahi wood in economic importance.  It lasted about fifty years, from 1820 to 1870.  During this time Hawaiʻi provided support services to the whaling ships; people grew crops and sold fresh fruits, vegetables and salted-meat to the ships.

Liholiho’s reign was also noted for his efforts to ensure the lasting independence of the Hawaiian kingdom.  In 1823, Liholiho and his favorite wife, Kamāmalu, sailed to England to meet with King George IV, the first Ali‘i to travel to England.

King George IV scheduled a meeting for June 21, but it had to be delayed; Liholiho and Kamāmalu became ill.  The Hawaiian court had caught measles, to which they had no immunity.

It is believed they probably contracted the disease on their visit to the Royal Military Asylum (now the Duke of York’s Royal Military School).

Virtually the entire royal party developed measles within weeks of arrival, 7 to 10 days after visiting the Royal Military Asylum housing hundreds of soldiers’ children.

On the 8th of July the Queen died at half-past six in the evening from inflammation of the lungs.  A few days later, King Liholiho died.  His reign was approximately 5-years.

The moments just before he died, he said faintly: “Farewell to you all – I am dead, I am happy.”

The Sacred Mound (previously a stone mausoleum) – Pohukaina – was constructed in 1825 to house the remains of Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and his consort, Queen Kamāmalu.

Then upon their arrival back to Hawai‘i, in consultation between the Kuhina Nui, Ka‘ahumanu, and other high chiefs, and telling them about Westminster Abbey and the underground burial crypts they had seen there, it was decided to build a mausoleum building on the grounds of the royal palace.

The mausoleum was a small eighteen-by-twenty-four foot Western style structure made of white-washed coral blocks with a thatched roof; it had no windows.

Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and Queen Kamāmalu were buried on August 23, 1825.  The name ‘Pohukaina’ begins to be used to reference the site at the time of their burial.  (Pohukaina – is translated as “Pohu-ka-ʻāina” (the land is quiet and calm.))

For the next forty years, this royal tomb and the land immediately surrounding it became the final resting place for the kings of Hawai‘i, their consorts and important chiefs of the kingdom.

The image shows Liholiho, King Kamehameha II, in 1824 while in London, just before his death.  In addition, I have included other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section.

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© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Cleopatra's Barge, Hawaii, Liholiho, Kamehameha II, Ai Noa, Kamamalu, Pohukaina, Sandalwood, Kuamoo, Haaheo O Hawaii

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People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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