Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 12, 1 December 1992 — New history book tells of kinadom's theft [ARTICLE]

New history book tells of kinadom's theft

An impressive new book, "Stolen Kingdom: An Amenean Conspiracy," whieh provides a well-doc-umented history of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and annexation, has been published by author-publisher Rich Budnick. Budnick said,"I wrote this book to inform people about the facts and events whieh led to the overthrow and annexation. Many people do not know this history because very little has been published, and until recently, students weren't taught mueh about Hawaiian history in the schools." The strength of this timely book is found in more than 350 extensive quotes - many taken from secret letters and reports of American Secretaries of State and U.S. diplomats assigned to Hawai'i from the 1820s through annexation in 1898. These quotes reveal an American policy that encouraged annexation, and give readers a personal understanding of what key diplomats thought about Hawai'i. The book chronicles: • an Amenean conspiracy by U.S. Minister John Stevens and U.S.S. Boston Captain Gilben Wiltse to overthrow Queen Lili'uokalani in 1893; • a 40-year secret American conspiracy to encour-

age the annexation of Hawai'i to the U.S. since the early 1850s; and • a controversial and unprecedented method Congress used to annex Hawai'i to the U.S. Readers will leam about little-known facts, such as: • how the U.S. spied on Pearl Harbor in 1873 and that Schofield Barracks is named for that spy; • U.S. Minister John Stevens allowed the insurgents who overthrew the Queen to read his diplomatic reports • Stevens and Wiltse of the U.S.S. Boston discussed plans for an overthrow on board the warship during a 10-day gun practice voyage priorto the overthrow • Stevens recognized the new Provisional Govemment before the Queen yielded. • U.S. Secretary of State James Blaine wanted to encourage Americans to colonize Hawai'i • King Kamehameha III was encouraged by U.S. Minister Luther Severance in 1851 to ceded Hawai'i to the U.S. • former Queen Lili'uokalani was arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned by the Provisional Government;

• and mueh more. "Stolen Kingdom" relies primarily on important source documents, including: • the l,400-page 1895 Congressional Report whieh includes 700 pages of American diplomatic correspondence and the 700-page Blount report whieh investigated the overthrow for President Grover Qeveland; • the historic 1893 speech by President Qeveland who called the overthrow "a lawless ... act of war"; • the 1894 investigative report by U.S. Senator John Morgan; • memoirs of Lorrin Thurston, the leading agitator of the overthrow;

• the presidentially-appointed 1983 Native Hawaiians Study Commission Report to the U.S. Congress; "Stolen Kingdom: An American Conspiracy" is a 204-page paperback book whieh includes 57 historic photos from the Hawai'i State Archives. Author Rich Budnick took a year to research and write the book. He co-authored and self-published two previous books "Hawaiian Street Names (O'ahu edition) and "Maui Street Names." Budnick will donate $2 to an OHA student scholarship fund for every book purchased directly from the publisher via this story in Ka Wai Ola O OHA. Send $10 for eaeh book (plus $2 for shipping and handling for the first book and 50 cents for eaeh additional book) to: Aloha Press, Box 4183-OHA, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96812. Readers will receive an autographed book. The book is also available in retail book stores.