Kamehameha V

Career

Before becoming king, he served on the Privy Council of State from 1852 to January 1855, in the House of Nobles from 1852 to 1862, and as Commissioner of Customs from October 5, 1853. He briefly served as Kuhina Nui from September 5 to September 14, 1853, after being appointed by Kamehameha III, before resigning ten days later. On January 1, 1855, he was appointed a general in the Hawaiian military. He was appointed Director of the Board of Education on July 1, 1855, and to the Code Commission in 1856. On June 6, 1856, he became acting Minister of Finance, serving until May 26, 1857. He was appointed Minister of the Interior on June 6, 1857, serving until November 30, 1863, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on June 10, 1857, serving until May 26, 1858. He was appointed to the Board of Health on August 3, 1859. His more charismatic younger brother Prince Alexander Liholiho was crowned to become the King Kamehameha IV in 1854.

On August 5, 1862, Lot was included in a proposed amendment to the 1852 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii concerning the line of succession. Lot and his heirs, followed by his sister Princess Victoria and her heirs, would succeed in the case his brother died without any legitimate heirs. The proposed change was made shortly before the death of Prince Albert Kamehameha, the only son of Kamehameha IV, on August 23, 1862. Under Article 105 of the Constitution, however, a proposed amendment had to be approved by a subsequent legislature before becoming part of the Constitution. Kamehameha IV died on November 30, 1863, before the amendment could be considered by the subsequent legislature.

New constitution and new laws

He came to power on November 30, 1863, after his brother's death, but refused to uphold the previous constitution of 1852. He objected, in particular, to that constitution's grant of universal male suffrage in elections for the lower House of Representatives. In May 1864 he called for a constitutional convention. On July 7, 1864, he proposed a new constitution rather than amending the old one. The convention ran smoothly until the 62nd article. It limited voters to being residents who passed a literacy test and possessed property or had income qualifications. On August 20, 1864, he signed the 1864 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii and took an oath to protect it.

The constitution was based on the original draft, but 20 articles were deleted. When he appointed Charles de Varigny, a French national, as minister of finance in December 1863, Americans in Hawaiʻi were convinced that he had adopted an anti-American policy. In reality, his foreign policy remained the same. Later de Varigny became minister of foreign affairs from 1865 to 1869.

He was the first king to encourage revival of traditional practices. Under his reign, the laws against "kahunaism" were repealed. A Hawaiian Board of Medicine was established, with kahuna members, and la'au lapa'au or Hawaiian medicine was again practiced. He brought kahuna practitioners to Honolulu to document their remedies. He took a female kahuna Kamaipuʻupaʻa as a royal mistress.

In 1865, a bill was brought before the legislature giving foreign merchants the right to sell liquor directly to Native Hawaiians. Kamehameha V surprised supporters of the bill by refusing to grant his assent, saying: "I will never sign the death warrant of my people." Alcoholism was one of the many causes of the already declining population of the native Hawaiians.

Growth in travel to Hawaii

Growth in travel to the islands increased during Kamehameha's reign. Mark Twain came in March 1866 aboard the merchantman Ajax. He stayed for four months under his real name, Samuel Clemens, writing letters back to the Sacramento Union describing the islands. Twain described the king:

He was a wise sovereign; he had seen something of the world; he was educated & accomplished, & he tried hard to do well by his people, & succeeded. There was no trivial royal nonsense about him; He dressed plainly, poked about Honolulu, night or day, on his old horse, unattended; he was popular, greatly respected, and even beloved.

Queen Victoria sent her second son Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh on a state visit in 1869. He appealed to Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany, who sent Henri Berger to organize the Royal Hawaiian Band, a gift of music from the king to his people.

Succession

His sister and only named Heir Apparent to the throne, Crown Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, had died childless in 1866 and through the remainder of his reign, Kamehameha V did not name a successor. He died on December 11, 1872, while the preparations for his birthday celebration were underway. As Lot lay bedstricken, he answered those that came to visit him: "It is hard to die on my birthday, but God's will be done". He offered the throne to his cousin Bernice Pauahi Bishop who refused, and died an hour later without designating an heir. Lot Kapuāiwa had a daughter Keanolani (July 7, 1847 – June 30, 1902) with Abigail Maheha. However, her illegitimate birth prevented her from succeeding to the Hawaiian throne. Lot was buried in the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii at Mauna ʻAla.

He was the last ruling monarch of the House of Kamehameha styled under the Kamehameha name. Before his death Kamehameha V stated:

The throne belongs to Lunalilo; I will not appoint him, because I consider him unworthy of the position. The constitution, in case I make no nomination, provides for the election of the next King; let it be so.

With no heir at his death, the next monarch would be elected by the legislature. Kamehameha V's cousin William Charles Lunalilo, a Kamehameha by birth from his mother, demanded a general election and won. The legislature agreed and Lunalilo became the first elected king of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Legacy

He founded the Royal Order of Kamehameha I society on April 11, 1865, named to honor his grandfather.

The Prince Lot Hula Festival is named for him. It was held the third Saturday in July since 1977 at his former home called Moanalua Gardens.

In February 1847, a female student at the Royal School, Abigail Maheha, was expelled and wed in a hastily arranged marriage due to a scandalous pregnancy. Some speculate that the sixteen year-old Kamehameha V or his seventeen-year-old brother Moses Kekūāiwa was the father of Abigail's daughter Keanolani, who left living descendants. Evidence to support this claim include his financial support of Abigail's husband Keaupuni, veiled conversations the Cookes had with Abigail and Lot dated months before the pregnancy was discovered, and entries from the period which were torn out of his school journal.

Family tree

Honors

• Kingdom of Hawaii: Founder of the Order of Kamehameha I, April 11, 1865
• Mexican Empire: Grand Cross of the Order of Guadalupe, 1865
• Grand Duchy of Hesse: Grand Cross of the Order of Philip the Magnanimous, December 1, 1869