In 1893, Liliuokalani, the Queen of Hawaii, was deposed and five years later her nation became an incorporated territory of the United States. Published shortly after these momentous events, her book Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen is an incredibly personal history of the islands that she was born to rule. Liliuokalani covers from her birth in 1838 through the reigns of her forebears to her own turbulent time as Queen of the Hawaiian Islands. Written to explain to the world the injustice of her situation and to reclaim the sovereignty which she had lost, the Chicago Daily Tribune claimed that “no scholar or lawyer could have state[d] it more effectively.” But despite her persuasive prose Hawaii never again regained its independence or its monarchy. Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen is a fascinating history of one of the United States of America’s smallest but most unique states as it was going through significant change at the turn of the twentieth century. Queen Liliuokalani was the last reigning monarch of the kingdom of Hawaii. She ascended the throne in January of 1891, upon the death of her brother, King David Kalakaua. For years after her overthrow, the Queen sought redress in the Congress and courts of the United States, but her efforts failed. Her autobiographical history Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen is the only work by a Hawaiian monarch and provides insight into her fight to regain her throne and life on Hawaii during the late-nineteenth century.

Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen is a book written by Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawai’i. It was published in 1898, five years after the overthrow of the Kingdom. In it, Liliuokalani gives her account of her upbringing, her accession to the throne, the overthrow of her government by pro-American forces, her appeals to the United States to restore the Hawaiian monarchy, and her arrest and trial following an unsuccessful 1895 rebellion against the Republic of Hawai’i.Her appeals immediately after the Hawaiian Revolution were acted upon by her friend, President Grover Cleveland, who demanded her reinstatement from the President of Hawai’i, Sanford B. Dole, following a confidential investigation and report by James Henderson Blount submitted July 17, 1893. Dole refused Cleveland’s demands. Cleveland then referred the matter to the United States Congress. The Congress investigated further and produced the Morgan Report on February 26, 1894 which concluded that the U.S. had no role in the Hawaiian Revolution. Following the Morgan Report, the Turpie Resolution of May 31, 1894 ended any hope for further assistance in regaining her throne, and her further appeals for help were rebuffed by the Cleveland administration.In 1898, the same year the book was originally published, Hawai’i was formally annexed by the United States of America.This book is seen by many in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement as a key source documenting the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. Many of her assertions regarding the overthrow are contradicted by other primary sources, including the Morgan Report and the Native Hawaiians Study Commission Report of 1983.In either case, many people believe that the work is successful in conveying the frustration and sadness by the Queen and her supporters both for her loss of the throne, as well as the end of the independent nation of Hawai’i upon annexation to the United States.