William Richards (Hawaii)
Encyclopedia
William Richards was a missionary and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii
.
on August 22, 1793. His father was James Richards and mother was Lydia Shaw. He was schooled under Moses Hallock in Plainfield, attended Williams College
1815 through graduation in 1819 and Andover Seminary. His brother James had also gone to Williams College and became a missionary.
He was ordained September 12, 1822. He married Clarissa Lyman (1794–1861) on October 30, 1822. Her distant cousin David Belden Lyman
would also come to Hawaii to serve as a missionary 9 years later.
in the second company from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
to Hawaii. They arrived to the Hawaiian Islands
April 24, 1823 and landed in Honolulu April 27.
On May 28, 1823 he and shipmate Charles Stewart sailed on the Royal Yacht Cleopatra's Barge
to Lahaina and on May 31 founded the mission in on Maui
inside thatched huts. However, he did not speak the Hawaiian language
fluently enough for people to understand his sermons. In September Queen Mother Keōpūolani
became ill and requested Baptism
, but the missionaries wanted to make sure she fully understood the ceremony. English missionary William Ellis had just arrived with Tahitian interpreters, and the language was similar enough that they were used for the baptism just before the Queen Mother's death. In December 1823, the young King Kamehameha II
sailed to England in an attempted state visit, and the government was left in the hands of Queen Regent Kaahumanu and Prime Minister Kalanimoku
who were both accommodating to the mission.
By January 1824 the Richards and Stewarts moved back to Honolulu and set up a school with the families there that went both ways: the Americans were taught Hawaiian while Hawaiians (at least the chiefs) were taught English. A standardized orthography
was developed and some simple texts were printed.
In 1825 Richards published a biography of Queen Keōpūolani.
Some time in 1825, the Richards moved back to Maui to establish a mission. Whaling
ships had been visiting the port, expecting women to greet the ship and offer themselves to the sailors. In October 1825 the crew of the British whaleship Daniel threatened Richards in front of his wife and children unless they relaxed restrictions on the town. Tensions escalated, and the ship's master William Buckle refused a request to control his crew.
In January 1826 the American Schooner
arrived in Honolulu and demanded the release of four women who were accused of prostitution, since there were no written laws. The crew attacked the house of the Prime Minister and the missionaries. Later in 1826 another mob damaged the town of Lahaina, although Richards and his family escaped. In 1827 the English whaleship John Palmer fired canons at the mission house after its captain Elisha Clarke was arrested for taking four women on board. Richards negotiated the release of Clarke if the women were returned, but the captain sailed off with them.
Near the end of 1827, word got back to the islands that the 1825 incident with William Buckle had found its way into American newspapers.
The papers accused the captain of purchasing a woman for 10 doubloons and taking her on board his vessel, what would now be called human trafficking
.
British Consul Richard Charlton
demanded that Richards be arrested and taken for a libel trial in Honolulu. The story had probably been sensationalized along the way, and many agreed that these were inflammatory charges with only hearsay
evidence. On November 26, 1827 with Queen Regent Kaahumanu presiding, Richards was released. Buckle pointed out that the woman named Leoiki had come willingly, and they were now officially married. There were precedents at the time for English and Americans of high rank to marry Hawaiian noble women. For example, the respected John Young
had taken a Hawaiian bride much earlier.
In 1828, Maui island Governor Hoapili
supported the building of a stone and wood structure for Richards' church. The Christian church was built adjacent to a pond surrounding an island called Mokuula, which had been a sacred to the Hawaiian religion
. The first stone building was dedicated on March 4, 1832 and called Wainee Church
.
When the arrived in 1829 Richards received a visit from its ship chaplain, his former colleague Charles Stewart who now worked for the Navy.
He would host officers of the Vincennes again later during the United States Exploring Expedition
with Richards serving as interpreter for the King.
Richards wrote a long letter to Charles Wilkes
, the commander of the expedition describing aspects of the Hawaiian culture that has proven valuable to historians.
In June 1831 he and Lorrin Andrews
were assigned to investigate opening a school on Maui. The land above the town was donated by Hoapili and called Lahainaluna School, with Andrews as first principal. In 1836 Dwight Baldwin
was assigned to the Wainee Church as the Richards family planned to travel back to the United States.
After leaving their children to attend American schools, he and his wife returned March 27, 1838.
In July 1838 he resigned from the mission to become government translator to king Kamehameha III
, but continued to help the mission by translating much of the Bible into Hawaiian.
He helped draft a Hawaiian Declaration of Rights with help from the students at Lahainaluna. After several round of changes by the king and his councilors, it was published June 7, 1839.
The declaration was meant to secure property rights for all people. Before then, land could be taken by the king whenever he pleased. However, land could still not be owned in the fee simple
sense; it was always leased. This became more important as the business of sugarcane
cultivation for shipment abroad arose.
Next the councilors and king formalized the system of government for the first time in the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii
. Richards served as secretary during the proceeedings.
In 1842 he published the constitution and laws up to that point.
Richards met Sir George Simpson
of the Hudsons Bay Company while Sir George was traveling from the Northwest Territories
through Hawaii in February 1842. Sir George had heard from his cousin Alexander Simpson that Charlton argued that Britain should just annex the islands to counter the American domination of the government. Sir George instead favored Hawaiian independence, having seen the advantages of free trade in Canada.
. Richards had sent a proposed treaty to the U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Butler
in 1838, but the letter was quietly filed away. Missionary doctor Gerrit P. Judd
replaced Richards as government translator, and continued the American influence on Hawaiian government. Judd resigned from the mission and also became the first Finance minister, effectively one of the most powerful positions in the kingdom.
The envoys left on July 18, 1842, arriving in Washington D.C. December 5. Richards looked up his former congressman Caleb Cushing
. After a week waiting to see Daniel Webster
who was the U.S. Secretary of State, they had their appointment on December 7. Webster had not even read their letter. When Richards mentioned they would renew their status as a British Protectorate
, Webster indicated it was President John Tyler
's policy to prevent any restrictions of U.S. control in the Pacific, but did not promise anything specific.
Meanwhile, Richard Charlton had left Hawaii to return to London, appointing Alexander Simpson to take his place. Charlton had met with officers of the British Pacific fleet in Mexico
, where he reported that French and Americans were going to take over the islands unless the British acted soon.
Richards and Haalilio then went to London and requested a visit with
Lord Aberdeen
who was British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In February 1843 Richards, Sir George Simpson and Haalilio visited King Leopold I of Belgium
. The American Consul to Hawaii, Peter A. Brinsmade, had negotiated a contract for Belgian colonization of Hawaii. On March 17, 1843 they met François Guizot
who was the French Foreign Minister
. Both verbally accepted Hawaiian independence, and so did Lord Aberdeen on another visit on March 25. Confident in their success, Sir George Simpson returned to Canada, thinking Richards and Haalilo could wrap up the details through April and May 1843.
Richards got his first hint of trouble reading a Paris newspaper account of how a British frigate , under the command of Lord George Paulet, captured the Hawaiian islands after threatening a military attack the previous February.
Using a coffin in the Royal mausoleum as a desk, Judd prepared letters for Richards and Haalilio, secretly sending them out with American merchant James F.B. Marshall. Marshall spread the news in the American press, and met June 4 with fellow Bostonians such as Daniel Webster and Henry A. Peirce
(business partner and future minister to Hawaii). Webster gave him letters for Edward Everett
who was the American minister to Great Britain.
On June 30, 1843 Marshall arrived with the letters of Judd, while Richards and Haalilo were in Paris. Seven days earlier Alexander Simpson had arrived with letters presenting Paulet's case at the British the Foreign office. Paulet claimed that the islands were voluntarily ceded. This confused and embarrassed the British government.
The British agreed to restore the flag, but continued to negotiate the terms. Meanwhile Admiral Richard Darton Thomas
had already sailed to Honolulu and held a ceremony on July 31 turning the country back to Kamehameha III. Finally on November 13, 1843 Lord Aberdeen and the French ambassador Louis Saint-Aulaire
agreed on terms and signed an agreement on November 28. It was a joint declaration, not a treaty, so did not clarify status. Charlton was fired and William Miller (1795–1861) was appointed the new British consul to investigate Charlton's land claims.
When news of the treaty got back to the islands, November 28 became a holiday known as Lā Kūokoa o Hawaii Nei ("beloved Hawaii independence day").
On their way back, the new American Secretary of State John C. Calhoun
was invited to also sign the agreement, but said he would wait for a treaty that could be ratified by the Senate.
The USA appointed a diplomatic commissioner in 1843, but would not officially recognize the Kingdom until 1849.
Timothy Haalilio's health declined, and he died December 3, 1844 trying to return home.
Although earlier Richards made it clear he only an advisor and secretary, he was now be making policy decisions.
On his return in 1845 Richards was appointed to the king's Privy Council
and a two year term in the House of Nobles
; a new law required government workers to officially become citizens of the kingdom.
In February 1846 he became president of the commission to reform land titles.
On April 13, 1846 he became the kingdom's first Minister of Public Instruction.
Although previously all schools had been strictly Protestant, he took one step to religious freedom by working with Catholics to accommodate them in public schools.
in 1848.
His wife moved back to New Haven in November 1849 and died October 3, 1861. They had 8 children.
Daughter Harriet Keopuolani Richards married William S. Clark
. She and son Levi Lyman Richards had been sent to live with Samuel Williston (1795–1874) in Massachusetts for their education at his Williston School
. After Richards' death they were adopted by the Willistons and took the Williston name. Levi Lyman's son Samuel Williston
(1861–1963) became a law professor at Harvard Law School
.
In 1850 a street in downtown Honolulu
was named for him at 21°18′25"N 157°51′36"W.
A namesake was William Richards Castle
(1849–1935).
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
.
Family life
William Richards was born in Plainfield, MassachusettsPlainfield, Massachusetts
Plainfield is a town on the northwestern edge of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, about 25 miles east of Pittsfield and 30 miles northwest of Northampton. The population was 589 at the 2000 census...
on August 22, 1793. His father was James Richards and mother was Lydia Shaw. He was schooled under Moses Hallock in Plainfield, attended Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
1815 through graduation in 1819 and Andover Seminary. His brother James had also gone to Williams College and became a missionary.
He was ordained September 12, 1822. He married Clarissa Lyman (1794–1861) on October 30, 1822. Her distant cousin David Belden Lyman
David Belden Lyman
David Belden Lyman was an early American missionary to Hawaii who opened a boarding school for Hawaiians. His wife Sarah Joiner Lyman taught at the boarding school and kept an important journal. They had several notable descendants.-Family life:David Belden Lyman was born in on July 28, 1803 in...
would also come to Hawaii to serve as a missionary 9 years later.
Missionary
They sailed on November 19, 1822 on the ship Thames under Captain Clasby from New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
in the second company from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the first American Christian foreign mission agency. It was proposed in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College and officially chartered in 1812. In 1961 it merged with other societies to form the United Church Board for World...
to Hawaii. They arrived to the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
April 24, 1823 and landed in Honolulu April 27.
On May 28, 1823 he and shipmate Charles Stewart sailed on the Royal Yacht Cleopatra's Barge
Cleopatra's Barge
Cleopatra's Barge was an opulent yacht built in Massachusetts in 1816. It became the Royal Yacht of King Kamehameha II who named it Haaheo o Hawaii , but was wrecked in the Hawaiian Islands in 1824.-Building:...
to Lahaina and on May 31 founded the mission in on Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
inside thatched huts. However, he did not speak the Hawaiian language
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
fluently enough for people to understand his sermons. In September Queen Mother Keōpūolani
Keopuolani
Kalanikauikaalaneo Kai Keōpūolani-Ahu-i-Kekai-Makuahine-a-Kama-Kalani-Kau-i-Kealaneo was a queen consort of Hawaii and the highest ranking wife of King Kamehameha I.-Early life:...
became ill and requested Baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
, but the missionaries wanted to make sure she fully understood the ceremony. English missionary William Ellis had just arrived with Tahitian interpreters, and the language was similar enough that they were used for the baptism just before the Queen Mother's death. In December 1823, the young King Kamehameha II
Kamehameha II
Kamehameha II was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu Iolani...
sailed to England in an attempted state visit, and the government was left in the hands of Queen Regent Kaahumanu and Prime Minister Kalanimoku
Kalanimoku
William Pitt Kalanimoku was a High Chief who functioned similar to a prime minister of the Hawaiian Kingdom during the reigns of Kamehameha I, Kamehameha II and the beginning of the reign of Kamehameha III. He was called The Iron Cable of Hawaii because of his abilities.-Life:Kalanimoku was born ...
who were both accommodating to the mission.
By January 1824 the Richards and Stewarts moved back to Honolulu and set up a school with the families there that went both ways: the Americans were taught Hawaiian while Hawaiians (at least the chiefs) were taught English. A standardized orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
was developed and some simple texts were printed.
In 1825 Richards published a biography of Queen Keōpūolani.
Some time in 1825, the Richards moved back to Maui to establish a mission. Whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
ships had been visiting the port, expecting women to greet the ship and offer themselves to the sailors. In October 1825 the crew of the British whaleship Daniel threatened Richards in front of his wife and children unless they relaxed restrictions on the town. Tensions escalated, and the ship's master William Buckle refused a request to control his crew.
In January 1826 the American Schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
arrived in Honolulu and demanded the release of four women who were accused of prostitution, since there were no written laws. The crew attacked the house of the Prime Minister and the missionaries. Later in 1826 another mob damaged the town of Lahaina, although Richards and his family escaped. In 1827 the English whaleship John Palmer fired canons at the mission house after its captain Elisha Clarke was arrested for taking four women on board. Richards negotiated the release of Clarke if the women were returned, but the captain sailed off with them.
Near the end of 1827, word got back to the islands that the 1825 incident with William Buckle had found its way into American newspapers.
The papers accused the captain of purchasing a woman for 10 doubloons and taking her on board his vessel, what would now be called human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
.
British Consul Richard Charlton
Richard Charlton (Hawaii)
Richard Charlton was the first diplomatic Consul from Great Britain to the Kingdom of Hawaii 1825–1843. He was surrounded by controversies that caused a military occupation known as the Paulet Affair, and real estate claims that motivated the formalization of Hawaiian land titles.-Life:Richard...
demanded that Richards be arrested and taken for a libel trial in Honolulu. The story had probably been sensationalized along the way, and many agreed that these were inflammatory charges with only hearsay
Hearsay
Hearsay is information gathered by one person from another person concerning some event, condition, or thing of which the first person had no direct experience. When submitted as evidence, such statements are called hearsay evidence. As a legal term, "hearsay" can also have the narrower meaning of...
evidence. On November 26, 1827 with Queen Regent Kaahumanu presiding, Richards was released. Buckle pointed out that the woman named Leoiki had come willingly, and they were now officially married. There were precedents at the time for English and Americans of high rank to marry Hawaiian noble women. For example, the respected John Young
John Young (Hawaii)
John Young was a British subject who became an important military advisor to Kamehameha I during the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was left behind by Simon Metcalfe, captain of the American ship Eleanora, and along with a Welshmen Isaac Davis became a friend and advisor to Kamehameha...
had taken a Hawaiian bride much earlier.
In 1828, Maui island Governor Hoapili
Hoapili
Ulumāheihei Hoapili was a member of the nobility during the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was a trusted military and political advisor to King Kamehameha I, known as "Kamehameha the Great"...
supported the building of a stone and wood structure for Richards' church. The Christian church was built adjacent to a pond surrounding an island called Mokuula, which had been a sacred to the Hawaiian religion
Hawaiian religion
Hawaiian religion is the term used to describe the folk religious beliefs and practises of the Hawaiian people. It is unrelated to, though commonly confused with, the philosophy of Huna....
. The first stone building was dedicated on March 4, 1832 and called Wainee Church
Waiola Church
Waiola Church is the site of a historic mission established in 1823 on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Originally called Wainee Church till 1953, the cemetery is the final resting place for early members of the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii....
.
When the arrived in 1829 Richards received a visit from its ship chaplain, his former colleague Charles Stewart who now worked for the Navy.
He would host officers of the Vincennes again later during the United States Exploring Expedition
United States Exploring Expedition
The United States Exploring Expedition was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States from 1838 to 1842. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones. The voyage was authorized by Congress in...
with Richards serving as interpreter for the King.
Richards wrote a long letter to Charles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes was an American naval officer and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and commanded the ship in the Trent Affair during the American Civil War...
, the commander of the expedition describing aspects of the Hawaiian culture that has proven valuable to historians.
In June 1831 he and Lorrin Andrews
Lorrin Andrews
Lorrin Andrews was an early American missionary to Hawaii and judge. He opened the first post-secondary school for Hawaiians called Lahainaluna Seminary, prepared a Hawaiian dictionary and several works on the literature and antiquities of the Hawaiians. His students published the first newspaper,...
were assigned to investigate opening a school on Maui. The land above the town was donated by Hoapili and called Lahainaluna School, with Andrews as first principal. In 1836 Dwight Baldwin
Dwight Baldwin (missionary)
Dwight Baldwin was an American Christian missionary and physician on Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands, during the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was patriarch of a family that founded some of the largest businesses in the islands.-Life:...
was assigned to the Wainee Church as the Richards family planned to travel back to the United States.
After leaving their children to attend American schools, he and his wife returned March 27, 1838.
In July 1838 he resigned from the mission to become government translator to king Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III was the King of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name was Keaweaweula Kiwalao Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula Kiwalao Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa Kalani Waiakua Kalanikau Iokikilo Kiwalao i ke kapu Kamehameha when he ascended the throne.Under his...
, but continued to help the mission by translating much of the Bible into Hawaiian.
Legal reform
The king had asked Richards to send back an American lawyer to help the Kingdom of Hawaii draft a set of formal laws. The mission board, already accused of political meddling, did not think it appropriate to support the effort. Since he could not find any willing to take such a long journey, Richards himself took on the task.He helped draft a Hawaiian Declaration of Rights with help from the students at Lahainaluna. After several round of changes by the king and his councilors, it was published June 7, 1839.
The declaration was meant to secure property rights for all people. Before then, land could be taken by the king whenever he pleased. However, land could still not be owned in the fee simple
Fee simple
In English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...
sense; it was always leased. This became more important as the business of sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
cultivation for shipment abroad arose.
Next the councilors and king formalized the system of government for the first time in the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii
1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii
The 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii titled Ke Kumukānāwai a me nā Kānāwai o ko Hawai’i Pae ‘Āina, Honolulu, 1840 was the first fully written constitution for the Kingdom of Hawaii...
. Richards served as secretary during the proceeedings.
In 1842 he published the constitution and laws up to that point.
Richards met Sir George Simpson
George Simpson (administrator)
Sir George Simpson was a Scots-Quebecer and employee of the Hudson's Bay Company . His title was Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land and administrator over the Northwest Territories and Columbia Department in British North America from 1821 to 1860.-Early years:George Simpson was born in Dingwall,...
of the Hudsons Bay Company while Sir George was traveling from the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
through Hawaii in February 1842. Sir George had heard from his cousin Alexander Simpson that Charlton argued that Britain should just annex the islands to counter the American domination of the government. Sir George instead favored Hawaiian independence, having seen the advantages of free trade in Canada.
Diplomat
April 8, 1842 Richards was appointed special envoy to U.S. and Great Britain with native Hawaiian Timothy HaalilioTimothy Haalilio
Timoteo or Timothy Kamalehua Haalilio was a royal secretary and first diplomat of the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Life:Haalilio was born early in the 19th century, probably 1808. He was the son Haalou, the governor of Molokai, and his wife Kipa. He was the elder brother of Levi Haalelea, husband of...
. Richards had sent a proposed treaty to the U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (lawyer)
Benjamin Franklin Butler was a lawyer, legislator and Attorney General of the United States.-Early life:...
in 1838, but the letter was quietly filed away. Missionary doctor Gerrit P. Judd
Gerrit P. Judd
Gerrit Parmele Judd was an American physician and missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii who later became a trusted advisor and cabinet minister to King Kamehameha III.- Life :...
replaced Richards as government translator, and continued the American influence on Hawaiian government. Judd resigned from the mission and also became the first Finance minister, effectively one of the most powerful positions in the kingdom.
The envoys left on July 18, 1842, arriving in Washington D.C. December 5. Richards looked up his former congressman Caleb Cushing
Caleb Cushing
Caleb Cushing was an American diplomat who served as a U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts and Attorney General under President Franklin Pierce.-Early life:...
. After a week waiting to see Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
who was the U.S. Secretary of State, they had their appointment on December 7. Webster had not even read their letter. When Richards mentioned they would renew their status as a British Protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
, Webster indicated it was President John Tyler
John Tyler
John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...
's policy to prevent any restrictions of U.S. control in the Pacific, but did not promise anything specific.
Meanwhile, Richard Charlton had left Hawaii to return to London, appointing Alexander Simpson to take his place. Charlton had met with officers of the British Pacific fleet in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, where he reported that French and Americans were going to take over the islands unless the British acted soon.
Richards and Haalilio then went to London and requested a visit with
Lord Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen KG, KT, FRS, PC , styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a Scottish politician, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855.-Early life:Born in Edinburgh on 28 January 1784, he...
who was British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In February 1843 Richards, Sir George Simpson and Haalilio visited King Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I was from 21 July 1831 the first King of the Belgians, following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands. He was the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
. The American Consul to Hawaii, Peter A. Brinsmade, had negotiated a contract for Belgian colonization of Hawaii. On March 17, 1843 they met François Guizot
François Guizot
François Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848, a conservative liberal who opposed the attempt by King Charles X to usurp legislative power, and worked to sustain a constitutional...
who was the French Foreign Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for...
. Both verbally accepted Hawaiian independence, and so did Lord Aberdeen on another visit on March 25. Confident in their success, Sir George Simpson returned to Canada, thinking Richards and Haalilo could wrap up the details through April and May 1843.
Richards got his first hint of trouble reading a Paris newspaper account of how a British frigate , under the command of Lord George Paulet, captured the Hawaiian islands after threatening a military attack the previous February.
Using a coffin in the Royal mausoleum as a desk, Judd prepared letters for Richards and Haalilio, secretly sending them out with American merchant James F.B. Marshall. Marshall spread the news in the American press, and met June 4 with fellow Bostonians such as Daniel Webster and Henry A. Peirce
Henry A. Peirce
Henry Augustus Peirce was an American businessman and diplomat. Some sources spell his last name as Pierce.-Early life and business:...
(business partner and future minister to Hawaii). Webster gave him letters for Edward Everett
Edward Everett
Edward Everett was an American politician and educator from Massachusetts. Everett, a Whig, served as U.S. Representative, and U.S. Senator, the 15th Governor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain, and United States Secretary of State...
who was the American minister to Great Britain.
On June 30, 1843 Marshall arrived with the letters of Judd, while Richards and Haalilo were in Paris. Seven days earlier Alexander Simpson had arrived with letters presenting Paulet's case at the British the Foreign office. Paulet claimed that the islands were voluntarily ceded. This confused and embarrassed the British government.
The British agreed to restore the flag, but continued to negotiate the terms. Meanwhile Admiral Richard Darton Thomas
Richard Darton Thomas
Admiral Richard Darton Thomas was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station.-Naval career:...
had already sailed to Honolulu and held a ceremony on July 31 turning the country back to Kamehameha III. Finally on November 13, 1843 Lord Aberdeen and the French ambassador Louis Saint-Aulaire
Louis de Beaupoil de Saint-Aulaire
Louis-Clair de Beaupoil comte de Saint-Aulaire was a French politician.-Life:After attending school at the École des ponts et chaussées and polytechnique , he served as chamberlain to Napoleon I of France, then prefect of the Meuse in 1813 then of Haute-Garonne in 1814...
agreed on terms and signed an agreement on November 28. It was a joint declaration, not a treaty, so did not clarify status. Charlton was fired and William Miller (1795–1861) was appointed the new British consul to investigate Charlton's land claims.
When news of the treaty got back to the islands, November 28 became a holiday known as Lā Kūokoa o Hawaii Nei ("beloved Hawaii independence day").
On their way back, the new American Secretary of State John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...
was invited to also sign the agreement, but said he would wait for a treaty that could be ratified by the Senate.
The USA appointed a diplomatic commissioner in 1843, but would not officially recognize the Kingdom until 1849.
Timothy Haalilio's health declined, and he died December 3, 1844 trying to return home.
Although earlier Richards made it clear he only an advisor and secretary, he was now be making policy decisions.
On his return in 1845 Richards was appointed to the king's Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
and a two year term in the House of Nobles
Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom
The Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom was the bicameral legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii. A royal legislature was first provided by the 1840 Constitution and the 1852 Constitution was the first to use the term "Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom", and the first to subject the monarch to...
; a new law required government workers to officially become citizens of the kingdom.
In February 1846 he became president of the commission to reform land titles.
On April 13, 1846 he became the kingdom's first Minister of Public Instruction.
Although previously all schools had been strictly Protestant, he took one step to religious freedom by working with Catholics to accommodate them in public schools.
Death and legacy
Richards became ill in July 1847 and died in Honolulu November 7, 1847. He was buried at Wainee Church among the graves of Hawaiian royalty. His work on a formal land title system was to result in the Great MaheleGreat Mahele
The Great Mahele or just the Mahele was the Hawaiian land redistribution act proposed by King Kamehameha III in the 1830s and enacted in 1848.-Overview:...
in 1848.
His wife moved back to New Haven in November 1849 and died October 3, 1861. They had 8 children.
Daughter Harriet Keopuolani Richards married William S. Clark
William S. Clark
William Smith Clark was a professor of chemistry, botany and zoology, a colonel during the American Civil War, and a leader in agricultural education. Raised and schooled in Easthampton, Massachusetts, Clark spent most of his adult life in Amherst, Massachusetts...
. She and son Levi Lyman Richards had been sent to live with Samuel Williston (1795–1874) in Massachusetts for their education at his Williston School
Williston Northampton School
The Williston Northampton School, or "Williston," is a private co-educational preparatory school for boarding and day students in seventh grade through postgraduate year located in Easthampton, Massachusetts. The campus offers a range of extra-curricular activities in the arts and athletics...
. After Richards' death they were adopted by the Willistons and took the Williston name. Levi Lyman's son Samuel Williston
Samuel Williston
Samuel Williston was an American lawyer and law professor.Early in Williston's career, from 1888 to 1889 he worked as the private secretary to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray. In the summer of 1889, he helped to collate laws from various U.S...
(1861–1963) became a law professor at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
.
In 1850 a street in downtown Honolulu
Downtown Honolulu
Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, governmental, and central part of Honolulu—bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the north, and Honolulu Harbor to the south—situated within the larger Honolulu District...
was named for him at 21°18′25"N 157°51′36"W.
A namesake was William Richards Castle
William Richards Castle
William Richards Castle was a lawyer and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii and Republic of Hawaii.-Family:William Richards Castle was born in Honolulu March 19, 1849. His father was Samuel Northrup Castle , and mother was Mary Tenney . He was a namesake of William Richards who drafted the first...
(1849–1935).
See also
- Relations between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United StatesRelations between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United StatesKingdom of Hawaii – United States relations refers to the historical relationship between the independent Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States...
- List of bilateral treaties signed by the Kingdom of Hawaii