Wilcox rebellions

Wilcox rebellions
The Wilcox Rebellions were a plot in 1888, a revolt in 1889, and a counter-revolution in 1895, led by Robert
William Wilcox against the governments of Hawaii. He was considered a populist revolutionary and menace to both
the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii under King David Kalkaua and the Republic of Hawaii under Sanford
Dole. Wilcoxs revolts were part of the Hawaiian Revolutions.

Dominis Conspiracy
The Dominis Conspiracy (also known as the Wilcox Rebellion of
1888) was named after Liliuokalani, who also went by the name Lydia
K. Dominis and whose birth name was Lili'u Loloku Kamaka'eha. The
plot was to overthrow King David Kalkaua, king of Hawaii, and
replace him with his sister in a coup d'tat.

Background
In 1887, in response to increased political tension between the
legislature and the king, a group of government ministers led by
Interior Minister Lorrin A. Thurston with the support of the Honolulu
Rifles, forced King David Kalkaua to promulgate the Bayonet
Constitution. The constitution stripped Asians of their voting rights
while at the same time limited suffrage to wealthy Native Hawaiians,
Americans and other Europeans. The king's own powers were limited
substantially. Hostilities grew over the new constitution that limited
mostly non-white commoners' rights and power. Kalkaua's sister,
Princess Liliuokalani and wife, Queen Kapiolani returned from Queen
Victoria's Golden Jubilee immediately after news reached them in
Great Britain.

Robert William Wilcox

Plot and outcome

Princess Liliuokalani felt that her brother, Kalkaua, was not competent to be
King. Kalkaua's distant cousin, a native Hawaiian officer and veteran of the
Italian military, Robert William Wilcox who returned to Hawaii about the
same time as Liliuokalani. Wilcox had returned in October 1887 when the
funding for his study program stopped after the new constitution was signed.
Wilcox, Charles B. Wilson, Princess Liliuokalani, and Sam Nowlein plotted
to overthrow King Kalkaua to replace him with his sister, Liliuokalani.
They had 300 Hawaiian conspirators hidden in Iolani Barracks and an
Iolani Barracks, 2007
alliance with the Royal Guard, but the plot was accidentally discovered in
January 1888, less than 48 hours before the revolt would have been initiated. No one was prosecuted but Wilcox was
exiled. So on February 11, 1888 Wilcox left Hawaii for San Francisco, intending to return to Italy with his wife.

Wilcox rebellions

A second plot
Princess Liliuokalani was offered the throne several times by the Missionary Party who had forced the Bayonet
Constitution on her brother, but she believed she would become a powerless figurehead like her brother and rejected
the offers outright.

Wilcox Rebellion of 1889

Main article: Wilcox Rebellion of 1889
In 1887, in response to increased political tension between the legislature and the king, a group of government
ministers led by Interior Minister Lorrin A. Thurston with the support of an armed militia, forced King David
Kalkaua to promulgate the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The constitution stripped Asians of their
voting rights while at the same time limited suffrage to wealthy native Hawaiians, Americans and other Europeans.
The king's own powers were limited substantially. A native Hawaiian officer and veteran of the Italian military,
Robert William Wilcox, organized a rebellion on July 30, 1889 to revive the powers of the monarch over
administration. The rebellion was thwarted by the absence of the King at Iolani Palace (who was needed to
promulgate a new constitution), and the Honolulu Rifles. Wilcox was tried for treason, and acquitted despite his
obvious guilt.

Burlesque Conspiracy
The Burlesque Conspiracy also known for an event called the Sandbag Incident. The name of the conspiracy,
Burlesque, was mainly to mock Marshal of the Kingdom C. B. Wilson for appearing to have been tricked into
putting the Kingdom on a high state of alert for no reason.

Background
After the rise to power by Queen Liliuokalani, members of the National Liberal Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom
became frustrated with her over a feeling of neglect to removing the Bayonet Constitution. Wilcox organized another
plot in 1892 by forming a group called the Hawaiian Patriotic League which included John Edward Bush, Volney V.
Ashford, and J. W. Bellowing Bipikane. The intentions of this group were to overthrow the monarchy and establish
a republic.

Sandbag Incident
Wilcox and Bushs speeches drew the attention of Marshal of the Kingdom Charles Wilson. He had agents infiltrate
the group and inform him of the Leagues activities. In March 1892 Wilson was informed of an imminent Coup
d'tat. In response he put the Kingdom under high alert and sandbagged Iolani Palace (hence the name of the
incident), effectively divert the attempt. In response by the League to the Kingdoms lockdown, they aborted the
coup and no event occurred. To the public the heightened alertness appeared to have no basis, since no confrontation
happened, making Wilson look like a paranoid fool (hence the name of the conspiracy).

Wilcox rebellions

Aftermath
Wilson raided the League on May 20 arresting and jailing more than a dozen conspirators including Wilcox for
plotting to overthrow the government. Wilcox spent 36 days in jail and was not convicted leading to his release.
Ministers to the queen felt that the exposing of the conspiracy made it harmless. The conspiracy was received by
Liliuokalani as one of many voices demanding the removal of the 1887 Constitution, subsequently she drafted the
1893 Constitution.

1895 Counter-Revolution in Hawaii

Main article: 1895 Counter-Revolution in Hawaii
In 1895, Wilcox participated in another attempt, this time to overthrow the Republic of Hawaii and to restore
Liliuokalani to power. Royalist supporters landed a cargo of arms and ammunition from San Francisco, California
in a secret Honolulu location. At the location on January 6, 1895, a company of royalists met to draft plans to capture
the government buildings by surprise. A premature encounter with a squad of police alarmed Honolulu and the plans
were abandoned as the royalists were quickly routed. Wilcox spent several days in hiding in the mountains before
being captured. The son of one pro-annexationist was killed. Several other skirmishes occurred during the following
week resulting in the capture of the leading conspirators and their followers. The government allegedly found arms
and ammunition and some potentially evidential documents on the premises of Washington Place, Liliuokalani's
private residence implicating her in the plot.

Wilcox's continued resistance

A few years later, after Wilcox's final rebellion, he organized the
Hawaiian Independent Party, later renamed the Home Rule Party, and
won the majority of the seats in the Legislature. Wilcox was elected
and served in Congress from November 6, 1900 to March 3, 1903, an
advocate for Hawaiian rights and sovereignty, and against annexation.
But tensions between Governor Sanford B. Dole (with veto power) and
the Home Rule Party did not allow legislation to be passed. Wilcox
died the same year he left office. Wilcox continues to be regarded as a
hero by the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement.

References

Several pro-royalist groups submitted petitions

against annexation in 1898. In 1900 those groups
disbanded and formed the Hawaiian Independent
Party, under the leadership of Wilcox, the first
Congressional representative from the Territory
of Hawaii

Wilcox rebellions

Bibliography
Dominis Conspiracy

Burlesque Conspiracy

Andrade Jr., Ernest (1996). Unconquerable Rebel: Robert W. Wilcox and

Hawaiian Politics, 18801903. University Press of Colorado.
ISBN0-87081-417-6.
Liliuokalani (1898). Hawaii's Story. Tothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.
Foreign Relations of the United States 1894: Affairs in Hawaii. Government
Printing Office. 1895.

Daws, Gavan (1968). Shoal of time: a history of the

Hawaiian Islands. University of Hawaii Press.
pp.267268.
Krauss, Bob (1994). Johnny Wilson: first Hawaiian
Democrat. University of Hawaii Press. pp.3637.

Article Sources and Contributors

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