Timoteo Ha’alilio is a national Hero of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Cookie Akau Gaspar
"Timoteo Kamalehua Ha`alilio is a national hero of the Hawaiian Kingdom. It is because of his efforts, and others, that Hawai`i is recognized as a sovereign independent county.
From the Hawaiian Kingdom blog:
On July 8, 1842 King Kauikeaouli dispatched three delegates to America and Europe to ultimately secure recognition of Hawaiian independence by the major powers of the world. The Hawaiian Delegation, led by Timoteo Haʻalilio, was assured independence by the heads of state of the United States, Great Britain and France and on November 28, 1843 the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was officially recognized as an independent country by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland along with King Louis-Philippe of France through the signing of the Anglo-Franco proclamation at the Court of London, thereby making Hawaiʻi the first non-European nation in the world to be recognized as an independent country. Lā Kūʻokoʻa was celebrated throughout the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi from 1843 until 1893, when Queen Liliʻuokalani was illegally overthrown on January 17th with the assistance of the US Minister to Hawaiʻi, John L. Stevens.
From Wikipedia:
In the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, he was included in the first members of the House of Nobles.
On April 8, 1842 he was appointed as the first diplomat of the Kingdom, envoy to the United States, France and Great Britain. William Richards would assist him as advisor and translator.
Haʻalilio and Richards left on July 18, 1842 for their diplomatic mission. Instead of sailing via Cape Horn, they went through Mexico and over land. They took a steamer to Washington D.C. December 5. After a week waiting to see Daniel Webster who was the U.S. Secretary of State, they had their appointment on December 7. By December 19, 1842 they had verbal assurance of U.S. recognition, but no formal treaty.
While in Washington, he became quite the celebrity as the first distinguished man of color to visit the nation's capital.
An incident occurred on board the steamboat Globe, in which Haʻalilio was mistaken for Richards' slave. They tried purchasing two tickets for breakfast but instead were given one and a half, one for Richards and the half for his servant. Even after Richards explained to the captain that he was Haʻalilio's servant and that he was an ambassador from the "King of the Sandwich Islands" to the President, the captain refused to allow any "colored man" to sit at the table. They next sailed to England.
In London they met up with Sir George Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company and requested a visit with Lord Aberdeen who was British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. February 1843 Richards, Sir George Simpson and Haʻalilio visited King Leopold I of Belgium. 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 Haʻalilo could wrap up the details through April and May 1843. Finally on November 13, 1843 Lord Aberdeen and the French ambassador Louis Saint-Aulaire agreed on terms and signed an agreement on November 28. The Hawaiian Kingdom became the first non-what nation to be recognized and accepted into the family of nations.
They returned to America, and visited the new Secretary of State John C. Calhoun who was invited to also sign the agreement, but said he would wait for a treaty that could be ratified by the Senate. They left Boston November 18, 1844 on the ship Montreal, but Haʻalilio's health declined, and he died December 3, 1844 off the coast of New York. He probably had been suffering from tuberculosis through the long northern winters. Richards brought his body back on March 21, 1845 to Honolulu. A funeral was held March 26, and he was buried at Kawaiaha`o Church.
From Ho`okuleana:
“On Sabbath evening, just before his death, he said; ‘This is the happiest day of my life. My work is done. I am ready to go.’ Then he prayed; ‘O, my Father, thou hast not granted my desire to see once more the land of my birth, and my friends that dwell there; but I entreat Thee refuse not my petition to see thy kingdom, and my friends who are dwelling with Thee.’”
“Let us not forget that Haalilio was permitted to live to accomplish the great objects of his mission, that he had represented his country with honor, and with a dignity which had inspired respect for him abroad both as an individual and as the Representative of (Kamehameha III.) … In his death the nation has ample cause for mourning, and has met with a heavy loss, which time cannot repair.” (The Polynesian, April 12, 1845)"
No comments:
Post a Comment