Sanford B. Dole Totally Explained

Everything about Sanford B Dole totally explained

Sanford Ballard Dole (April 23 1844 – June 9 1926) was a politician and jurist of Hawaii as a kingdom, protectorate, republic and territory.

Early years

Dole was born in Honolulu to a family of white Protestant Christian missionaries from Norridgewock, Maine in the United States. His cousin was the pineapple magnate James Dole who followed the elder Dole to Hawaii in later years. Dole was part of a wealthy, elite immigrant community in the Hawaiian Islands that established a dominant presence in the local political climate. Serving as a successful attorney and friend of King David Kalākaua and Queen Liliuokalani, Dole pursued and advocated the westernization of Hawaiian society and culture.

Bayonet Constitution

Dole participated in a revolution in 1887 in which local businessmen, sugar planters and politicians backed by the Honolulu Rifles forced adoption of the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii written by Interior Minister Lorrin A. Thurston. It stripped voting rights from all Asians outright, and disenfranchised poor Native Hawaiians, Americans and Europeans due to income and wealth requirements, effectively consolidating power with the elite Native Hawaiian, European and American subjects of the kingdom. In addition, it minimized the power of the monarch in favor of more influential governance by the Privy Council, the royal cabinet. Kalākaua later appointed Dole a justice of the Kingdom of Hawaii Supreme Court.

End of the monarchy

The monarchy ended in January 1893 after a coup d'etat organized by many of the same actors involved in the 1887 revolt. The U.S. Minister to Hawaii John L. Stevens, returning on the U.S.S. Boston while these events were in progress, requested the landing of U.S. Marines and bluejackets in Honolulu the day before the Provisional Government was declared, "for the purpose of protecting our legation, consulate, and the lives and property of American citizens, and to assist in preserving public order." Historian Russ Kuykdendall states, "the troops didn't cooperate with the committee, and the committee had no more knowledge than did the Queen's Government where the troops were going nor what they were going to do." The Provisional Government that was formed after the coup was led by President Dole, and was recognized within 48 hours by all nations with diplomatic ties to the Kingdom of Hawaii as the legitimate government of the islands. With Grover Cleveland's election as President of the United States, the Provisional Government's hopes of annexation were derailed for a time. Indeed, Cleveland tried to directly help reinstate the monarchy, after an investigation led by James Henderson Blount. The Blount Report of July 17, 1893, commissioned by President Cleveland, concluded that the Committee of Safety conspired with U.S. ambassador John L. Stevens to land the United States Marine Corps, to forcibly remove Queen Liliuokalani from power, and declare a Provisional Government of Hawaii consisting of members from the Committee of Safety.
   On November 16 1893, Albert Willis presented the Queen with Cleveland's request that she grant amnesty to the Revolutionists in return for reinstatement. The Queen refused, demanding capital punishment for those involved. On December 23, unaware that Cleveland had referred the matter to Congress, Willis presented the Provisional Government with Cleveland's demand to restore the queen to the throne — the Provisional Government refused.
   The Morgan Report of February 26 1894, concluded that the overthrow was locally based, motivated by a history of corruption of the monarchy, and that American troops only served to protect American property and citizens and had no role in the end of the Hawaiian Monarchy.
   The Provisional Government held a constitutional convention and on July 4 1894, established the Republic of Hawaii.
   After an unsuccessful attempt at armed rebellion on January 6 1895, the Queen abdicated and swore allegiance to the Republic of Hawaii on January 24 1895. While under arrest, she wrote, "I hereby do fully and unequivocally admit and declare that the Government of the Republic of Hawaii is the only lawful Government of the Hawaiian Islands, and that the late Hawaiian monarchy is finally and forever ended, and no longer of any legal or actual validity, force or effect whatsoever.

President of a republic

Lorrin A. Thurston declined the presidency and Dole was chosen to lead the government instead; Dole would serve as the first and only president from 1894 to 1900. Dole in turn appointed Thurston to lead a lobbying effort in Washington, DC and secure Hawaii's annexation.
Dole's government weathered several attempts to restore the monarchy, including an attempted armed rebellion in which Robert William Wilcox participated; Wilcox and the other conspirators had their sentences reduced or commuted by Dole after being sentenced to death. Dole was successful as a diplomat - every nation that recognized the Kingdom of Hawaii also recognized the Republic of Hawaii.

Governor and judge

President William McKinley appointed Dole to become the first territorial governor after U.S. annexation of Hawaii had been procured. Dole assumed the office in 1900 but resigned in 1903 to accept an appointment as U.S. District Court judge. He served in the latter post until 1915 and died after a series of strokes in 1926. His ashes are interred in the cemetery of Kawaiahao Church. Dole Middle School which is located in Kalihi Valley on the island of Oahu was named after him in 1956.

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