Kamehameha III

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Kamehameha III bigraphy, stories - Monarch of the Hawaiian Islands

Kamehameha III : biography

August 11, 1813 – December 15, 1854

Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (1813–1854) was the King of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name was Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa Kalani Waiakua Kalanikau Iokikilo Kīwalaō i ke kapu Kamehameha when he ascended the throne.

Under his reign Hawaii evolved from an absolute monarchy to a Christian constitutional monarchy with the signing of both the 1840 Constitution and 1852 Constitution. He was the longest reigning monarch in the history of the Kingdom, ruling for 29 years and 192 days, although in the early part of his reign he was under a regency by Queen Kaahumanu and later by Kaahumanu II. His goal was the careful balancing of modernization by adopting Western ways, while keeping his nation intact.

Early life

Kauikeaouli was born at Keauhou Bay, on Hawaii island, the largest island in the Hawaiian Islands archipelago. He was the second son of King Kamehameha I and his highest ranking wife, Queen Keōpūolani of Maui. The precise date is not known. Early historians suggested June or July 1814, but the generally accepted date is August 11, 1813. He was of the highest kapu lineage. Kauikeaouli was about 16 years younger than his brother Liholiho, who ruled as Kamehameha II starting in 1819. He was named Kauikeaouli (placed in the dark clouds) Kaleiopapa Kuakamanolani Mahinalani Kalaninuiwaiakua Keaweaweulaokalani (the red trail or the roadway by which the god descends from heaven) after his maternal grandfather Kīwalaō. He was promised to Kuakini in hānai, but at birth he appeared to be delivered stillborn, Kuakini did not wish to take him. But Chief Kaikioewa summoned his kaula (prophet) Kapihe who declared the baby would live. Kauikeaouli was cleansed, laid on a rock, fanned, prayed over and sprinkled with water until he breathed, moved and cried. The prayer of Kapihe was to Kaōnohiokalā, "Child of God". The rock is preserved as a monument at Keauhou Bay.Stanton, Karin (March 17, 2011). Hawaii 24/7. Retrieved 2011-08-15. Kamehameha III chose to celebrate his birthday on March 17 in honor of his admiration for Saint Patrick of Ireland. He was given to Kaikioewa to raise.

Kauikeaouli had a troubled childhood. He was torn between the Puritan Christian guidelines imposed on the kingdom by the kuhina nui (Queen Regent) who was his stepmother Kaahumanu, and the desires to honor the old traditions. Under the influence of Oahu governor Boki, who owned a liquor store, and a young Hawaiian-Tahitian named Kaomi, Kauikeaouli turned to alcohol, and the young king created the secret order of Hulumanu (Bird Feather), a group of Hawaiian men devoted to seeking pleasure and rebelling against the teaching of the missionaries and made Kaomi his co-ruler in place of Kīnaʻu. Although he settled down and returned to ways of the missionaries by 1835.

Reign

Kauikeaouli was only about 11 when he ascended to the throne on June 6, 1825. It had been 11 months after the death of Liholiho, who died in London. For the next seven years, from 1824 to 1832, real political power was in the hands of his stern stepmother and regent, Queen Kaahumanu. When Kaahumanu died in 1832, she was replaced as regent by Kauikeaouli’s half-sister, Elizabeth Kīnau, who took the title Kaahumanu II. On March 15, 1833 he declared the regency ended, but retained Kīnau in the kuhina nui office as more of a Prime Minister. Kīnau died when Kauikeaouli was only 25, and the young king found himself consumed by the burdens of kingship.

When Kauikeaouli came to the throne, the native population numbered about 150,000, which was already less one third of the Hawaiian population at the time of Captain Cook’s arrival to Hawaii in 1778. During his reign, that number would be halved again, due to a series of epidemics.

Marriage and children

In ancient Hawaii, upper classes considered a marriage with a close royal family member to be an excellent way to preserve pure bloodlines. His brother Liholiho (King Kamehameha II) and his Queen Kamāmalu were a half-sister and brother couple. He had loved his sister Nāhienaena and planned to marry her since childhood, but the union was opposed by the missionaries as sinful incest.