Item: i90769
 
Authentic Medal of:

United States – Kauai, Hawaii
1973 Bronze Dollar Medal 37mm (19.72 grams)
ALOHA THE GARDEN ISLE SLEEPING GIANT 1973 KAUAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Island with Sleeping Giant.
KAUAI DOLLAR PRINCE KUHIO HAWAII, Prince Kuhio facing within crowned frame.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole (March 26, 1871 – January 7, 1922) was a prince of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi until it was overthrown by a coalition of American and European businessmen in 1893. He later went on to become a representative in the Territory of Hawaii as delegate to the United States Congress, and as such is the only member of Congress ever born into royalty.

Kūhiō was often called Ke Ali‘i Maka‘āinana (Prince of the People) and is well known for his efforts to preserve and strengthen the Hawaiian people.

After the rule of the House of Kamehameha ended with the death of King Kamehameha V in 1872, and King Lunalilo died in 1874, the House of Kalākaua ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. He became an orphan after his father died in 1878 and mother in 1884. Kalanianaʻole was adopted by King David Kalākaua’s wife, Queen Kapiʻolani, who was his maternal aunt. This practice was called hānai, a traditional form of adoption widely used in ancient Hawaii, which made Kalanianaʻole a Prince of the Kingdom, with the style of “Royal Highness”. When Kalākaua came to power Kalanianaʻole was appointed to the royal Cabinet administering the Department of the Interior. After Kalākaua’s death in 1891, Liliʻuokalani became queen, and she continued to favour Kalanianaʻole.

However, in 1893 the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii put in power first a Provisional Government of Hawaii, and then a republic with no role for monarchs. Liliʻuokalani continued to hope she could be restored to the throne, while American businessmen lobbied for annexation.

At the age of twenty-four, he participated in the 1895 Wilcox rebellion against the Republic of Hawaiʻi. The rebels proved no match for the Republic troops and police, and shortly after hostilities began, all those involved in the rebellion were routed and captured. Kūhiō was sentenced to a year in prison while others were charged with treason and sentenced with execution. Death sentences were commuted to imprisonment. Kūhiō served his full term. Daily visits of his fiancée, Elizabeth Kahanu Kalanianaʻole encouraged him in his most dark times.

In 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii and the Territory of Hawaii was formed in 1900. His cousin Princess Kaʻiulani and his aunt Queen Dowager Kapiʻolani, who left her properties to Kūhiō and his brother, died in 1899. In responses to these personal losses, Kūhiō and his wife left Hawaii from March 1900 to September 1901 and traveled widely in the United States and Europe, where they were treated as visiting royalty. He also traveled to South Africa where he either enlisted in the British Army or accompanied the army as an observer in the Second Boer War.

Kūhiō eventually returned from his self-imposed exile to take part in politics in post-annexation Hawaiʻi. He became active in the Home Rule Party of Hawaii, which represented native Hawaiians and continued to fight for Hawaiian independence.

On July 10, 1902, Prince Kūhiō split from the Home Rule Party, walking out of its convention along with nearly half of the delegates there. He formed the short-lived Hui Kuokoa Party. However, by September 1, 1902, Kuhio decided to join the Republican Party, was nominated as their candidate for Congress, and dramatically altered the political landscape. Kūhiō was elected delegate to the U.S. Congress as a Republican.

Kūhiō’s letter circulated to Senators in 1920 is descriptive of his thinking. “After extensive investigation and survey on the part of various organizations organized for the purpose of rehabilitating the race, it was found that the only method in which to rehabilitate the race was to place them back upon the soil.” 

He served from March 4, 1903 until his death, winning a total of ten elections. During this time he instituted local government at the county level, creating the county system still used today in Hawaiʻi. He staffed the civil service positions that resulted with Hawaiian appointees. This move combined the political patronage system of 19th century American politics with the traditional Hawaiian chiefly role of beneficently delegating authority to trusted retainers.

In 1903, Kūhiō reorganized the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, which held the first observance of the Kamehameha Day holiday in 1904. He was a founder of the first Hawaiian Civic Club on December 7, 1918. He helped organize a centenary celebration of the death of Kamehameha I in 1919.

In 1919, Kūhiō introduced in Congress the first-ever Hawaii Statehood Act. It would be another 40 years before seeing fruition.

Hawaii is a U.S. state located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the only state outside North America, the only island state, and the only state in the tropics. Hawaii is also one of a handful of U.S. states to have once been an independent nation.

Hawaii encompasses nearly the entire Hawaiian archipelago, composed of 137 volcanic islands spanning 1,500 miles (2,400 km), which are physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania. The state’s ocean coastline is consequently the fourth longest in the U.S., at about 750 miles (1,210 km). The eight main islands, from northwest to southeast, are Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi, after which the state is named; it is often called the “Big Island” or “Hawaii Island” to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands make up most of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the largest protected area in the U.S. and the third largest in the world.

Settled by Polynesians some time between 124 and 1120, Hawaii was home to numerous independent chiefdoms. British explorer James Cook was the first known non-Polynesian to discover the archipelago in 1778; early British influence is reflected in the design of the state flag. An influx of explorers, traders, and whalers arrived shortly thereafter, introducing diseases that decimated the once-isolated indigenous community. Hawaii became a unified, internationally recognized kingdom in 1810, remaining independent until Western businessmen overthrew the monarchy in 1893; this led to annexation by the U.S. in 1898. As a strategically valuable U.S. territory, Hawaii was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941, which brought it global and historical significance, and contributed to America’s decisive entry into World War II. Hawaii became the most recent state to join the union on August 21, 1959. In 1993, the U.S. government formally apologized for its role in the overthrow of Hawaii’s government, which spurred the Hawaiian sovereignty movement.

Of the fifty U.S. states, Hawaii is the eighth-smallest in area and the 11th-least populous, but with 1.4 million residents is the 13th-most densely populated. Two-thirds of the population lives on the island of O’ahu, home to the state’s capital and largest city, Honolulu. Hawaii is among the most diverse states in the country, owing to its central location in the Pacific and over two centuries of migration; it has the nation’s only Asian American majority, largest Buddhist community, and largest proportion of multiracial people. Consequently, the state is a unique melting pot of Southeast Asian, East Asian and North American cultures, in addition to its indigenous Hawaiian culture.

Historically dominated by a plantation economy, Hawaii remains a major agricultural exporter due to its fertile soil and uniquely tropical climate in the U.S. Its economy has gradually diversified since the mid 20th century, with tourism and military defense becoming the two largest sectors. The state attracts tourists, surfers, and scientists from around the world with its diverse natural scenery, warm tropical climate, abundance of public beaches, oceanic surroundings, active volcanoes, and clear skies on the Big Island. Hawaii hosts the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the largest naval command in the world, as well as 75,000 employees of the Defense Department.

Although its relative isolation results in one of the nation’s highest costs of living, Hawaii ranks as the third wealthiest state in the U.S.; Honolulu ranks high in several world livability rankings, ranking 22nd out of 140 cities worldwide in the 2019 Global Liveability Index, the highest of any American city.

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km²), the United States is the world’s third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe’s 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million km²). With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York. Forty-eight states and the capital’s federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries.

Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848.

During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery. By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, and its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country’s status as a global military power. The United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 Moon landing. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world’s sole superpower.

The United States is the world’s oldest surviving federation. It is a federal republic and a representative democracy, “in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law”. The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States (OAS), and other international organizations. The United States is a highly developed country, with the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for approximately a quarter of global GDP. The U.S. economy is largely post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world’s largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U.S. holds 33% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. It also suffers from growing levels of income inequality and wealth inequality.

The United States ranks among the highest nations in several measures of socioeconomic performance, including human development, per capita GDP, and productivity per person. The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, and is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force internationally.