The islands were once separate states until Kamehameha I brought them under his rule. Led by prophecy and driven to bloody battles, he overcame colonial threats and local rivals.
Rugged. Fearsome. Authoritative. All three words have been used to describe Kamehameha I, the first king of the unified, if short-lived, Kingdom of Hawai‘i. Living up to his name’s promise—it can be translated as “the one set apart”—Kamehameha broke the mold of his native Hawaiian aristocracy in the late 18th century, pursuing ambitions that put him in power not of a single clan or island but an entire Pacific nation composed of once independent islands.
“Maintaining political stability within a feudal chiefdom was not easy,” wrote historian William H. Davenport, noting that power “did not follow automatically from inherited sacred rank.” Tall and strong, Kamehameha was a natural warrior, and he reportedly behaved like a prince although he was only a junior chief. According to historian Gavan Daws, the young man conducted himself with “an imperiousness that matched and even exceeded his rank.” He absorbed the political lessons of his uncle, participated in a variety of battles, and also learned the art of statecraft.
“The older, well-established leaders that were his power base saw something in him,” says Paul D’Arcy, an associate professor of Pacific affairs at Australian National University and author of Transforming Hawai‘i, which explores how Kamehameha balanced coercion and consent in his quest for power. “He had been taught not just warrior craft, but statecraft.” Those who allied themselves with the junior chief may have thought he could be controlled, says D’Arcy.
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