Committee of Safety (Hawaii)

Committee of Safety

The Committee of Safety
Formation	1887
Extinction	1893 (succeeded by Provisional Government)
Type	Secret society
Purpose	Overthrow of the government of Hawaii, annexation by the United States
Location	Honolulu, Hawaii
Membership	elite Caucasian business and political leaders
Official language	English
Unofficial leader	Lorrin A. Thurston
Main organ	Committee of Thirteen, Committee of Safety
Parent organization	Hawaii Republican Party
Affiliations	Honolulu Rifles

Committee of Thirteen,

The Committee of Safety, formally the Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, was a 13-member group of the Annexation Club. The group was composed of mostly American and Hawaiian citizens who were members of the Missionary Party, as well as American residents in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi that planned and carried out the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi on January 17, 1893. The goal of this group was to achieve annexation of Hawaiʻi to the United States. The new independent Republic of Hawaiʻi government was thwarted in this goal by the administration of President Grover Cleveland, and it was not until 1898 that the United States Congress approved a joint resolution of annexation creating the U.S. Territory of Hawaiʻi.

The Committee of Safety originated from a leadership group when members of the Missionary Party began to run as Independent Party candidates. For the elections of 1884 the Missionary Party strictly ran all candidates as Independent Party candidates. To ensure that Missionaries were on the Independent ticket the “Committee of Nine” was formed April 16, 1883, to assume the leadership position of the Independent Party. The Committee of Nine were staunchly loyal to the Missionary Party, having social and economic philosophies that reflected the Missionary values. The Independent Party won 13 seats and was the minority party in the Hawaii legislature. For the following elections of 1886 the committee reconvened, this time calling themselves the “Committee of Thirteen” due to the change in members. Their intent was to make the Independent Party the majority party in the legislature. At the end of the elections the Independents won ten seats, a net loss of three seats.

In January 1887 the Committee of Thirteen formed a secret society called the Hawaiian League. No official records were kept, but Lorrin A. Thurston (the grandson of American missionaries Asa Thurston and Lorrin Andrews) drafted the group's constitution. The group was headed by an executive committee of lawyers and businessmen mostly of non-aboriginal non-indigenous naturalized United States citizens. Membership grew through the year, including some German and British citizens, and a few part-Hawaiians. Although the politicians changed the name of their party from "Missionary" to "Reform", many wanted to become part of the United States, not just reform the monarchy. This was why the Hawaiian League was also called the Annexation Club, although not often in public.