Speaker 1: Happy Saturday everybody. This week and next week on Saturday,
Speaker 1: we are going to be looking at some Hawaiian history.
Speaker 1: Today it is Kama the Great who united the Hawaiian
Speaker 1: Islands into one kingdom. This episode originally came out in July.
Speaker 1: It features previous hosts Katie and Sarah. Welcome to Stuff
Speaker 1: You Missed in History Class, a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Dowdy and Sarah was
Speaker 1: in the mood for a little hot weather history this week,
Speaker 1: so he decided to take on Hawaii. And today's subject
Speaker 1: is Kameamea the Great, And have to start with a
Speaker 1: little disclaimer. We had asked for some help with Hawaiian pronunciations,
Speaker 1: so listener Jody was kind enough to call me and
Speaker 1: give me her expertise. But any mistakes in podcast are
Speaker 1: mine and not hers or mine. So Kamma was born
Speaker 1: sometime around seventeen fifty eight, but he actually had a
Speaker 1: different name, and it was Pie, which meant hard shelled
Speaker 1: crab as a cancer I can sympathize, but his birth
Speaker 1: carried an omen with it, and that's because there was
Speaker 1: this bright star shining in the sky right before he
Speaker 1: was born, and it may have actually been Haley's comment,
Speaker 1: and that's how we put his birth year sometime around
Speaker 1: seventeen fifty eight, because that's when the comment was around um.
Speaker 1: But some seers said that it pretended a conqueror and
Speaker 1: the baby was almost killed because as we know, most
Speaker 1: rulers don't like to hear that there's a little baby
Speaker 1: being born. He might be the new king, asked Karen,
Speaker 1: So it seems like a good idea to get rid
Speaker 1: of him before anything happened. But he was snuck away
Speaker 1: and raised by another family and grows up and he
Speaker 1: got his new name, Kamamea, which means the lonely one.
Speaker 1: But eventually he was able to come out of fighting.
Speaker 1: He'd made it very clear that he wanted to be
Speaker 1: of service to the people who are in power, and
Speaker 1: the higher ups to recognize that. And there were other
Speaker 1: omens of his greatness, according to stories and not necessarily
Speaker 1: to history, reminiscent of the sword and the stone, there
Speaker 1: is something called the Naja stone, which weighs two and
Speaker 1: a half tons, and the story went that if you
Speaker 1: could move it, you would be the person to unite
Speaker 1: the islands, and supposedly command they had did, but in
Speaker 1: the meantime we have a lot of other events going on.
Speaker 1: And Europe had finally discovered Hawaii in seventeen seventy eight
Speaker 1: when Captain James Cook arrived and he brought glass and
Speaker 1: metal and nails and buttons and muskets and cannons, which
Speaker 1: are two very importantly important things, and in return, Hawaii
Speaker 1: had food like sweet potatoes and coconut and pork. And
Speaker 1: Kamama was actually one of the first people to board
Speaker 1: Cook's ship, and Cook mentions him in a journal He's
Speaker 1: really impressed with this intelligent observe of an inquisitive young man.
Speaker 1: And this is a fairly peaceful introduction of Europeans two Hawaiians.
Speaker 1: But theft became a problem fairly early on, and after
Speaker 1: an incident of a stolen boat, Cook and some of
Speaker 1: his men tried to kidnap a chief for its ransom
Speaker 1: on February seventy nine, and they were killed with daggers
Speaker 1: that they had given to the people, and the Hawaiians
Speaker 1: took their weapons for their own, and these muskets changed
Speaker 1: warfare for the Hawaiians and merchants aided and abetted the
Speaker 1: arms race because they could sell to one group and
Speaker 1: then they could sell to their enemies, and though those
Speaker 1: groups might kill each other, the merchants would be making
Speaker 1: a profit. Yeah, and Comma is really want to realize
Speaker 1: the game changing importance of these weapons, and his enemies
Speaker 1: realize it too, But it's it's his key to ultimately
Speaker 1: unifying the islands, and he will ambush and steal and
Speaker 1: kidnap to get these weapons. Kamomea wasn't destined to be
Speaker 1: king of anything, or at least that's not how people
Speaker 1: thought of him. When King Klannio Poo died in seventy two, Kamehameha,
Speaker 1: his nephew, wasn't the first in line to succeed his
Speaker 1: cousin kila Oh was with his cousin Koa also taking
Speaker 1: some lands and some power, and instead Kamama was the
Speaker 1: guardian of the family war god, which says something for
Speaker 1: how he was viewed. Of course, the war god is
Speaker 1: not just any god, but this is where the trouble
Speaker 1: really starts. There's a rebel chief who dies, and it
Speaker 1: was kayula Ow's responsibility to offer his body to the gods.
Speaker 1: But during the middle of the ceremony, Kamameha stepped in
Speaker 1: and did it himself, and that was very shocking, and
Speaker 1: it either was a really bold move like a bold
Speaker 1: power grab, or it was a major sign of disrespect.
Speaker 1: But we don't know his motives. We do know the
Speaker 1: result because from then on it's him versus his two cousin.
Speaker 1: Sense Koa makes the first move against him, cutting down
Speaker 1: the coconut trees of Kamamea, which was a big sign
Speaker 1: of disrespect, and Kamameha has to fight back. So all
Speaker 1: other factions on the island pick sides, and there was
Speaker 1: a battle in seventeen eighty two. Kila Oh was killed
Speaker 1: at this battle and kamame A one over Koha. But
Speaker 1: it wasn't over there. These fights would continue for nine
Speaker 1: years with Hawaii locked in civil war, and we have
Speaker 1: an interesting story that emerges that is a major part
Speaker 1: of the Kamameha legend. In a strike against a rival,
Speaker 1: he kills women and children and innocent followers, and Kamama
Speaker 1: himself falls during this fight and a fisherman hits him
Speaker 1: over the head with a paddle and he doesn't die,
Speaker 1: but he takes away a less sin from it and
Speaker 1: that's that you shouldn't attack peaceful people, and it ultimately
Speaker 1: leads to a law in seventeen seven, the Law of
Speaker 1: the Splintered Paddle, appropriately enough, which gave a certain amount
Speaker 1: of protection to innocent civilians from their brutal overlords. But
Speaker 1: seventeen ninety seven is skipping ahead a bit, so we're
Speaker 1: going to go back. Near the beginning of our civil war.
Speaker 1: In seventeen ninety, a ship called the Fair American arise
Speaker 1: in Hawaii, and unbeknownst to the people on it, one
Speaker 1: of the Hawaiian chiefs had had an altercation with the
Speaker 1: occupants of a different European ship and vowed revenge on
Speaker 1: the next one that came in, and Fair American, you
Speaker 1: are that unlucky one. Everyone on the ship was beaten
Speaker 1: to death after being thrown overboard, except a man named
Speaker 1: Isaac Davis. But Davis wasn't alone on this rescue boat.
Speaker 1: There had been another white man, captured, John Young earlier
Speaker 1: from another ship. So there are two of them, and
Speaker 1: Coma Maya claims the rescue boat, and the two men
Speaker 1: and David some Young try to escape, but eventually they
Speaker 1: become his advisers and his interpreters. And they teach him
Speaker 1: about uh muskets and cannons and foreign military strategy and
Speaker 1: pass on these lessons to his men too, And this
Speaker 1: gives Kamameha a huge leg up on the competition, because
Speaker 1: if you're going to be fighting with European weapons, you
Speaker 1: need to understand not only how to use them, but
Speaker 1: understand European strategy. Kamyam Is next military engagement came courtesy
Speaker 1: of Kahi kil a arrival who may have been his father,
Speaker 1: and he ruled Oahu, Maui and Molochai and he wasn't
Speaker 1: someone to mess with. He got oah who in the
Speaker 1: first place by killing his foster son, torturing the chiefs,
Speaker 1: and then making a house frame of their bones. In
Speaker 1: her outline, Katie actually wrote a skeleton of a house
Speaker 1: which in parentheses ha ha an idea of our process. There. So,
Speaker 1: this guy supports Koa, who is command as enemy on
Speaker 1: the island of Hawaii, and Kammanmea reaches a decision he
Speaker 1: can beat Koa if he can just get rid of
Speaker 1: this possible father figure and the support that he's giving
Speaker 1: to his number one enemy. On his side, Kamamea has
Speaker 1: cannons and muskets, well trained men, and his own military genius,
Speaker 1: so his prospects are good. And in Seventekile leaves Maui
Speaker 1: to visit Oahu. Perfect perfect opportunity, Kamomea invades Maui, and
Speaker 1: according to an article in military history, and I'm going
Speaker 1: to quote, his strategy better known in Hawaiian chronicles than
Speaker 1: in Western history books, predates the island hopping campaigns employed
Speaker 1: by General Douglas MacArthur in New Guinea and by Admiral
Speaker 1: Chester W. Nimitz and the Central Pacific by more than
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty years. So he's using very modern
Speaker 1: techniques and ultimately he conquers. But there's problem. While he
Speaker 1: was gone, Kayoa started causing trouble back home on Hawaii.
Speaker 1: That's why you don't leave your island to go attack
Speaker 1: someone else's, and the lesson we learned. So they fight
Speaker 1: and Kayoa ends up giving up this round. But while
Speaker 1: he's headed home, a volcano erupts and kills a third
Speaker 1: of his men, which could not have been a good omen,
Speaker 1: but he remains obstinate in his quest for Hawaii. So
Speaker 1: it keeps going on and on for years, and you
Speaker 1: have to wonder how it's going to resolve itself. Kamehameha
Speaker 1: invites him to a meeting. You know, let's let's get
Speaker 1: the two rival factions together. So Kayoa gets stressed up
Speaker 1: and brings his canoe and his men to meet him.
Speaker 1: But right after he arrives, he's blocked in the bay
Speaker 1: and kamme As men are on the beach with muskets
Speaker 1: and cannons. So Kamehameha asked Kayoa to step forward to
Speaker 1: be greeted, and when he does, he's killed with a
Speaker 1: spear by an ally of kama AMA's and then his
Speaker 1: men are killed. So we don't know whether it was
Speaker 1: kama AMA's idea or an independent action by his ally,
Speaker 1: but civil war has now been quelled on the island
Speaker 1: of Hawaii and Kama has it all. So with the
Speaker 1: two original heirs to the two cousins, Kamamea is finally
Speaker 1: in possession of Hawaii, but he has some unfinished business
Speaker 1: and that's what we're going to get to next. So
Speaker 1: if you remember Kamama's defeat of Maui, which you should
Speaker 1: because it was about thirty seconds ago, Kaye Kile is
Speaker 1: not pleased and he hatches a plan with the men
Speaker 1: of the island of Kawaii to team up and strike
Speaker 1: against him, and Kahekile has canons now too, and his
Speaker 1: own white European military adviser, so perhaps he has a
Speaker 1: chance and they engage in battle on the water. There
Speaker 1: are many deaths, but neither side one, which you know,
Speaker 1: that's war for you. But European influence is growing on
Speaker 1: these battlefields, and the big example of this happens in
Speaker 1: about seventeen ninety two when the Englishman William Brown offers
Speaker 1: to trade military help military assistance to Kahi Kile for
Speaker 1: the island of Oahu. So now come as enemy has
Speaker 1: his own frigate, so he's starting the skills are starting
Speaker 1: to tip a little here. If Kamehameha looked like he
Speaker 1: was on the top at first, it's not looking so
Speaker 1: great anymore. So he needs something similar to face his rival,
Speaker 1: and he allies himself with Captain George Vancouver, getting a
Speaker 1: ship in exchange for Hawaiian harbors. But Vancouver won't give
Speaker 1: him any guns and tries to get chiefs to reconcile,
Speaker 1: which is not the William Brown approach. As we will see.
Speaker 1: Then we have a twist. Kah kil dies in seventeen
Speaker 1: nine four, and now his sons take his place. Klonni
Speaker 1: Copula has Oahu and kaya Kulani has Kawaii, Molokai and Lanai.
Speaker 1: But the two brothers fight as people tend to do
Speaker 1: over their inheritances, and kaya Kulani decides to go to
Speaker 1: war and attack his brother's island Oahu, but Kaloni Capula
Speaker 1: gets wind of this plan and waits for his brother,
Speaker 1: and he has the advantage of Brown ship backing him
Speaker 1: up with all that European weaponry, so he stays pretty nearby,
Speaker 1: and so KaiA Okolani loses and he's actually killed in
Speaker 1: part because of Brown's cannons. And we learn another big
Speaker 1: lesson in this podcast, which is not to wear bright
Speaker 1: colors in battle because when you do, it makes it
Speaker 1: a lot easier to hit you with a cannon ball. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: So Klonipa is not very grateful though about Brown, called
Speaker 1: all his great weaponry his bow, and he kills Brown
Speaker 1: and puts his body on a pole, which is interesting
Speaker 1: because this is kind of contemporary to a friend Revolution style.
Speaker 1: But um next he takes all of Brown's men and
Speaker 1: enlist them in his next cause, which is to attack Kamameha.
Speaker 1: He's probably thinking he's on top of the world right now.
Speaker 1: He's just killed his brother. He's about to take over. No, no,
Speaker 1: he's not. It doesn't last long. The Englishman take over
Speaker 1: the ship and throw him overboard, and still ticked off,
Speaker 1: they make their way to Hawaii and hand over all
Speaker 1: of the weapons and ammunition to Kamameha. So everyone's angry
Speaker 1: at Kolonikop who isn't dead from getting cost overboard? Asked
Speaker 1: repeatedly during this is he dead? Is he dead? No?
Speaker 1: He never is this. This guy is like a zombie
Speaker 1: or something in this podcast. He has no European support,
Speaker 1: he has no weapons, and Kamyama, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: has all of these things all along with two ships.
Speaker 1: So Kamehameha attacks in short order Maui, Molokai, and Lenai,
Speaker 1: but there is treachery afoot. His high chief Kayana is
Speaker 1: on the outs with the big guy, so he isn't
Speaker 1: invited to key meetings, which displeases him greatly. That's partly
Speaker 1: because he slept with kamame as wife, so don't do
Speaker 1: that either, And he takes fifteen hundred of his men
Speaker 1: and meets up with Kalani Kopul and this engagement is
Speaker 1: known as the Battle of New Uanu and it happens
Speaker 1: in April. And Kayana, who is you know, he's been
Speaker 1: the high chief, he has number two. Yeah, he has
Speaker 1: all this military knowledge. He knows what he's doing. He's
Speaker 1: familiar with weaponry. He's familiar with how Kamehameha thinks and
Speaker 1: how he fights, the places he might attack, how he
Speaker 1: might do it. So he picks very strong positions and
Speaker 1: for a while it seems like his defense is unbreakable.
Speaker 1: But he too makes the at a mistake of wearing
Speaker 1: bright colors in war, and a cannon ball hits him too,
Speaker 1: and when he dies, everything completely falls apart. Klannils men
Speaker 1: get their women and children to a safe place before
Speaker 1: they face off with kamame As warriors, and they have
Speaker 1: no chance. They lose badly, and while some escape, most
Speaker 1: were driven off a seven hundred foot cliff. But Klonip
Speaker 1: does escape. Like I said, this guy does not die supposedly, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he goes off to live as a disgraced person in
Speaker 1: the mountains. So all that we have now for Kamama
Speaker 1: to win is kawaii and that takes a little while,
Speaker 1: there's a storm, there's a revolt, an epidemic, and so
Speaker 1: it takes until about eighteen ten before the chief of
Speaker 1: Kawaii actually gives it over to him. But that set them.
Speaker 1: The Hawaiian Islands are unified and he's king of them all.
Speaker 1: Some call him Hawaii's strong longest ruler because he unified
Speaker 1: the islands. He managed to keep Hawaii's independence for quite
Speaker 1: a long time, and he made his rule an era
Speaker 1: of peace. And he was really a strong ruler, especially
Speaker 1: compared to some of the rulers who followed him. And
Speaker 1: we're going to talk a little bit about that in
Speaker 1: another podcast. But he stood up to European influence actually
Speaker 1: used it to his advantage. I mean, that's what made
Speaker 1: him the strong ruler he was. But he didn't give
Speaker 1: way at all. Now, he kept his islands wealthy, with
Speaker 1: a monopoly on sandalwood and on poor duties. And as
Speaker 1: far as his own rule, there were some harsh laws,
Speaker 1: but he also outlawed human sacrifice and let the islands
Speaker 1: have their own governors. And we can't forget the rest
Speaker 1: of his military legacy. According to one article we read,
Speaker 1: he assembled the largest mobile force of warriors ever organized,
Speaker 1: which is saying something. And he also developed some pretty
Speaker 1: cool military technologies like our hillery on double canoes, which
Speaker 1: sounds awesome. And while we missed it this year, we're
Speaker 1: hoping to catch this next year. Came maya day. June
Speaker 1: eleven is a state holiday in Hawaii, so that is
Speaker 1: your chance to celebrate him. And as for the future
Speaker 1: of Hawaii's monarchy, you'll have to wait for our next installment.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us on this Saturday.
Speaker 1: If you have heard an email address or a Facebook
Speaker 1: you are l or something similar over the course of
Speaker 1: today's episode, since it is from the archive that might
Speaker 1: be out of date now, you can email us at
Speaker 1: History podcast at how stuff Works dot com, and you
Speaker 1: can find us all over social media at missed in History,
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