1758: The first Hawaiian monarch is born
Kamehameha is born to Chief Keouakupuapaikalaninui and Chiefess Keku‘iapoiwa. In 1810 he will become the first monarch of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i after the chiefdoms of all the islands are united under one leader.
- Theme
- Land and Water, Native Rights
- Region
- Hawai‘i
Raised and trained as a warrior-chief under the feudal political system of the time, Kamehameha unified the Hawaiian Islands into a single kingdom in 1795. On November 24, 1816, Louis Choris, an artist on a Russian expedition to Hawai‘i under the direction of Otto von Kotzebue, painted this portrait of Kamehameha clad in a red vest.
Courtesy Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum