Biography of Kamehameha, I

Name: Kamehameha, I
Birth Date: c. 1758
Death Date: 1819
Place of Birth: N/A
Nationality: Hawaiian
Gender: Male
Occupations: king

Kamehameha, I

Kamehameha I (ca. 1758-1819), first king of the Hawaiian Islands, conquered and united the islands. He became a statesman who knew how to keep the best of the old ways while adopting the best of the new.Born in Kohala, Hawaii, of a family of high chiefs, Kamehameha learned the chiefly arts at the court of his uncle Kalaniopuu, ruler of the island of Hawaii. When Capt. James Cook visited Hawaii in 1778, his lieutenant wrote that the young warrior had "as savage a face as I ever saw" but his disposition was "good natured and humorous."After his uncle's death in 1782, Kamehameha led a group of rebellious chiefs in civil war. By 1790 he controlled much of the island of Hawaii. He added to his staff two English seamen, John Young and Isaac Davis, who knew about muskets and cannon. With their advice he won victories on the islands of Maui, Molokai, …showed first 150 words…

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…showed last 150 words…was in the traditional Hawaiian style, except that no human sacrifice was offered. His bones were carefully hidden, and it is said that only the stars know Kamehameha's final resting place. His favorite wife, Kaahumanu, became a prime minister and a regent of the kingdom after his death. By another wife, Keopuolani, he had two sons who ruled as Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III. Further Reading The most reliable account of Kamehameha I is in Ralph S. Kuykendall, The Hawaiian Kingdom, 1778-1854: Foundation and Transformation (1938). Two other useful works are Herbert H. Gowen, Napoleon of the Pacific: Kamehameha the Great (1919), and James T. Pole, Hawaii's First King (1959). Gavan Daws, Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands (1968), has an accurate, well-written chapter on Kamehameha.Gowen, Herbert H. (Herbert Henry), The Napoleon of the Pacific: Kamehameha the Great, New York: AMS Press, 1977. Judd, Walter F., Kamehameha, Norfolk Island, Australia: Island Heritage, 1976.

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