Two Worlds, One Foundation: Hawaiian and American Ideals of Freedom

by OHA Trustee Keli‘i Akina, PhD, Ka Wai Ola, July 1, 2026

Most Native Hawaiians today live between two worlds: the lāhui and the United States of America. There is no denying that the relationship between Hawaiʻi and the United States has been fraught with tension and conflict. However, as we reflect upon the 250th anniversary of the United States, there is a common thread that connects what it means to be both Hawaiian and American.

That thread can be found in two remarkable documents that have intersected with Hawaiian values and have been incorporated into the foundation of modern Hawaiian kahua: the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the 1840 Constitution and Declaration of Rights of the Hawaiian Kingdom under King Kamehameha III.

At first glance, these two documents may seem to come from very different worlds. The Declaration of Independence was written by American colonists seeking to separate from a king. The 1840 Constitution was issued under a king who sought to preserve Hawaiʻi’s sovereignty by placing the Kingdom under the rule of written law. Yet both documents share the same principle: legitimate governments must recognize rights that come before the government itself.

The Declaration of Independence famously states that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The 1840 Declaration of Rights uses strikingly similar language, declaring that God made all nations “of one blood,” that all men are born free and equal, and that all possess unalienable rights, including life, liberty, property, safety, and happiness.

This was not a small assertion. It meant that rights did not belong only to kings, chiefs, or those with political power. They belonged to all people by virtue of their humanity.

The 1840 Constitution also placed written limits on government power. It did not abolish the monarchy, but it transformed it into a constitutional monarchy, dividing authority among the king, the chiefs, and representatives of the people. Law was no longer simply the will of one person. The government would now operate according to written principles.

That same idea is central to the American constitutional tradition. Government must be limited because human beings, even those in positions of leadership, are imperfect. Written constitutions help ensure the separation of powers.

The 1840 Declaration of Rights also protected religious liberty, reflecting First Amendment principles by safeguarding freedom of worship, and embracing the separation of church and state by preventing any one religion from being established by government.

It also protected property rights, which was especially significant in Hawaiʻi because land was central to the future of the Hawaiian Kingdom and people. Yet this history is also complicated. The shift toward Western concepts of private property later became a double-edged sword, contributing to dispossession for many Native Hawaiians. That painful reality reminds us that rights and legal systems are only as just as the people and institutions entrusted to carry them out.

The shared philosophies in these two documents do not erase the differences between Hawaiʻi and America, nor do they heal the wounds of history by themselves. But they do offer common ground: both recognize that freedom must be rooted in humanity, autonomy, and accountability.

This common foundation can be a source of strength for those of us who live as both Hawaiian and American. We haven’t always lived up to these shared ideals, but they still offer a powerful pathway toward solving present and future challenges. It is the common ground upon which we can build the basis for a better future for all in Hawaiʻi.