Paulet affair
Provisional Cession of the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 February – 31 July 1843 | |||||||||
Location of the Hawaiian islands. | |||||||||
| Status | Unrecognized and unapproved dependency of the United Kingdom | ||||||||
| Capital | Honolulu | ||||||||
| Common languages | English, Hawaiian | ||||||||
| Government | Unofficial military occupation and short British colony | ||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||
• 1843 | Queen Victoria | ||||||||
| Local Representative | |||||||||
• 1843 | George Paulet | ||||||||
• 1843 | Richard Thomas | ||||||||
| Historical era | International relations | ||||||||
• Established | 25 February 1843 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 31 July 1843 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Paulet affair, also known as British Hawaii, was the unofficial five-month 1843 occupation of the Hawaiian Islands by British naval officer Captain Lord George Paulet, of HMS Carysfort. It was ended by the arrival of American warships sent to defend Hawaii's independence. The British government in London did not authorize the move and it had no official status.