Everything is affected by the past, meaning that the factors responsible for the failure of the Māhele in Hawai’i cannot be confined to the time span of the event itself. Instead, the influences root back to events that occurred before the idea of privatization of the land was brought to the Islands. Although there were many participants in this transition from a subsistent economy to a more Western based capitalistic economy, the group that was most responsible for its failure proved to be the Chiefs. The Chiefs were responsible for allowing foreigners to gain influence over the standing government and bring in the Māhele. During the late eighteenth century, when Western traders began appearing on the shores of Hawai’i, it had been the Chiefs who approached them and initiated a means to exchange goods that would soon pose substantial financial problems for the Islands (Kelly, 57). The supply of sandalwood was not matching up with its high demand. It was not the fault of the Maka‘ainana, or the commoners, who had no choice but to work in order to provide for those holding power above them, but that of those who promised the merchants this good; the Chiefs. Due to the shortage of sandalwood, the Chiefs were now faced with a large debt as they had already accepted the merchants’ ships as an exchange for their promises (Kelly, 58). Unfamiliar with this new concept and overwhelmed with the demands and threats of foreigners, the Hawaiian government had no choice but to bring in the missionaries thus beginning the transition to a capitalistic Hawai’i (Kelly, 59). The idea to adopt the idea of privately owned property was proposed as a way to stop the oppressive actions of the Chiefs. The poor treatment of the commoners by the Chiefs is what allowed for this progressive idea to be agreed upon by the Mo’i, or the King (Kelly, 63). So, although it was King Kamehameha III and the advisers who agreed upon the Māhele, the Chiefs remain responsible for sparking this desire for revisions and privatization of the ʻāina, or land.
The Chiefs, being the center of focus for this redistribution of land, also proved to be a main factor in its downfall. Through the Kuleana Act of 1850, commoners were able to send in land claims in order to gain ownership from the third of the land that was set aside for distribution (Kelly, 62). However, most of who were a part of the Maka‘ainana were rural-living natives, only familiar with the Hawaiian language and not likely to hear of news or updates on these claims (Kelly, 63-64). For that reason, as the advocates between these commoners and the advisors, it had been the Chiefs’ jobs to aid the natives with and inform them of their rights to these claims for land. By holding that authority, the Chiefs had control on the Māhele’s success, thus; they did not feel inclined to urge the commoners to file for fee simple title to the land when they could instead benefit themselves with that power. Therefore, by preventing the commoners from filing claims or simply not informing them, they only increased their own influence rather than fulfill the purpose of the Māhele; providing the Maka‘ainana with land they could hold the title to.
The Māhele was created with good intentions of reallocating the land to those who made up a majority of the population, however, through their oppressive control and desires to maintain their land and power over the commoners, the Chiefs prevailed and the Māhele was unsuccessful. This proved to be a failure due to the fact that the King and Chiefs, who made up only one percent of the Hawaiian population, gained a majority of the land whereas the commoners, making up 99 percent, were left with little to no land (Kelly, 66). For a system that was meant to give more people access to fee simple title of property, by the acts of the Chiefs, the Māhele did the opposite and stripped more people of land to give to the preexisting landlords.