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The Hawaiian monarchy effectively lost power with the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, but the last Hawaiian monarch was deposed in a coup d'état on January 17, 1893.

The coup d'état that overthrew Queen Lili'uokalani was supported primarily by local American and European residents (excluding the British, who generally supported the monarchy) and other supporters of the Reform Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Most of the leaders of the Committee of Safety, which declared the queen deposed, were Kingdom subjects and included legislators, government officers, and even a Supreme Court Justice of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

The coup itself was relatively bloodless, and the Republic of Hawai'i was declared in 1894 after immediate annexation was prevented by President Grover Cleveland, a friend of Liliuokalani.

In the years after the overthrow when Hawaii became a territory of the United States, some of the royal family, most notably Prince Jonah Kuhio, worked within the Republican Party. The Prince would serve as delegate to Congress from 1902-1920.

"Bayonet" Constitution of 1887

In 1887, a constitution was drafted by Lorrin A. Thurston, Minister of Interior under King David Kalākaua. The constitution was proclaimed by the king after a mass meeting of 3,000 residents, including an armed militia, demanded he either sign it or be deposed. The document created a constitutional monarchy like Great Britain, stripping the King of most of his personal authority, empowering the Legislature, and establishing cabinet government. It has since become widely known as the "Bayonet Constitution", a nickname coined by its opponents because of the threat of force used to gain Kalākaua's cooperation.

The 1887 constitution empowered the citizenry to elect members of the House of Nobles (who had previously been appointed by the King). It increased the value of property a citizen must own to be eligible to vote, above what the previous Constitution of 1864 had required. One result was to deny voting rights to poor native Hawaiians and Europeans who previously could vote. It guaranteed a voting monopoly by native Hawaiians and Europeans, by denying voting rights to Asians who comprised a large proportion of the population (A few Japanese and some Chinese had previously become naturalized as subjects of the Kingdom and now lost voting rights they had previously enjoyed.) Americans and other Europeans in Hawaiʻi were also given full voting rights without the need for Hawaiian citizenship. The Bayonet Constitution continued allowing the monarch to appoint cabinet ministers, but stripped him of the power to dismiss them without approval from the Legislature.

Queen Liliʻuokalani was selected as the successor to King Kalākaua by Kalākaua upon his election in 1874. During her brother's reign the monarchy was left impotent by the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii. In response to numerous royal corruption scandals, David Kalākaua was ordered under threat of force to sign the constitution stripping the monarchy of much of its power in favor of an administration controlled by the Legislature. Some claim this constitution was the opening salvo to the end of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

Liliʻuokalani's Constitution

In 1891, Kalākaua died and his sister Liliʻuokalani assumed the throne. She came into power in the middle of an economic crisis. The McKinley Act had crippled the Hawaiian sugar industry by reducing duties on imports from other countries, eliminating the previous Hawaiian advantage due to the Reciprocity Treaty of 1874. Many Hawaiian citizens were feeling the pressures of the loss of revenue. Liliʻuokalani proposed a lottery system to raise money for her government. Her ministers, and even her closest friends, were sorely disappointed at the thought and tried to stop her from pursuing the bill. The lottery bill came to be used against her in the brewing constitutional crisis she was heading into.

Liliʻuokalani's chief desire was to restore power to the monarch by abrogating the 1887 Constitution. The queen launched a campaign resulting in a petition from some Hawaiian subjects to proclaim a new Constitution. When she informed her cabinet of her plans, they refused to support her.

Those citizens and residents who in 1887 had forced Kalākaua to sign the "Bayonet Constitution" became alarmed that the queen was planning to unilaterally proclaim her new Constitution. They were informed of the queen's plans by her cabinet, who feared for their safety after upsetting the queen by not supporting her plans.

The Overthrow

In 1893, local businessmen and politicians (primarily of American and European ancestry, including native-born Hawaiian subjects of foreign descent) organized in response to an attempt by Liliʻuokalani to abrogate the 1887 constitution, and took over the government of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. About 1,500 armed local people under the leadership of the Committee of Safety, a 13 member council, organized the Honolulu Rifles to depose Queen Liliʻuokalani. They quickly took over government buildings, disarmed the Royal Guard, and declared a Provisional Government.

As these events were unfolding, American citizens living in Honolulu expressed concern for their safety and property. About 150 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Boston in Honolulu Harbor came ashore with rifles and gatling guns to maintain order in the streets and to guard American property. As United States Marines marched past ʻIolani Palace on their way to their peacekeeping stations, they dipped their U.S. flag while passing by, as a sign of respect to the Queen. The sailors and Marines never entered the Palace grounds, never fired a shot, and did not participate in the takeover of any buildings.

Later, after a weapons cache was found on the palace grounds after an attempted rebellion in 1895, Queen Liliʻuokalani was placed under arrest, tried by a military tribunal of the Republic of Hawaiʻi, convicted of misprision of treason and then imprisoned in her own home.

Sanford B. Dole and his committee declared itself the Provisional Government of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi on July 17, 1893, removing only the Queen, her cabinet, and her marshal from office. On July 4, 1894 the Republic of Hawaiʻi was proclaimed. Dole was president of both governments. As a republic, it was the intention of the government to campaign for annexation with the United States of America. The rationale behind annextion included a strong economic component - Hawaiian goods and services exported to the mainland would not be subject to American tariffs, and would benefit from domestic bounties, if Hawaii was part of the United States. This was especially important to the Hawaiian economy after the McKinley Act reduced the effectiveness of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1874 by lowering tariffs on all foreign sugar, and eliminating Hawaii's previous advantage.

The Republic of Hawaii succeeded in its goal when in 1898, Congress approved a joint resolution of annexation creating the U.S. Territory of Hawaiʻi. This followed the precedent of Texas which was also annexed by a joint resolution of Congress. Dole was appointed to be the first governor of the Territory of Hawaii.

The overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the subsequent annexation of Hawaiʻi has recently been cited as the first major instance of American imperialism.

• Committee of Safety
• Republic of Hawaiʻi

The annexation of Hawai'i

Hawai'i was annexed into America as a Territory in the year 1898. Hawai'i was granted autonomous rule by 1900, with Sanford B. Dole as the first governor. Iolani Palace served as the capitol of the Hawaiian government until 1969.

Hawaii as a U.S. state

Hawaii became the 50th American state in 1959. It has four electoral votes today, and citizens can vote in national elections. Hawaii currently has two senators and two congressmen.

References

1. Ernest Andrade, Jr. "Unconquerable Rebel: Robert W. Wilcox and Hawaiian Politics, 1880-1903". p. 130. ISBN 0870814176.
2. U.S. Navy History site
3. Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer, 2006

See also

• Provisional Government of Hawaii
• Morgan Report
• Blount Report
• Republic of Hawaii

• Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii
• History of Hawaii