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59-518: The 1839 Hawaiian Bill of Rights, also known as the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii , was an attempt by Kamehameha III and his chiefs to guarantee that the Hawaiian people would not lose their tenured land, and provided the groundwork for a free enterprise system. The document, which had an attached code of laws, was drafted by Lahainaluna missionary school alumnus Boaz Mahune , revised by

118-635: A French invasion that sacked Honolulu in 1849, Kamehameha III sought defense treaties with the United States and Britain. During the Crimean War , Kamehameha III declared Hawaiʻi a neutral state. The United States government put strong pressure on Kamehameha IV to trade exclusively with the United States, threatening to annex the islands. To counter this threat Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V pushed for alliances with other foreign powers, especially Great Britain. Hawaiʻi claimed uninhabited islands in

177-476: A Western style and legal framework, giving less severe punishments, such as being exiled, than was the traditional custom until the 1840s. Christianity had failed to change many behaviors of the Hawaiian population, even with the support of the aliʻi families. Adultery and many other sexual relations became forbidden. Hawaiians were arrested and sentenced to severe punishments that were not well organised. The exiled had little food and could easily swim away from

236-469: A large arsenal with tens of thousands of soldiers and many warships. This helped put down the revolt at Kuamoʻo later in 1819 and Humehume 's rebellion on Kauaʻi in 1824. The military shrank with the population under the onslaught of disease, so by the end of the Kamehameha dynasty the Hawaiian navy was severely reduced, having a few outdated ships and the army consisted of a few hundred troops. After

295-482: A large proportion of the population (a few Japanese and some Chinese who had previously become naturalized lost voting rights). This limited the franchise to wealthy native Hawaiians and Europeans. The Bayonet Constitution continued allowing the monarch to appoint cabinet ministers, but took his power to dismiss them without approval from the Legislature. In 1891, Kalākaua died and his sister Liliʻuokalani assumed

354-526: A low of 24,000 in 1920. Most lived in remote villages. American missionaries converted most of the natives to Christianity. The missionaries and their children became a powerful elite by the mid-19th century. They provided the chief advisors and cabinet members of the kings and dominated the professional and merchant class in the cities. The elites promoted the sugar industry . Americans set up plantations after 1850. Few natives were willing to work on them, so recruiters fanned out across Asia and Europe. As

413-534: A people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi or through a plebiscite or referendum." Opposition to the U.S. annexation of Hawaii played a major role in the creation of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement , which calls for Hawaiian independence from American rule. Hawaii was originally settled by Polynesian voyagers, who arrived on the islands circa the 6th century. The islands were governed as independent chiefdoms. In ancient Hawaiʻi, society

472-523: A result, between 1850 and 1900, some 200,000 contract laborers from China , Japan , the Philippines , Portugal and elsewhere worked in Hawaiʻi under fixed term contracts (typically for five years). Most returned home on schedule, but many settled there. By 1908 about 180,000 Japanese workers had arrived. No more were allowed in, but 54,000 remained permanently. The Hawaiian army and navy developed from

531-676: The German Navy . The 1887 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom was drafted by Lorrin A. Thurston , Minister of Interior under King Kalākaua. The constitution was proclaimed by the king after a meeting of 3,000 residents, including an armed militia demanded he sign or be deposed. The document created a constitutional monarchy like that of the United Kingdom , stripping the King of most of his personal authority, empowering

590-610: The Royal Navy warship HMS  Carysfort , entered Honolulu Harbor and demanded that King Kamehameha III cede the islands to the British Crown. Under the frigate's guns, Kamehameha III surrendered to Paulet on February 25, writing: "Where are you, chiefs, people, and commons from my ancestors, and people from foreign lands? Hear ye! I make known to you that I am in perplexity by reason of difficulties into which I have been brought without cause, therefore I have given away

649-643: The Council of Chiefs and by Kamehameha III in June 1839. The 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii established a constitutional monarchy . It stated that the land belonged to its people and was to be managed by the king. It established executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. The document established allodial title property rights which maintained the lands in the hands of Hawaiian subjects to mālama (nurture and sustain). In order to protect Hawaiian lands from foreigners, Kamehameha III divided

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708-472: The Great. During Liholiho's (Kamehameha II) reign (1819–1824), the arrival of Christian missionaries and whalers accelerated changes in the kingdom. Kauikeaouli's reign (1824–1854) as Kamehameha III, began as a young ward of the primary wife of Kamehameha the Great, Queen Kaʻahumanu , who ruled as Queen Regent and Kuhina Nui , or Prime Minister until her death in 1832. Kauikeaouli's rule of three decades

767-601: The Hawaiian Islands were fully unified when the islands of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau voluntarily joined the Hawaiian Kingdom. Two major dynastic families ruled the kingdom, the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalākaua . The kingdom subsequently gained diplomatic recognition from European powers and the United States . An influx of European and American explorers, traders, and whalers soon began arriving to

826-610: The Hawaiian Kingdom: the House of Kamehameha (1795 to 1874) and the Kalākaua dynasty (1874–1893). Five members of the Kamehameha family led the government, each styled as Kamehameha , until 1872. Lunalilo ( r.  1873–1874 ) was a member of the House of Kamehameha through his mother. Liholiho ( Kamehameha II , r.  1819–1824 ) and Kauikeaouli ( Kamehameha III , r.  1825–1854 ) were direct sons of Kamehameha

885-409: The House of Representatives as the legislative body, giving their people the power to vote, proclaiming the House of Kamehameha , establishing of the office of Kuhina Nui, creating of the office of royal governors of the various islands and recognizing Christianity as an authority. It could be changed by section 13, which gave the House of Nobles and the House of Representatives the ability to change

944-426: The Kamehameha line were nominated. In the monarchical election of 1873, a ceremonial popular vote and a unanimous legislative vote, William C. Lunalilo , grandnephew of Kamehameha I, became Hawaiʻi's first of two elected monarchs . His reign ended due to his early death from tuberculosis at age 39. Upon Lunalilo's death, David Kalakaua defeated Kamehameha IV's widow, Queen Emma , in a contested election, beginning

1003-695: The Pacific, including the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands , many of which conflicted with American claims. The royal guards were disbanded under Lunalilo after a barracks revolt in September 1873. A small army was restored under King Kalākaua but failed to stop the 1887 Rebellion by the Missionary Party . The U.S. maintained a policy of keeping at least one cruiser in Hawaiʻi. On January 17, 1893, Liliʻuokalani, believing

1062-685: The U.S. as the Territory of Hawaii until it became a U.S. state in 1959. In 1993, the United States Senate passed the Apology Resolution , which acknowledged that "the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States" and "the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as

1121-675: The U.S. military would intervene if she changed the constitution, waited for the USS ; Boston to leave port. Once it was known that Liliʻuokalani was revising the constitution, the Boston returned and assisted the Missionary Party in her overthrow. Following the establishment of the Provisional Government of Hawaii , the Kingdom's military was disarmed and disbanded. Under Queen Kaʻahumanu 's rule, Catholicism

1180-545: The afternoon of January 16, 1893. This deployment was at the request of the Committee of Safety , which claimed an "imminent threat to American lives and property." Stevens was accused of ordering the landing on his own authority and inappropriately using his discretion. Historian William Russ concluded that "the injunction to prevent fighting of any kind made it impossible for the monarchy to protect itself." On July 17, 1893, Sanford B. Dole and his committee took control of

1239-439: The bills, and these controversial proposals were used against her in the looming constitutional crisis. Liliʻuokalani wanted to restore power to the monarch by abrogating the 1887 Constitution. She launched a campaign resulting in a petition to proclaim a new Constitution. Many citizens and residents who in 1887 had forced Kalākaua to sign the "Bayonet Constitution" became alarmed when three of her cabinet members informed them that

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1298-453: The ceremonial popular vote of Lunalilo. The choice was controversial, and U.S. and British troops were called upon to suppress rioting by Queen Emma's supporters, the Emmaites . Kalākaua officially proclaimed that his sister, Liliʻuokalani, would succeed to the throne upon his death. Hoping to avoid uncertainty, Kalākaua listed a line of succession in his will, so that after Liliʻuokalani

1357-463: The claimant had worked the land. About 18,000 plots of 3 acres each were successfully claimed,. representing 28,658 acres, or less than 1% of Hawaii’s land area (this was partly because significant parts of the mountainous islands were not suitable for agriculture or settlement). The Kingdom's population at the time was some 82,000. Members of higher classes and aliʻi obtained most Hawaiian land. Many successful claimants later lost their property due to

1416-573: The constitution. Hawaiian Kingdom The Hawaiian Kingdom , also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian : Ke Aupuni Hawaiʻi ), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands which existed from 1795 to 1893. It was established during the late 18th century when Kamehameha I , then Aliʻi nui of Hawaii , conquered the islands of Oʻahu , Maui , Molokaʻi , and Lānaʻi , and unified them under one government. In 1810,

1475-460: The customary land tenure system in effect prior to this declaration. Ninety-eight percent of the land was assigned to the aliʻi , chiefs or nobles, with two percent to the commoners. No land could be sold, only transferred to a lineal descendant. Contact with the outer world exposed the natives to a disastrous series of imported plagues such as smallpox. The native Hawaiian population fell from approximately 128,000 in 1778 to 71,000 in 1853, reaching

1534-569: The death sentences of her jailed supporters, including Minister Joseph Nāwahī , Prince Kawānanakoa, Robert William Wilcox and Prince Jonah Kūhiō. Before ascending the throne, for fourteen years, or since the date of my proclamation as heir apparent, my official title had been simply Liliuokalani. Thus I was proclaimed both Princess Royal and Queen. Thus it is recorded in the archives of the government to this day. The Provisional Government nor any other had enacted any change in my name. All my official acts, as well as my private letters, were issued over

1593-513: The government and declared itself the Provisional Government of Hawaii "to rule until annexation by the United States". The Provisional Government was reorganized as the Republic of Hawaii in 1894; Dole served was president of both. The committee and members of the former government both lobbied in Washington, D.C. for their respective positions. President Grover Cleveland considered

1652-415: The government. Historians suggest that businessmen were in favor of overthrow and annexation to the U.S. in order to benefit from more favorable trade conditions. United States Government Minister John L. Stevens summoned a company of uniformed U.S. Marines from the USS  Boston and two companies of U.S. sailors to Honolulu to take up positions at the U.S. Legation, Consulate and Arion Hall on

1711-804: The help of western weapons and advisors, such as John Young and Isaac Davis . Although successful in attacking both Oʻahu and Maui , he failed to annex Kauaʻi , hampered by a storm and a plague that decimated his army. In 1810 Kauaʻi's chief swore allegiance to Kamehameha. The unification ended ancient Hawaiian society, transforming it into a constitutional monarchy in the manner of European systems. The Kingdom thus became an early example of monarchies in Polynesian societies as contacts with Europeans increased. Similar political developments occurred (for example) in Tahiti , Tonga , Fiji , and New Zealand . From 1810 to 1893 two major dynastic families ruled

1770-417: The islands and the prison at Honolulu Fort. The issue became worse as fewer pardons from the aliʻi were available, and the overall sentencing then became much more severe for the native population. The constitution was enacted on October 8, 1840, by King Kamehameha III and Kekāuluohi as Kuhina Nui , an office similar to Prime Minister or co-regent . The constitution, compared to its predecessor,

1829-540: The kingdom, introducing diseases such as syphilis , tuberculosis , smallpox , and measles , leading to the rapid decline of the Native Hawaiian population . In 1887, King Kalākaua was forced to accept a new constitution after a coup d'état by the Honolulu Rifles , a volunteer military unit recruited from American settlers. Queen Liliʻuokalani , who succeeded Kalākaua in 1891, tried to abrogate

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1888-426: The kingdom. Dynastic rule by the Kamehameha family ended in 1872 with the death of Kamehameha V. On his deathbed, he summoned High Chiefess Bernice Pauahi Bishop to declare his intentions of making her heir to the throne. Bernice refused the crown, and Kamehameha V died without naming an heir. Bishop's refusal to take the crown forced the legislature to elect a new monarch. From 1872 to 1873, several relatives of

1947-500: The land to the mōʻī (monarch), known as Hawaiian crown lands . Another third was allocated among the aliʻi and konohiki (chiefs and managers of each ahupuaʻa ( traditional land division running from the coast to the mountaintop). The remaining one-third was given to the makaʻāinana (common people). The law required land claims to be filed within two years under the Kuleana Act of 1850 . Many Hawaiians made no claim. Most of

2006-647: The land was sold by the government of the Republic to settlers from the continental US or auctioned to the Big Five corporations. This resulted in the state owning 32% of the land, while another 4.8% became Hawaiian Homelands . While opponents Kamehameha IV , Kamehameha V and missionary physician Gerrit Judd were traveling, on July 10, 1850 the legislature passed the Alien Land Ownership Act. It allowed foreigners to hold title to land. The Act

2065-510: The lands among all the people of Hawaiʻi, aliʻi , konohiki and makaʻainana alike. The Mahele changed the previous land system under which the kuleana (responsibility and obligation) to mālama ʻāina was given by the mōʻī (king) to an aliʻi nui (high chief), his subordinate aliʻi and konohiki who received taxes and tribute from the people who worked the land collectively. Private land ownership did not exist. The Māhele came into effect on March 7, 1848. It allocated one-third of

2124-434: The larger, common lands, title of which went to the chief, the crown or the government. Ownership of land was a previously unknown concept for ordinary Hawaiians. Many did not understand the need to make a claim for land where they already lived and/or worked. Communication depended upon word-of-mouth or literacy. Making a claim required money to pay for a pre-claim land survey. The system required two witnesses to confirm that

2183-572: The legislature and establishing a cabinet government. It became known as the "Bayonet Constitution" over 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 the previous Constitution of 1864. It also denied voting rights to Asians who comprised

2242-473: The message that President Cleveland wanted Queen Liliʻuokalani's return to power. On July 4, 1894, the Republic of Hawaii was requested to wait for the end of President Cleveland's second term. While lobbying continued during 1894, the royalist faction amassed an army 600 strong led by former Captain of the Guard Samuel Nowlein . In 1895 they attempted the 1895 Wilcox rebellion . Liliʻuokalani

2301-502: The new constitution. She was subsequently overthrown in a 1893 coup engineered by the Committee of Safety , a group of Hawaiian subjects who were mostly of American descent, and supported by the U.S. military . The Committee of Safety dissolved the kingdom and established the Republic of Hawaii , intending for the U.S. to annex the islands, which it did on July 7, 1898, via the Newlands Resolution . Hawaii became part of

2360-473: The old religion in favor of Christianity. The missionaries developed a written Hawaiian language . That led to high levels of literacy in Hawaiʻi, above 90 percent in the latter half of the 19th century . Writing aided in the consolidation of government. Written constitutions were developed. In 1848, the Great Māhele was promulgated by King Kamehameha III . It instituted official property rights, formalizing

2419-571: The ongoing effect of western diseases and property taxes. 1840 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom The 1840 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom titled Ke Kumukānāwai a me nā Kānāwai o ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina, 1840 was the first fully written constitution for the Hawaiian Kingdom . The need for a constitution was originally intended as a manner of laws set forth to control the Native Hawaiian population with

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2478-651: The overthrow to have been an illegal act of war; he refused to consider annexation and initially worked to restore the queen to her throne. Between December 14, 1893, and January 11, 1894, a standoff known as the Black Week occurred between the United States , the Empire of Japan and the United Kingdom against the Provisional Government to pressure them into returning the Queen. This incident drove home

2537-404: The queen was planning to unilaterally proclaim her new Constitution. Some members were reported to have feared for their safety for not supporting her plans. In 1893, local businessmen and politicians, composed of six non-native Hawaiian Kingdom subjects, five American nationals, one British national, and one German national, all of whom were living in Hawaiʻi, overthrew the regime and took over

2596-530: The range of my knowledge, any such a person as Liliuokalani Dominis. The Republic of Hawaii was dissolved and the Hawaiian Islands were annexed by the United States by the Joint Resolution to Provide for Annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, known as the " Newlands Resolution ". Economic and demographic factors in the 19th century reshaped the islands. Their consolidation opened international trade. Under Kamehameha (1795–1819), sandalwood

2655-415: The royal prerogative and she officially proclaimed her niece Princess Kaʻiulani as heir. She later proposed a new constitution in 1893 , but it was never ratified by the legislature. Kalākaua's prime minister Walter M. Gibson indulged the expenses of Kalākaua and attempted to establish a Polynesian Confederation , sending the "homemade battleship" Kaimiloa to Samoa in 1887. It resulted in suspicion by

2714-429: The second dynasty. Like his predecessor, Lunalilo failed to name an heir to the throne. Once again, the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom held an election to fill the vacancy. Queen Emma , widow of Kamehameha IV, was nominated along with David Kalākaua . The 1874 election was a nasty campaign in which both candidates resorted to mudslinging and innuendo. Kalākaua became the second elected King of Hawaiʻi but without

2773-426: The signature of Liliuokalani. But when my jailers required me to sign ("Liliuokalani Dominis,") I did as they commanded. Their motive in this as in other actions was plainly to humiliate me before my people and before the world. I saw in a moment, what they did not, that, even were I not complying under the most severe and exacting duress, by this demand they had overreached themselves. There is not, and never was, within

2832-461: The threat of war, King Kamehameha III signed the Edict of Toleration on July 17, 1839 agreeing to Laplace's demands. He paid $ 20,000 in compensation for deporting the priests and the incarceration and torture of converts. The kingdom proclaimed: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu returned and as reparation Kamehameha III donated land for a church. On February 13, 1843. Lord George Paulet of

2891-537: The throne should succeed to Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani , then to Queen Consort Kapiʻolani , followed by her sister Princess Poʻomaikelani , then Prince David Laʻamea Kawānanakoa , and finally Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole . However, the will was not a proper proclamation according to kingdom law. Protests objected to nominating lower ranking aliʻi who were not eligible to the throne while high ranking aliʻi were available who were eligible, such as High Chiefess Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau . However, Queen Liliʻuokalani held

2950-608: The throne. She came to power during an economic crisis precipitated in part by the McKinley Tariff . By rescinding the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875, the new tariff eliminated the previous advantage Hawaiian exporters enjoyed in trade to U.S. markets. Many Hawaiian businesses and citizens felt the lost revenue, and so Liliʻuokalani proposed a lottery and opium licensing to bring in additional revenue. Her ministers and closest friends tried to dissuade her from pursuing

3009-468: The warriors of Kona under Kamehameha I. The army and navy used both traditional canoes and uniforms including helmets made of natural materials and loincloths (called the malo ) as well as Western technology such as artillery cannons, muskets and ships and Western-style organization such as military uniforms and a military rank system. European advisors were treated well and became Hawaiian citizens. When Kamehameha died in 1819 he left his son Liholiho

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3068-418: Was killed at Kealakekua Bay on Hawaiʻi Island in 1779 in a dispute over the taking of a longboat. Three years later the island passed to Kalaniʻōpuʻu 's son, Kīwalaʻō , while religious authority was passed to the ruler's nephew, Kamehameha. The warrior chief who became Kamehameha the Great , waged a military campaign lasting 15 years to unite the islands. He established the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1795 with

3127-404: Was arrested when a weapons cache was found on the palace grounds. She was tried by a military tribunal of the Republic, convicted of treason, and placed under permanent house arrest. On January 24, 1895, while under house arrest Liliʻuokalani was forced to sign a five-page declaration as "Liliuokalani Dominis" in which she formally abdicated the throne in return for the release and commutation of

3186-472: Was divided into multiple classes. Rulers came from the aliʻi class with each island ruled by a separate aliʻi nui . These rulers were believed to come from a hereditary line descended from the first Polynesian, Papa , who became the earth mother goddess of the Hawaiian religion . Captain James Cook was the first European to encounter the Hawaiian Islands, on his Pacific third voyage (1776–1780). He

3245-441: Was exported to China . That led to the introduction of money and trade throughout the islands . Following Kamehameha's death, succession was overseen by his principal wife, Kaʻahumanu , who was designated as regent over the new king, Liholiho, who was a minor. Queen Kaʻahumanu eliminated various prohibitions ( kapu ) governing women's behavior. She allowed men and women to eat together and women to eat bananas. She also overturned

3304-479: Was extremely detailed. The June 7, 1839, document, sometimes called a constitution but more similar to a declaration of rights , stated simply that the government was based on Christian values and equality for all. Incorporating the 1839 document, the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai’i was a turning point in Hawai’i government. This constitution organized the power of government and its functions by defining

3363-580: Was illegal in Hawaiʻi, and in 1831 French Catholic priests were deported. Native Hawaiian converts to Catholicism claimed to have been imprisoned, beaten and tortured after the expulsion of the priests. Resistance toward the French Catholic missionaries continued under Kuhina Nui Kaʻahumanu II . In 1839 Captain Laplace of the French frigate Artémise sailed to Hawaiʻi under orders to: Under

3422-483: Was the longest in the monarchy's history. He enacted the Great Mahele of 1848, promulgated the first Constitution (1840) and its successor (1852) and witnessed cataclysmic losses of his people through imported diseases. Alexander Liholiho, Kamehameha IV, (r. 1854–1863), introduced Anglican religion and royal habits to the kingdom. Lot, Kamehameha V (r. 1863–1872), struggled to solidify Hawaiian nationalism in

3481-466: Was written by Chief Justice William Little Lee . The justification was the promise of prosperity resulting from an influx of capital and labor. The Kuleana Act of 1850 allowed commoners to petition for title to land that they cultivated and lived on, similar to the homesteading laws used to manage land tenure in US territories in the nineteenth century. It abolished the right of cultivation and pasturage on

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