Resource: The Bayonet Constitution

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By the late nineteenth century, the Hawaiian economy was dominated by its sugar plantations. Most were owned by descendants of American missionaries or other American or European immigrants who had come to Hawaii earlier in the century. Their prosperity depended upon a favorable trade conditions with the American mainland.

Hawai`i was a constitutional monarchy, ruled by King David Kalakaua. The legislature was elected by men who were literate, owned at least some property, or had a steady income. This gave significant political power to Native Hawaiians, even if economic power was increasingly concentrated in the hands of white landowners and businessmen.

King Kalakaua had negotiated a special relationship with the U.S., which let Hawaiian sugar into the country tariff-free. When the trade agreement came up for renewal in 1886, the U.S. government demanded a concession to use Pearl Harbor as a naval refueling station. Kalakaua refused, seeing this as major blow to Hawaiian sovereignty.

Fearing the loss of their livelihood, a group of plantation owners and businessmen, led by Lorrin Thurston, organized secret society called the Hawaiian League. While some members advocated overthrowing the king, they decided to allow him to remain if he agreed to a new constitution they would draft. Many League members also were part of a volunteer militia, the Honolulu Rifles, and in 1887, under the threat of military force, Kalakaua was compelled to sign the document, which became known as the Bayonet Constitution.

Under the new constitution, the king became essentially a figurehead. Power rested in the Cabinet, which was controlled by the Legislature. Kalakaua soon had to sign the Pearl Harbor concession.

Native Hawaiian voting power was greatly reduced as well. Suffrage was extended to non-citizens of American or European descent, and higher income and property restrictions were placed upon voters and candidates for the upper house of the Legislature.

Over the next decade, efforts to amend or replace the constitution received widespread support among different factions with differing goals. A series of events ensued, including the Wilcox uprising of 1889, Kalakaua’s death in 1891 and the crowning of his sister Lili`uokalani under the Bayonet Constitution, a coup d’état in 1893 that led to her abdication and the establishment of a Provisional Government led by the planters, and her arrest in 1895 as a result of an attempt to restore her to power. In 1898, the U.S. government annexed Hawai`i as a territory.