Hawaiian rebellions (1887–1895)
rebellions and revolutions against governments of Hawaii
The Hawaiian rebellions and revolutions took place in Hawaii between 1887 and 1895. Until annexation in 1898, Hawaii was an independent sovereign state, recognized by the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany with exchange of ambassadors. However, there were several challenges to the reigning governments of the Kingdom and Republic of Hawaii during the 8+1⁄2-year (1887–1895) period.
Rebellion of 1887
In 1887, a group of cabinet officials and advisors to King Kalākaua and an armed militia forced the king to promulgate what is known by its critics as the "Bayonet Constitution". The impetus behind the imposition of the 1887 constitution was the frustration amongst members of the Reform Party (also known as the Missionary Party) with the growing debt of the Kingdom, the spending habits of the King, and general governance of the Kingdom. It was specifically triggered by an ill-fated attempt by Kalakaua to create a Polynesian Federation under his rule, and a bribery scandal Kalakaua was involved in regarding opium licenses. The 1887 constitution stripped the monarchy of much of its authority, imposed significant income and property requirements for voting, and completely disenfranchised all Asians from voting. Only well-to-do Europeans, Americans and native Hawaiians were given full voting rights. When Kalākaua died in 1891 during a visit to San Francisco, his sister Liliʻuokalani assumed the throne.
Native Hawaiians on the other hand, according to Queen Liliʻuokalani in her autobiography, called her brother's reign "a golden age materially for Hawaii" and felt that the new constitution was imposed by a minority of the foreign population because of the king's refusal to renew the Reciprocity Treaty, which now included an amendment that would have allowed the US Navy to have a permanent naval base at Pearl Harbor in O'ahu, and the king's foreign policy.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Hawaiian rebellions (1887–1895)” is rebellions and revolutions against governments of Hawaii. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hawaiian, rebellions and revolutions, not as a finished interpretation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hawaiian rebellions (1887–1895)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.