Robert Wilcox. 1900. Unknown author. Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_William_Wilcox_1900.jpg
The Bayonet Constitution all but nullified the political power of the Hawaiian monarchy, and assured White control of the legislature by disenfranchising Chinese and Japanese citizens and residents of the kingdom.
In July of 1889 Robert Wilcox, a young teacher and representative from Maui, led a revolt in an attempt to force King Kalākaua to sign yet another constitution that would reverse the effects of Bayonet. Some believe he also intended to force the king to abdicate the throne in favor of his heir and sister Lili’uokalani. After a pitched battle with the Honolulu Rifles, Wilcox and his forces surrendered. He was charged with treason and tried, but a Hawaiian jury declined to convict him, indicating the widespread opposition to the Reform Party faction that had instituted the Bayonet Constitution. Wilcox returned to the legislature and worked to build political opposition.
In 1890 the United States passed the McKinley Tariff, which removed the tariffs on imported luxury goods such as sugar. This eliminated the economic advantage to sugar planters the Reciprocity Treaty had created. Hawai’i’s sugar barons grew increasingly worried about their profits and political power after this development.
Queen Lili’uokalani. Stanislaw Julian Ostrorog. 1887. Public Domain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Liliuokalani_in_London_(PPWD-16-4.014).jpg
In January of 1891, King Kalākaua died while visiting San Francisco. Queen Lili’uokalani ascended to the throne. The legislature that assembled soon after was sharply divided among political factions and repeatedly voted to remove the Queen’s cabinet, a power created by the Bayonet Constitution. Meanwhile, the Queen was petitioned relentlessly by Hawiians to draft a new constitution that would curtail the power of the Reform Party and plantation owners. Once it became known to them that the Queen was in fact drafting such a document, the Hawaiian League devised a plot to depose the Queen, abolish the monarchy, and secure annexation of the islands by the United States. Largely led by Lorrin Thurston and Sanford Dole, they formed the Committee of Safety, officially chaired by Henry E. Cooper.
On January 17, 1893 a Hawaiian policeman named Leialoha was shot while investigating a wagon of weapons intended for the Committee of Safety. The Honolulu Rifles and other armed forces were mobilized to converge on ‘Iolani Palace and other key locations. John L. Stevens, the US minister to Hawai’i, authorized Captain Wiltse of the USS Boston to land marines and sailors to “secure American property.” The Committee demanded that Queen Lili'uokalani relinquish her throne and remain under house arrest. Seeing no alternative to widespread violence that would likely end in defeat, the Queen surrendered. In her written statement she formally protested all acts of the Committee of Safety and yielded to the “superior force of the United States of America.”
The Hawaiian League assembled a commission to travel to Washington DC to secure US annexation. As with the coup, this was facilitated by Minister Stevens. Lorrin Thurston headed the commission and made sure to leave before the Queen’s allies in order to head off their petitions. In the meantime, the League assembled a provisional government to manage the kingdom in the interim.
President Harrison’s secretary of state helped the League’s commission draft an annexation treaty and submitted it to the US Senate. Perhaps because of the unusual circumstances, or because the Harrison administration was on its way out, the Senate declined to ratify the treaty before an investigation of the events. Within his first week in office, Grover Cleveland sent agents to Hawai’i to investigate the coup, the role of the US military, and the sentiment of the general population regarding the prospect of American annexation.
President Grover Cleveland. Unknown author. National Archives. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grover_Cleveland_-_NARA_-_518139_(cropped)_(2).jpg
It was not hard to ascertain that the Provisional Government had little support from the people, and had improperly used the US military to bolster the illegal overthrow of a friendly nation. The Cleveland administration issued a demand to the Provisional Government that they restore the Queen to her constitutional authority. Outraged, Sanford Dole replied that the Provisional Government did not recognize the president’s authority to interfere with their domestic affairs. He charged the Queen with heading a corrupt government and stated that his government was the rightful authority of the islands and would continue to advocate union with the United States.
President Cleveland’s position was that the Queen should be restored and the Committee of Safety should be granted amnesty for the coup, that political matters should essentially revert back to the status quo before the occupation of Honolulu by US forces. Citing the limits of his office, Cleveland referred the matter to the Congress. It was accompanied by his formal recommendation and the official investigative report of Congressman Blount that charged the Committee of Safety and Minister Stevens with illegally using US forces to aid the overthrow of Hawai’i’s government. Senator John T. Morgan conducted his own investigation into the coup. Despite his 809-page manifesto arguing for annexation, the Senate resolved the matter with the Turpie Resolution which instituted a policy against both annexation and restoration of the Queen.
Resolved to wait for a more friendly US administration to pursue formal annexation, the Hawaiian League established the Republic of Hawaii on July 4, 1894. In the meantime, more revolts by Native Hawaiians were in the works. Robert Wilcox led the Hawaiian Counterrevolution in January of 1895. It consisted of 3 battles over 4 days, ending in defeat for the Hawaiians. Wilcox was tried for treason before a military tribunal and sentenced to death, commuted to 35 years imprisonment. A cache of weapons were discovered and attributed to the Queen who was arrested on January 16 and charged with “misprision of (aiding) treason.” During this confinement Queen Lili’uokalani abdicated her throne in writing, stating that she did so only in exchange for the lives of her supporters who had been sentenced to death. She was found guilty by a military commission of the Republic of Hawaii and sentenced to 5 years of hard labor and a $5000 fine. It was commuted to house arrest in ‘Iolani Palace.
Sources:
Kūkahekahe: The Overthrow of Queen Lili’uokalani- Kamehameha Schools
Queen Lili’uokalani- Crown of Hawai’i
Hawaiian Situation: The President’s message to Congress- Library of Congress
Kualapai, Lydia. “The Queen Writes Back: Lili’uokalani’s Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen.” Studies in American Indian Literatures 17, no. 2 (2005): 32–62.