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David Kalakaua is Elected
Major Role Players: David Kalakaua. Kalakaua was elected a year after Lunalilo's death in 1873. He was known as the Merrie Monarch because of his love for traditional Hawaiian culture. He inaugurated a very reactionary and pro-American rule. He went to the US in 1874, and traveled around the world in 1881. -
The Reciprocity Treaty
Major Role Players: David Kalakaua, Henry A. P. Carter, Elisha Hunt Allen, William Lowthian Green, Hamilton Fish, Ulysses S. Grant. In 1875, Kalakaua negotiated the Reciprocity Treaty. For 7 years, goods from Hawaii would be tariff-free, and Hawaii wouldn’t put tariffs on American goods. The US gained access to Pearl Harbor. This led to a dramatic rise in new sugar plantations. The value for exported products saw an increase of 722%. -
The Bayonet Constitution
Major Role Players: David Kalakaua, The Hawaiian League, (Lorrin Thurston) The all-white Hawaiian League, a group of riflemen and influential figures, held King Kalakaua at gunpoint and forced him to make a constitution that took away Hawaiian land rights, dwindled the power of the king, and gave mostly all the power to the Hawaiian League. Asians were denied voting rights. Voters were required to meet literacy and salary requirements. -
WIlcox Rebellion
Major role players: King Kalakaua, Robert William Wilcox, Charles B. Wilson, Princess Liliuokalani, Samuel Nowlein, Albert Loomens, Robert N. Boyd. An insurrection led by Robert Wilcox in order to make King Kalakaua to reenact the Hawaiian Constitution of 1864 from the Constitution of 1887. Rebels were imprisoned, Lieutenant Loomens was to be executed, but was exiled instead. Wilcox now holds a prominent position in the Queen’s government as an elected member of the Royal Legislature. -
The McKinley Tariff
Major role players: William McKinley In order to protect domestic industries within the US from worrying about competition from foreign importers, the average duty on imports was dramatically increased by almost half. Previously, Hawaii didn't have to pay for tariffs on exported goods like sugar and rice because of the Reciprocity Treaty. This gave Hawaii an advantage over domestic US industries. Hawaii’s privileged status was revoked and subsidies were granted to domestic US industries. -
Lili'uokalani becomes Queen
Major role players: David Kalakaua, Queen Lili'uokalani Kalākaua went to San Francisco in January 1891, he stayed at the Palace Hotel. On January 20, he died. Princess Lili'uokalani was made queen. Kalakaua's rule was dubbed "a golden age materially for Hawaii" by Queen Liliʻuokalani. She would then fight for Hawaiian's rights, especially in the economic crisis that began after the McKinley Act. She wanted to restore power to the monarchs because the Bayonet Constitution lessened it a lot. -
Proposed 1893 Constitution
Major role players: Queen Liliuokalani. Queen Liliuokalani proposed a new constitution that would remove voting privileges extended to European and American residents, reducing property requirements, and allowing her to have more power, her say has actual significance relative to how it has been. This was to counteract the disproportionate power that Euro-American businesses held since the Bayonet Constitution. The requirement to own land in order to vote would also be removed. -
Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom
Major role players: Lorrin Thurston (The Reform Party), Charles B. Wilson, John L. Stevens, Liliuokalani Thurston led the overthrow, and due to the group's connections with John L Stevens, requests to detain them were denied. Wilson rallied 496 men to protect the queen. The Committee of Safety organized the Honolulu Rifles, 1,500 men outside Iolani Palace. John L Stevens put the Queen under house arrest, and sent military support in the form of 162 US marines to intimidate royalist defenders. -
Annexation of Hawaii
Major role players: William McKinley, Francis G. Newlands, Sanford B. Dole McKinley was a Republican expansionist who prepared a treaty of annexation. A joint resolution ended up being written by Francis G. Newlands. McKinley signed the Newlands Resolution, annexing Hawaii. This created the Territory of Hawaii. McKinley appointed Sanford B Dole as provisional governor.
