1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii

1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii

King David Kalkaua (left) signed the 1887 Constitution under threat of force; Lorrin A. Thurston (right) was one of
its writers.
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The 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii was a legal document by anti-monarchists to strip the Hawaiian
monarchy of much of its authority, initiating a transfer of power to American, European and native Hawaiian elites.
It became known as the Bayonet Constitution for the use of intimidation by the armed militia which forced King
Kalkaua to sign it 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 the legislature and cabinet of the government.

Rebellion of 1887
On June 30, 1887 a meeting of residents including the armed militia of the Honolulu Rifles and politicians who later
formed the Reform Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom demanded King Kalkaua dismiss his cabinet headed by the
controversial Walter M. Gibson. The meeting was called to order by Sanford B. Dole, and chaired by Peter Cushman
Jones. Lorrin A. Thurston prepared a list of demands to the king. The meeting also insisted a new constitution be
written.:359361
On the next morning, July 1, 1887, a shipment of arms was discovered (although later found to be smooth-bore
hunting guns used to scare bird from farmers' fields). The Honolulu Rifles took control and arrested Gibson.
Kalkaua called in US Minister George W. Merrill, and the British, French, Portuguese and Japanese representatives
and requested help. They all suggested he comply with any demands, which he did.:363364 Thurston then became
the powerful interior minister, although Englishman William Lowthian Green was nominally head of the cabinet as
minister of finance.
Over less than a week, the new constitution was drafted by a group of lawyers including Thurston, Dole, William
Ansel Kinney, William Owen Smith, George Norton Wilcox, and Edward Griffin Hitchcock. Most were also
associated with the Hawaiian League, which was actually in favor of ending the Kingdom and annexation by the
United States.

1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii

Kalkaua signed the document July 6, 1887, despite arguments over the scope of the changes. It created a
constitutional monarchy like that of the United Kingdom, stripping the King of most of his personal authority,
empowering the legislature and cabinet of the government. It has since become widely known as the "Bayonet
Constitution" because of the threat of force used to gain Kalkaua's cooperation. At the time Kalkaua had been
forced to sign the constitution under threat of arms, military rifles were commonly fixed with bayonets which is
basically a blade at the tip of the gun.

Provisions
The 1887 constitution replaced the previous absolute veto allowed to the king to one that two-thirds of the legislature
of the Hawaiian Kingdom could override. It took away the power of the king to act without consent of his cabinet,
and gave the legislature the power to dismiss the cabinet instead of the king (although this was amended later to
allow Queen Liliuokalani to select new ministers). It also removed language from the 1864 constitution implying
that the king was above the law. The cabinet was now allowed to vote in the legislature, but to reduce the king's
influence, he was not allowed to appoint legislators to any other government post. The constitution also removed the
monarch's power to appoint members of the House of Nobles (the upper house of the legislature), instead making it a
body elected by the wealthy landowners to six-year terms and enlarging it to 40 members.
The 1887 constitution made significant changes to voting requirements. It allowed foreign resident aliens to vote, not
just naturalized citizens. Asians, including subjects who previously enjoyed the right to vote, were specifically
denied suffrage. Only Hawaiian, American, and European males were granted full voting rights if they met the
economic and literacy thresholds.[2]
The 1864 constitution required that voters generate annual income of at least 75 U.S. dollars, or own private property
worth at least $150. The wealth requirements were removed during the short reign of Lunalilo in 1874. This change
extended voter eligibility to many more Hawaiians, and was kept for the lower house of representatives. By 1889,
ethnic Hawaiians amounted to about two-thirds of the electorate for representatives and about one-third of the
electorate for Nobles.:453 However, the 1887 constitution required an income of $600 or taxable property of $3000 to
vote for the upper house (or serve in it).

References
[1] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ w/ index. php?title=Template:Hawaiian_sovereignty_movement& action=edit
[2] Buescher, John. " What Happened to the Royal Family of Hawaii After the U.S. Took Over? (http:/ / teachinghistory. org/ history-content/
ask-a-historian/ 20348)" Teachinghistory.org (http:/ / www. teachinghistory. org), accessed 1 October 2011.

Further reading
Stephen Kinzer (2006). "A Hell of a Time at the Palace" (http://books.google.com/books?id=Q3o2BaNiJksC).
Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. Times Books. pp.930.
ISBN978-0-8050-7861-9.

External links
1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii (http://hooilina.org/collect/journal/index/assoc/HASH01b8.dir/
5.pdf) (scanned images)
1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii (http://hooilina.org/cgi-bin/
journal?e=d-0journal--00-0-0-004-Document---0-1--1en-50---20-frameset-search-issue---001-0110escapewin&
a=p&p=frameset&d=HASH01b8b242efc454f373219e6b.5.1.3) (Full text, with access to the English
translation, and other resources)

1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii

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file:Kingdavidkalakaua dust.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Kingdavidkalakaua_dust.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: User: Papa Lima Whiskey
file:Lorrin A. Thurston, 1892.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lorrin_A._Thurston,_1892.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: KAVEBEAR, W Nowicki
File:Seal of the State of Hawaii.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Seal_of_the_State_of_Hawaii.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
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