1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii

The 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, commonly known as the Bayonet Constitution by its opponents, stripped the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority, and disenfranchised all Asians and poor citizens while generally empowering rich citizens, primarily those of American and European descent but also including some native Hawaiian elites.

The Constitution, dated July 6, 1887, was written by Lorrin A. Thurston and imposed on the Kingdom of Hawai'i and its monarch David Kalākaua by a group of American and European businessmen and an armed militia called the Honolulu Rifles. The Americans were associated with a secret society called the Hawaiian League, which was in favor of annexation to the United States.

The Bayonet Constitution gets its pejorative name from its opponents. Kalākaua had been forced to sign the constitution under threat of arms, and military rifles at the time were commonly fixed with bayonets.

Provisions

The Bayonet Constitution effectively repealed suffrage for around 75 percent of the Native Hawaiian population, mostly by imposing strict economic thresholds for voter eligibility. Non-European non-American migrants (i.e., Asians) were denied the right to vote outright. Only Hawaiian, American and European males in Hawai'i were granted full voting rights if they met the economic and literacy thresholds. It should be noted that at the time this constitution came into effect, native Hawaiians, both full and part, accounted for less than one-half of the total population, yet enjoyed significant electoral advantage because of the disenfranchisement of Asians.

At the end of the Kingdom, about three out of four ethnic Hawaiians could not vote at all because of the gender, literacy, property, and age requirements. However, because of the racial disenfranchisement of Asians, ethnic Hawaiians still amounted to about two-thirds of the electorate for representatives and about one-third of the electorate for Nobles. (Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom at 453. The rest of the voters were male residents of European or American ancestry.)

1864 Constitution

Article 62.

Every male subject of the Kingdom, who shall have paid his taxes, who shall have attained the age of twenty years, and shall have been domiciled in the Kingdom for one year immediately preceding the election; and shall be possessed of Real Property in this Kingdom, to the value over and above all incumbrances of One Hundred and Fifty Dollars or of a Lease-hold property on which the rent is Twenty-five Dollars per year--or of an income of not less than Seventy-five Dollars per year, derived from any property or some lawful employment, and shall know how to read and write, if born since the year 1840, and shall have caused his name to be entered on the list of voters of his District as may be provided by law, shall be entitled to one vote for the Representative or Representatives of that District. Provided, however, that no insane or idiotic person, nor any person who shall have been convicted of any infamous crime within this Kingdom, unless he shall have been pardoned by the King, and by the terms of such pardon have been restored to all the rights of a subject, shall be allowed to vote.

1887 Constitution

ARTICLE 59.

Every male resident of the Hawaiian Islands of Hawaiian, American or European birth or descent, who shall have attained the age of twenty years, and shall have paid his taxes, and shall have caused his name to be entered on the list of voters for Nobles for his District, shall be an elector of Nobles, and shall be entitled to vote at any election of Nobles, provided:

First: That he shall have resided in the country not less than three years, and in the district in which he offers to vote, not less than three months immediately preceding the election at which he offers to vote;
Second: That he shall own and be possessed, in his own right, of taxable property in this country of the value of not less than three thousand dollars over and above all encumbrances, or shall have actually received an income of not less than six hundred dollars during the year next preceding his registration for such election;
Third: That he shall be able to read and comprehend an ordinary newspaper printed in either the Hawaiian, English or some European language:
Fourth: That he shall have taken an oath to support the Constitution and laws, such oath to be administered by any person authorized to administer oaths, or by an Inspector of Elections;

Provided, however, that the requirements of a three years residence and of ability to read and comprehend an ordinary newspaper, printed in the Hawaiian, English or some European language, shall not apply to persons residing in the Kingdom at the time of the promulgation of this Constitution, if they shall register and vote at the first election which shall be held under this Constitution.

The Bayonet Constitution also imposed a very strict threshold for voter eligibility, by requiring that individuals generate annual income of at least US$600 ($12,000 in 2006), and own private property worth at least US$3000 ($60,000 in 2006). This rule was very effective in limiting voter eligibility to wealthy businessmen and landowning Hawaiian elites. The Bayonet Constitution also removed the monarch's power to appoint members of the House of Nobles (the upper house of the Hawaiian legislature).

Lili'uokalani's Constitution

In 1891, Kalākaua died and his sister Lili'uokalani assumed the throne. The queen initiated a poll and found support by native Hawaiians and other Hawaiian citizens to undo the Bayonet Constitution. Despite what she saw as popular support, her attempt to abrogate the 1887 constitution sparked her overthrow in 1893.

On January 14, 1893, Lili'uokalani threatened to impose a new constitution restoring the monarchy's lost authority. The United States Government, through its Department of State Minister to Hawai'i John L. Stevens, reacted to the potential unrest of the impending overthrow by ordering the landing of about 160 Marines to protect American businesses and interests. 1500 members of the Honolulu Rifles, a militia of local citizens, and the Committee of Safety, led by Lorrin A. Thurston, forcibly removed the queen from power and declared a provisional government. The Provisional Government quickly gained recognition from the United States Government and all the other governments with embassies in Hawai'i, but was opposed by the administration of Grover Cleveland for years as he attempted to restore the monarchy, beginning with the Blount Report. Following the Morgan Report, Cleveland reversed his stance, rebuffed the Queen's further requests for interference in the matter, and acknowledged the Provisional Government as legitimate.

Lili'uokalani's trial

In 1895, an abortive attempt by Hawaiian royalists to restore Queen Lili`uokalani to power resulted in the queen's arrest. She was forced to sign a document of abdication that relinquished all her future claims to the throne. Following this, she was subject to a public trial before a military tribunal in her former throne room.

Convicted of having knowledge of a royalist plot, Lili`uokalani was fined $5000 and sentenced to five years in prison at hard labor. The sentenced was commuted to imprisonment in an upstairs bedroom of `Iolani Palace. During her imprisonment, the queen was denied any visitors other than one lady in waiting. She began each day with her daily devotions followed by reading, quilting, crochet-work, or music composition.

After her release from `Iolani Palace, the Queen remained under house arrest for five months at her private home, Washington Place. For another eight months she was forbidden to leave O`ahu before all restrictions were lifted.

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Provisions

Lili'uokalani's Constitution

Lili'uokalani's trial

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