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Kalakaua was badgered by the U.S. government to surrender Pearl Harbor to the Navy. Kalākaua was concerned that this action would lead to annexation by the U.S. and to the neglect of the traditions of the Hawaiian people, who believed that the land ('Āina) was fertile, sacred, and not up for sale to anyone. In 1874, Kalākaua traveled to Washington DC to help gain support for a new treaty. The Congress agreed to establish the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 for seven years in exchange for Ford Island.
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In October 1887, Robert William Wilcox (who was a native Hawaiian officer and veteran of the Italian military) returned to Hawaii. The funding had came to a stop for his study program when the new constitution was signed. Wilcox, Charles B. Wilson, Princess Liliʻuokalani, and Sam Nowlein plotted to overthrow King Kalākaua to replace him with his sister, Liliʻuokalani.
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King Kalakaua was forced gunpoint to sign the 1887 constitution which was written by Lorrin. A Thurston. This action nicknamed this constitution to "The Bayonet Constitution". What the Bayonet Constitution did was that it undermined the authority of King Kalakaua, it took away Native Hawaiian land rights, and it gave the vote to the foreign landowners. Also, Lorrin. A Thurston was the leader of the Committee of Safety.
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The Wilcox Rebellion of 1888 was a revolt to overthrow King David Kalākaua and to replace him with his sister in a coup d'état in response to increased political tension between the legislature and the king after the 1887 constitution. Kalākaua's sister, (Princess Liliʻuokalani) and his wife, (Queen Kapiolani), returned from Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee immediately after news reached them in Great Britain.
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They had 300 Hawaiian conspirators hidden in the ʻIolani Barracks and also an alliance with the Royal Guard, but the plot was accidentally discovered in January 1888 (which was less than about 48 hours before the revolt would have been started). No one was prosecuted but Wilcox was exiled. So, in revolt, on February 11, 1888, Wilcox left Hawaii for San Francisco, intending to return to Italy with his wife.
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Princess Liliʻuokalani was offered the throne several times by the Missionary Party who had forced the Bayonet Constitution on her brother, (King Kalakaua) but she believed she would become a powerless figurehead just like her brother and rejected the offers outright.
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The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom first began on January 17, 1893, with a coup d'état against Queen Liliʻuokalani on Oahu by subjects of the Hawaiian Kingdom, United States citizens, and foreign residents residing in Honolulu. They triumphed upon American minister John L. Stevens to call in the U.S. Marines to protect United States interests. The revolutionaries set the Republic of Hawaii, but their ultimate goal was the annexation of the islands to the United States, which occurred in 1898.
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A group of American businessmen that were frustrated by Queen Lili'uokalani's enthusiasm in creating a new constitution, organized the "Committee of Safety" and staged a coup January 17, 1893. Pressured by United States Minister Stevens and the American marines, Lili'uokalani assented, hoping the U.S President would fix the situation. Even though, President Cleveland and his special commissioner supported the return of the Queen's sovereignty, the Provisional Government refused to resign.
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As mentioned in Wikipedia, "As these events were unfolding, the Committee of Safety expressed concern for the safety and property of American residents in Honolulu." [58] On January 17, 1893, the Chairman of the Committee of Safety, (Henry E. Cooper) lectured a crowd formed in front of Iolani Palace and read aloud a proclamation that formally deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani, that abolished the Hawaiian monarchy, and established a Provisional Government of Hawaii under President Sanford B. Dole.
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In 1897, William McKinley succeeded Cleveland as United States president and a year later he signed the Newlands Resolution, which provided for the annexation of Hawaii on July 7, 1898. The formal ceremony marking the annexation was held at the Iolani Palace on August 12, 1898. Little to none Native Hawaiians attended, and those few who were on the streets wore royalist ilima blossoms in their hats or hair, and, they wore small Hawaiian flags with the motto: Kuu Hae Aloha ("my beloved flag").
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Citation: Editors, Wikipedia, (2020, 17 November). "Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom", Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overthrow_of_the_Hawaiian_Kingdom
