1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii

The 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii was a legal document prepared 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 Kalākaua to sign it or be deposed. The document denied the King most of his personal authority, empowering the legislature and cabinet of the government. These anti-monarchists, known as the Hawaiian League, were mainly white men of North American origin, and they quickly appointed themselves as government officials, providing themselves with almost complete control of the government.

On June 30, 1887, a meeting of residents including the armed militia of the Honolulu Rifles, a group of white soldiers that were secretly the Hawaiian League’s military arm, and politicians who were members of the Reform Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom, demanded from King Kalākaua the dismissal of his Cabinet, headed by the controversial Walter M. Gibson. Their concerns about Gibson stemmed from the fact that he supported the king’s authority.

The meeting was called to order by Sanford B. Dole (cousin of then 9-year-old James Dole, future patriarch of the Dole Food Company), and chaired by Peter Cushman Jones, the president of the largest sugarcane plantation agency in Hawaii. The Hawaiian League and Americans controlled a vast majority of the Kingdom of Hawaii’s wealth. Lorrin A. Thurston, the main instigator of the subsequent overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, prepared a list of demands to the king. The meeting also insisted a new constitution be written.

On the next morning, July 1, 1887, a shipment of arms was discovered from a neutral Australian ship (later found to be smooth-bore hunting guns used to scare birds from farmers' fields). The Honolulu Rifles took control and arrested and almost hanged Gibson. Kalākaua called in US Minister George W. Merrill, and the British, French, Portuguese, and Japanese representatives and requested help, but they all suggested that he should comply with any demands, which he did.

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