Liliʻuokalani Faces the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom

Liliʻuokalani took the royal oath of office on January 29, 1891, becoming the first and only queen regnant of the Hawaiian Kingdom following the sudden death of her brother, King Kalākaua. Educated at the Chiefs' Children's School and designated heir apparent in 1877, she inherited a fractured political landscape shaped by foreign commercial dominance and internal friction. During two previous periods serving as regent, she had demonstrated decisive governance, implementing strict maritime quarantines during an 1881 smallpox epidemic and championing philanthropic initiatives for Native Hawaiian women and children. Upon ascending the throne, she was determined to govern actively rather than serve as a ceremonial figurehead.

The central grievance of Liliʻuokalani's reign stemmed from the 1887 constitution, widely remembered as the Bayonet Constitution, which her brother had been coerced into signing under threat of armed violence. This document had sharply curtailed royal authority and stripped voting rights from economically disenfranchised subjects, including large portions of the Native Hawaiian population, through strict property qualifications. Responding to petitions from her subjects, the queen prepared to promulgate a new constitution that would restore executive prerogative to the crown and expand the franchise.