Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamanakapuʻu Māhinulani Nālaʻiaʻehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; However, Kalākaua and his siblings traced their high rank from their mother's line of descent, referring to themselves as members of the "Keawe-a-Heulu line", although later historians would refer to the family as the House of Kalākaua. The second surviving child of a large family, his biological siblings included his elder brother James Kaliokalani, and younger siblings Lydia Kamakaʻeha (later renamed Liliʻuokalani), Anna Kaʻiulani, Kaʻiminaʻauao, Miriam Likelike and William Pitt Leleiohoku II.
thumb|Kalākaua at the age of fourteen, c. 1850
Given the name Kalākaua, which translates into "The Day [of] Battle," the date of his birth coincided with the signing of the unequal treaty imposed by British Captain Lord Edward Russell of the Actaeon on Kamehameha III. He and his siblings were hānai (informally adopted) to other family members in the Native Hawaiian tradition. Prior to birth, his parents had promised to give their child in hānai to Kuini Liliha, a high-ranking chiefess and the widow of High Chief Boki. However, after he was born, High Chiefess Haʻaheo Kaniu took the baby to her home at Honuakaha, one of the residence of the king. Kuhina Nui (regent) Elizabeth Kīnaʻu, who disliked Liliha, deliberated and decreed his parents to give him to Haʻaheo and her husband Keaweamahi Kinimaka. When Haʻaheo died in 1843 she bequeathed all her properties to him. After Haʻaheo's death, his guardianship was entrusted to his hānai father, who was a chief of lesser rank; he took Kalākaua to live in Lāhainā on the island of Maui. Kinimaka would later marry Pai, a subordinate Tahitian chiefess, who treated Kalākaua as her own until the birth of her own son.
Education
At the age of four, Kalākaua returned to Oʻahu to begin his education at the Chiefs' Children's School (later renamed the Royal School). He and his classmates had been formally proclaimed by Kamehameha III as eligible for the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. His classmates included his siblings James Kaliokalani and Lydia Kamakaʻeha and their thirteen royal cousins including the future kings Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V and Lunalilo. They were taught by American missionaries Amos Starr Cooke and his wife, Juliette Montague Cooke. At the school, Kalākaua became fluent in English and the Hawaiian language and was noted for his fun and humor rather than his academic prowess. The strong-willed boy defended his less robust elder brother Kaliokalani from the older boys at the school.
In October 1840, their paternal grandfather Kamanawa II requested his grandsons to visit him on the night before his execution for the murder of his wife Kamokuiki. The next morning the Cookes allowed the guardian of the royal children John Papa ʻĪʻī to bring Kaliokalani and Kalākaua to see Kamanawa for the last time. It is not known if their sister was also taken to see him. Later sources, especially in biographies of Kalākaua indicated that the boys witnessed the public hanging of their grandfather at the gallows. Historian Helena G. Allen noted the indifference the Cookes' had toward the request and the traumatic experience it must have been for the boys.
After the Cookes retired and closed the school in 1850, Kalākaua briefly studied at Joseph Watt's English school for native children at Kawaiahaʻo and later joined the relocated day school (also called Royal School) run by Reverend Edward G. Beckwith. Illness prevented him from finishing his schooling and he was sent back to Lāhainā to live with his mother.
Following his formal schooling, he studied law under Charles Coffin Harris in 1853. Kalākaua would appoint Harris as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi in 1877.
Political and military careers
thumb|Kalākaua, photograph by Joseph W. King,
Kalākaua's various military, government and court positions prevented him from fully completing his legal training. He received his earliest military training under the Prussian officer, Major Francis Funk, who instilled an admiration of the Prussian military system. In 1852, Prince Liholiho, who would later reign as Kamehameha IV, appointed Kalakaua as one of his aide-de-camp on his military staff. The following year, he commissioned Kalākaua as brevet captain in the infantry. In the army, Kalākaua served as first lieutenant in his father Kapaʻakea's militia of 240 men and later worked as military secretary to Major John William Elliott Maikai, the adjutant general of the army. He was promoted to major and assigned to the personal staff of Kamehameha IV when the king ascended to the throne in 1855. He was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1858. They sailed from Honolulu aboard the yacht Emma Rooke, on August 29, arriving on September 18 in Victoria, British Columbia, where they were received by the local dignitaries of the city. He served as 3rd Chief Clerk of the Department of the Interior in 1859 under Prince Lot who was Minister of the Interior before becoming king in 1863. He held this position until 1863. On June 30, 1863, Kalākaua was appointed Postmaster General and served until his resignation on March 18, 1865. In 1865, he was appointed the King's Chamberlain and served until 1869 when he resigned to finish his law studies. In 1870, he was admitted to the Hawaiian bar and was hired as a clerk in the Land Office, a post he held until he came to the throne. He was decorated a Knight Companion of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I in 1867.
There were several candidates for the Hawaiian throne including Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who had been asked to succeed to the throne by Kamehameha V on his deathbed but had declined the offer. However, the contest was centered on the two high-ranking male aliʻi, or chiefs: Lunalilo and Kalākaua. Lunalilo was more popular, partly because he was a higher-ranking chief than Kalākaua and was the immediate cousin of Kamehameha V. Lunalilo was also the more liberal of the two—he promised to amend the constitution to give the people a greater voice in the government. According to historian Ralph S. Kuykendall, there was an enthusiasm among Lunalilo's supporters to have him declared king without holding an election. In response, Lunalilo issued a proclamation stating that, even though he believed himself to be the rightful heir to the throne, he would submit to an election for the good of the kingdom. On January 1, 1873, a popular election was held for the office of King of Hawaiʻi. Lunalilo won with an overwhelming majority while Kalākaua performed extremely poorly receiving 12 votes out of the more than 11,000 votes cast. The next day, the legislature confirmed the popular vote and elected Lunalilo unanimously. Kalākaua conceded.
1874 election
Following Lunalilo's ascension, Kalākaua was appointed as colonel on the military staff of the king. He had gained political capital with his staunch opposition to ceding any part of the Hawaiian islands to foreign interests. During the ʻIolani Barracks mutiny by the Royal Guards of Hawaiʻi in September 1873, Kalākaua was suspected to have incited the native guards to rebel against their white officers. Lunalilo responded to the insurrection by disbanding the military unit altogether, leaving Hawaiʻi without a standing army for the remainder of his reign.
The issue of succession was a major concern especially since Lunalilo was unmarried and childless at the time. Queen Dowager Emma, the widow of Kamehameha IV, was considered to be Lunalilo's favorite choice as his presumptive heir. On the other hand, Kalākaua and his political cohorts actively campaigned for him to be named successor in the event of the king's death. While Lunalilo did not think of himself as a Kamehameha, his election continued the Kamehameha line to some degree making him the last of the monarchs of the Kamehameha dynasty.
Pauahi chose not to run. Kalākaua's political platform was that he would reign in strict accordance with the kingdom's constitution. Emma campaigned on her assurance that Lunalilo had personally told her he wanted her to succeed him. Several individuals who claimed first-hand knowledge of Lunalilo's wishes backed her publicly. With Lunalilo's privy council issuing a public denial of that claim, the kingdom was divided on the issue. British Commissioner James Hay Wodehouse put the British and American forces docked at Honolulu on the alert for possible violence.
The election was held on February 12, and Kalākaua was elected by the Legislative Assembly by a margin of thirty-nine to six. His election provoked the Honolulu Courthouse riot where supporters of Queen Emma targeted legislators who supported Kalākaua; thirteen legislators were injured. The kingdom was without an army since the mutiny the year before and many police officers sent to quell the riot joined the mob or did nothing. Unable to control the mob, Kalākaua and Lunalilo's former ministers had to request the aid of American and British military forces docked in the harbor to put down the uprising. When Leleiohoku II died in 1877, Kalākaua changed the name of his sister Lydia Dominis to Liliuokalani and designated her as his heir-apparent.
From March to May 1874, he toured the main Hawaiian Islands of Kauai, Maui, Hawaiʻi Island, Molokai and Oahu and visited the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement.
Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 and its extension
275px|thumb|Illustration of Kalākaua's state dinner at the White House, meeting with President Ulysses S. Grant.
Within a year of Kalākaua's election, he helped negotiate the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875. This free trade agreement between the United States and Hawaiʻi, allowed sugar and other products to be exported to the US duty-free. He led the Reciprocity Commission consisting of sugar planter Henry A. P. Carter of C. Brewer & Co., Hawaiʻi Chief Justice Elisha Hunt Allen, and Minister of Foreign Affairs William Lowthian Green. Kalākaua became the first reigning monarch to visit America. The state dinner in his honor hosted by President Ulysses S. Grant was the first White House state dinner ever held.
Many in the Hawaiʻi business community were willing to cede Pearl Harbor to the United States in exchange for the treaty, but Kalākaua was opposed to the idea. A seven-year treaty was signed on January 30, 1875, without any Hawaiian land being ceded. San Francisco sugar refiner Claus Spreckels became a major investor in Hawaiʻi's sugar industry. Initially, he bought half of the first year's production; ultimately he became the plantations' major shareholder. Spreckels became one of Kalākaua's close associates.
When it expired, an extension of the treaty was negotiated, giving exclusive use of Pearl Harbor to the United States. Ratifications by both parties took two years and eleven months, and were exchanged on December 9, 1887, extending the agreement for an additional seven years.
Over the term of Kalākaua's reign, the treaty had a major effect on the kingdom's income. In 1874, Hawaiʻi exported $1,839,620.27 in products. The value of exported products in 1890, the last full year of his reign, was $13,282,729.48, an increase of 722%. The export of sugar during that period grew from 24,566,611 pounds to 330,822,879 pounds.
Education of Hawaiian Youths Abroad
The Education of Hawaiian Youths Abroad was a government-funded educational program during Kalākaua's reign to help students further their education beyond the institutions available in Hawaiʻi at that time. Between 1880 and 1887, Kalākaua selected 18 students for enrollment in a university or apprenticeship to a trade, outside the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. These students furthered their education in Italy, England, Scotland, China, Japan and California. During the life of the program, the legislature appropriated $100,000 to support it. When the Bayonet Constitution went into effect, the students were recalled to Hawaiʻi.
Trip around the world
thumb|Journey of King Kalākaua in 1881
King Kalākaua and his boyhood friends William Nevins Armstrong and Charles Hastings Judd, along with personal cook Robert von Oelhoffen, circumnavigated the globe in 1881. The purpose of the 281-day trip was to encourage the importation of contract labor for plantations. Kalākaua set a world record as the first monarch to travel around the world. He appointed his sister and heir-apparent Liliuokalani to act as Regent during his absence.
Setting sail on January 20, they visited California before sailing to Asia. There they spent four months opening contract labor dialogue in Japan and China, while sightseeing and spreading goodwill through nations that were potential sources for workers. They continued through Southeast Asia, and then headed for Europe in June, where they stayed until mid-September. Their most productive immigration talks were in Portugal, where Armstrong stayed behind to negotiate an expansion of Hawaiʻi's existing treaty with the government.
President James A. Garfield in Washington, D.C., had been assassinated in their absence. On their return trip to the United States, Kalākaua paid a courtesy call on Garfield's successor President Chester A. Arthur.
Before embarking on a train ride across the United States, Kalākaua visited Thomas Edison for a demonstration of electric lighting, discussing its potential use in Honolulu.
They departed for Hawaiʻi from San Francisco on October 22, arriving in Honolulu on October 31. His homecoming celebration went on for days. He had brought the small island nation to the attention of world leaders, but the trip had sparked rumors that the kingdom was for sale. In Hawaiʻi there were critics who believed the labor negotiations were just his excuse to see the world. Eventually, his efforts bore fruit in increased contract labor for Hawaiʻi.
Thomas Thrum's Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1883 reported Kalākaua's tour expense appropriated by the government as $22,500, although his personal correspondence indicates he exceeded that early on.
ʻIolani Palace
[[File:Masonic Tools Iolani Palace.jpg|thumb|upright|"[T]he working tools of a mason" presented to Kalākaua by the freemasons on December 31, 1879, on display in the palace basement]]
'Iolani Palace is the only royal palace on US soil. The first palace was a coral and wood structure which served primarily as office space for the kingdom's monarchs beginning with Kamehameha III in 1845. By the time Kalākaua became king, the structure had decayed, and he ordered it destroyed to be replaced with a new building. During the 1878 session of the legislature Finance Chairman Walter Murray Gibson, a political supporter of Kalākaua's, pushed through appropriations of $50,000 for the new palace.
Construction began in 1879, with an additional $80,000 appropriated later to furnish it and complete the construction. Three architects worked on the design, Thomas J. Baker, Charles J. Wall and Isaac Moore. December 31, 1879, the 45th birthday of Queen Kapiʻolani, was the date Kalākaua chose for the ceremonial laying of the cornerstone. Minister of Foreign Affairs John Mākini Kapena delivered the ceremony's formal address in Hawaiian. As Master of the Freemason Lodge Le Progres de L'Oceanie, Kalākaua charged the freemasons with orchestrating the ceremonies. The parade preceding the laying of the cornerstone involved every civilian and military organization in Hawaiʻi. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser noted it was "one of the largest seen in Honolulu for some years". A copper time capsule containing photographs, documents, currency, and the Hawaiian census was sealed inside the cornerstone. After speeches had been made, the freemasons presented the king with "the working tools of a mason", a plumb bob, level, square tool, and a trowel. Kalākaua had also seen during his visit to Edison's studio how effective electric lighting could be for the kingdom. On July 21, 1886, ʻIolani Palace led the way with the first electric lights in the kingdom, showcasing the technology. The monarch invited the public to attend a lighting ceremony on the palace grounds, attracting 5,000 spectators. The Royal Hawaiian Band entertained, refreshments were served, and the king paraded his troops around the grounds. The total cost of building and furnishing the new palace was $343,595. Gibson was believed to be the main proponent behind the event. On October 10, 1882, the Saturday Press indicated that not all the public was in favor of the coronation. By this point, Gibson's role in the kingdom's finances and his influence on Kalākaua were beginning to come under scrutiny: "Our versatile Premier ... is pulling another string in this puppet farce." At the same time, the newspaper rebuked many of the recent actions and policies not only of Gibson but of the King's cabinet in general.
The coronation ceremony and related celebratory events were spread out over a two-week period. A special octagon-shaped pavilion and grandstand were built for the February 12, 1883, ceremony. Preparations were made for an anticipated crowd exceeding 5,000, with lawn chairs to accommodate any overflow. Before the actual event, a procession of 630 adults and children paraded from downtown to the palace. Kalākaua and Kapiʻolani, accompanied by their royal retinue, came out of the palace onto the event grounds. The coronation was preceded by a choir singing and the formal recitation of the King's official titles. The news coverage noted, "The King looked ill at ease." Chief Justice of Hawaiʻi's Supreme Court Albert Francis Judd officiated and delivered the oath of office to the king. The crown was then handed to Kalākaua, and he placed it upon his head. The ceremony ended with the choir singing, and a prayer. A planned post-coronation reception by Kalākaua and Kapiʻolani was cancelled without advance notice. Today, Kalākaua's coronation pavilion serves as the bandstand for the Royal Hawaiian Band.
That evening, the royal couple hosted a state dinner, and there was a luau at a later day. The hula was performed nightly on the palace grounds. Regattas, horse races and a number of events filled the celebration period.
Volcano school painter Charles Furneaux attended the coronation, where he painted two scenes: the moment the King placed the crown upon his head, and an image of the King viewing a hula performance from the palace. Although both works were highly regarded and their existence was confirmed as recently as 1909, their current locations are unknown.
Although exact figures are unknown, historian Kuykendall stated that the final cost of the coronation exceeded $50,000. In 1880, the legislature passed a currency law that allowed it to purchase bullion for the United States mint to produce Hawaiʻi's own coins. The design would have the King's image on the obverse side, with Hawaiʻi's coat of arms and motto "Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono" on the reverse. In a deal with Claus Spreckels, he sponsored the minting by purchasing the required silver. In return, he was guaranteed an equal amount of six percent gold bonds, thereby giving him a guaranteed profit.
When Hawaiʻi's silver coins began circulating in December 1883, the business community was reluctant to accept them, fearing they would drive US gold coins out of the market. Spreckels opened his own bank to circulate them. Business owners feared economic inflation and lost faith in the government, as did foreign governments. Political fallout from the coinage led to the 1884 election-year shift towards the Kuokoa (independent) Party in the legislature. It passed the Currency Act to restrict acceptance of silver coins as payment for debts under $10. Exchange of silver for gold at the treasury was then limited to $150,000 a month. In 1903, the Hawaiʻi silver coins were redeemed for US silver and melted down at the San Francisco Mint.
Birthday Jubilee, November 15–29, 1886
Kalākaua's 50th birthday on November 16, 1886, was celebrated with a two-week jubilee. Gibson had by this time joined the King's cabinet as prime minister of Hawaiʻi. He and Minister of the Interior Luther Aholo put forth a motion for the legislature to form a committee to oversee the birthday jubilee on September 20. The motion was approved, and at Gibson's subsequent request, the legislature appropriated $15,000 for the jubilee. An announcement was made on November 3 that all government schools would be closed the week of November 15.
Gifts for the king began arriving on November 15. At midnight, the jubilee officially began with fireworks at the Punchbowl Crater. At sunrise, the kingdom's police force arrived at ʻIolani Palace to pay tribute, followed by the king's Cabinet, Supreme Court justices, the kingdom's diplomats, and officials of government departments. School student bodies and civic organizations also paid tribute. The Royal Hawaiian Band played throughout the day. In the afternoon, the doors of the palace were opened to all the officials and organizations, and the public. In the evening, the palace was aglow with lanterns, candles and electric lighting throwing "a flood of radiance over the Palace and grounds". The evening ended with a Fireman's Parade and fireworks. Throughout the next two weeks, there was a regatta, a Jubilee ball, a luau, athletic competitions, a state dinner, and a marksmanship contest won by the Honolulu Rifles. Harper's Weekly reported in 1891 that the final cost of the jubilee was $75,000.
Military policy
thumb|Kalākaua with his military staff officers, 1882
During the early part of his reign, Kalākaua restored the Household Guards which had been defunct since his predecessor Lunalilo abolished the unit in 1874. Initially, the king created three volunteer companies: the Leleiohoku Guard, a cavalry unit; the Prince's Own, an artillery unit; and the Hawaiian Guards, an infantry unit. By the latter part of his reign, the army of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi consisted of six volunteer companies including the King's Own, the Queen's Own, the Prince's Own, the Leleiohoku Guard, the Mamalahoa Guard and the Honolulu Rifles, and the regular troops of the King's Household Guard. The ranks of these regiments were composed mainly of Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian officers with a few white officers including his brother-in-law John Owen Dominis. Each unit was subject to call for active service when necessary. The king and the governor of Oahu also had their own personal staff of military officers with the ranks of colonel and major.
After 1887, the military commissions creating Dominis and his staff officers were recalled for economic reasons and the Military Act of 1886 was later declared unconstitutional. The Military Act of 1888 was passed reducing the size of the army to the King's Guards, a permanent force with a cap of 65 members, and five volunteer companies: the Honolulu Rifles, the King's Own, the Queen's Own, the Prince's Own, and the Leleiohoku Guard. In 1890, another military act further restricted the army to just the King's Royal Guards with a maximal recruitment of 36-100 men.
Polynesian confederation
upright|thumb|left|Portrait of Kalākaua
The idea of Hawaiʻi's involvement in the internal affairs of Polynesian nations had been around at least two decades before Kalākaua's election, when Australian Charles St Julian volunteered to be a political liaison to Hawaiʻi in 1853. He accomplished nothing of any significance. Kalākaua's interest in forming a Polynesian coalition, with him at the head, was influenced by both Walter M. Gibson and Italian soldier of fortune Celso Caesar Moreno. In 1879 Moreno urged the king to create such a realm with Hawaiʻi at the top of the empire by " ... uniting under your sceptre the whole Polynesian race and make Honolulu a monarchical Washington, where the representatives of all the islands would convene in Congress."
In response to the activities of Germany and the United Kingdom in Oceania, Gibson's Pacific Commercial Advertiser urged Hawaiʻi's involvement in protecting the island nations from international aggression. Gibson was appointed to Kalākaua's cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1882. In 1883, he introduced the approved legislation to convey in writing to foreign governments that Hawaiʻi fully supported the independence of Polynesian nations. The subsequent "Hawaiian protest" letter he drafted was mostly ignored by nations that received it. The Daily Bulletin in Honolulu issued its own response, "Hawaiʻi's true policy is to confine her attention to herself, ...". The Hawaiian Gazette criticized Gibson's character and mockingly referred to the proposed venture as the "Empire of the Calabash".
thumb|Hawaiian envoys and Malietoa Laupepa on board of the Kaimiloa in 1887.
In 1885, Gibson dispatched Minister to the United States Henry A. P. Carter to Washington, D.C., and Europe to convey Hawaiʻi's intentions towards Polynesia. Carter made little headway with Gibson's instructions. He pushed for direct intervention into a political upheaval in Samoa, where the German Empire backed rebels under their leader Tamasese in an attempt to overthrow King Malietoa Laupepa. In an effort to keep him in power, Gibson convinced the 1886 legislature to allocate $100,000 to purchase the steamship Zealandia, $50,000 for its operating expenses, and $35,000 for foreign missions. United States special commissioner to Samoa, George H. Bates advised Kalākaua that Hawaiʻi should mind its own business and stay out of Samoan affairs. Instead, Hawaiʻi sent a delegation headed by John E. Bush to Samoa, where Samoan King Malietoa Laupepa signed a Samoan-Hawaiian confederation treaty on February 17, 1887. Bush also presented Malietoa with the Royal Order of the Star of Oceania, which Kalakaua had created to honor the monarchs and chiefs of the Polynesian confederation. The government sent HHMS Kaimiloa for Bush's use in visiting the chiefs of the other islands of Polynesia.
The United States and the United Kingdom joined with Germany in expressing their disapproval of the treaty. Germany warned the United States and the United Kingdom, "In case Hawaiʻi ... should try to interfere in favor of Malietoa, the King of the Sandwich Islands would thereby enter into [a] state of war with us." When German warships arrived in Samoan waters, Malietoa surrendered and was sent into exile. The Kaimiloa and Bush's delegation were recalled to Honolulu after the ousting of the Gibson administration. Kalākaua's later explanation of Hawaiʻi's interference in Samoa was, "Our Mission was simply a Mission of phylanthropy [sic] more than any thing, but the arogance [sic] of the Germans prevented our good intentions and . . . we had to withdraw the Mission."
1887 Bayonet Constitution
In Memoirs of the Hawaiian Revolution, Sanford B. Dole devoted a chapter to the Bayonet Constitution. He stated that King Kalākaua appointed cabinet members not for their ability to do the job, but for their ability to bend to his will. Consequently, according to Dole, appropriated funds were shifted from one account to another, "for fantastic enterprises and for the personal aggrandizement of the royal family." Dole placed much of the blame on Gibson, and accused Kalākaua of taking a bribe of $71,000 from Tong Kee to grant an opium license, an action done via one of the king's political allies Junius Kaʻae.
Despite his own personal opposition, Kalākaua signed a legislative bill in 1886 creating a single opium vending and distribution license. Kaʻae had suggested to rice planter Tong Kee, also known as Aki, that a monetary gift to the king might help him acquire it. Aki took the suggestion and gave thousands of dollars to the king. Another merchant, Chun Lung, made the government an offer of $80,000.00 which forced Aki to raise even more cash. The license was eventually awarded to Chun who withheld his payment until the license was actually signed over to him on December 31, 1886. Kalākaua admitted that he had been overruled by his cabinet who were friendly with Chun. After the reform party took control of the government, the opium license debt remained unpaid. Kalākaua agreed to make restitution for his debts via revenues from the Crown Lands. However, other liabilities and outstanding debt forced him to sign his debt over to trustees who would control all of Kalākaua's private estates and Crown Land revenues. When trustees refused to add the opium debt, Aki sued. Although the court ruled, "The king could do no wrong", the trustees were found liable for the debt.
The Hawaiian League was formed to change the status quo of government "by all means necessary", and had joined forces with the Honolulu Rifles militia group. Anticipating a coup d'état, the king took measures to save himself by dismissing Gibson and his entire cabinet on June 28.
The newly appointed cabinet members were William Lowthian Green as prime minister and minister of finance, Clarence W. Ashford as attorney general, Lorrin A. Thurston as minister of the interior, and Godfrey Brown as minister of foreign affairs.
A new constitution was drafted immediately by the Hawaiian Committee and presented to Kalākaua for his signature on July 6. The next day he issued a proclamation of the abrogation of the 1864 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. The new constitution was nicknamed the Bayonet Constitution because of the duress under which it was signed. His sister Liliuokalani stated in Hawaii's Story that her brother was convinced that if he did not sign, he would be assassinated. She wrote that he no longer knew who was friend or foe. He felt betrayed by people he once trusted and had told her that everywhere he went he was under constant surveillance.