sea. Thus the Hawaiians were a people without a religion. At this juncture of affairs Christian missionaries from the United States arrived. More than ten years before, native Hawaiians, serving as sailors on American ships, had stirred the generous impulses of New England, and one of the first missionary companies sent out by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, seven married men with their wives, reached Honolulu April 4, 1820. The King and his Queen made a voyage to England in 1823, and died there in 1824. This event put fresh power into the hands of the widow of Kamehameha I., who governed the kingdom for nine years, until the younger brother of the deceased King reached his majority and reigned as Kamehameha III. Under the training of the American missionaries, all the people were in a few years taught to read and write. The Ten Commandments were adopted as a basis of laws in 1825, and other criminal laws were enacted in 1827 and 1829. In 1840 the King and his nobles promulgated a constitution granting civil rights to the people. In 1846 he abolished the last relics of feudalism by approving the Land Act, which yielded up the Crown lands and provided for the people becoming owners of the soil. In 1852 the Constitution was revised by the King, and the Legislature and free suffrage were established. Dying on December 15, 1854, Kamehameha III. was succeeded by Alexander Liholiho, son of Kinau, the daughter of the founder of the dynasty. This prince assumed the title of Kamehameha IV. After reigning nine years, honored because of his perseverance in the principles of civilization, he died November 30, 1863, and was succeeded by his brother Lot, as Kamehameha V. During his reign Honolulu became a beautiful modern city, and business and commerce prospered greatly. Nevertheless the new ruler was a reactionary. He forcibly abrogated the national Constitution, and issued another, in which the right of suffrage was limited by a property qualification. When he died, December 11, 1872, without issue, the direct line of Kamehameha became extinct. After four weeks' government by the Cabinet, the Legislature elected the nominee of the people, Lunalilo, as King. He attempted in vain to restore the old Constitution. His short and troubled reign of one year ended February 3, 1874.
Lunalilo died childless, and the Legislature again proceeded to elect a king, and on February 12, 1874, chose David Kalakaua, though their action was violently opposed by Emma, the Queen Dowager. In the riot which broke out between her partisans and the legislators, several persons were injured. The war-ships in the harbor under the British and American flags landed marines and sailors, order was restored, and the King began his reign. Kalakaua visited the United States in 1874, and in 1875 a reciprocity treaty was arranged between that country and Hawaii. This was renewed in 1887. The King made a tour of the world in 1881. Nevertheless he showed a tendency in the latter part of his reign to relapse into the ancient savagery of his people. The patience of the better elements of society being exhausted, the party of progress at a mass meeting held June 30, 1887, demanded from the King a new constitution and better government, with a Cabinet under the control of the Legislature. Although Kalakaua agreed to the demand and signed a new constitution, which was ratified by the vote of the people, he lost no opportunity to regain his power. In this course he was encouraged by his sister, the Princess Liliuokalani. On the King's attempting in 1889 to overthrow the new Government, the progressive party reorganized, and a skirmish occurred in which the royal partisans were defeated. On January 20, 1891, Kalakaua died in San Francisco. His sister, Liliuokalani, became Queen. Her reign was marked by continual evasions and nullification of the Constitution. The men of the progressive party, consisting chiefly of Americans and the better elements among the foreigners and natives, were fully acquainted with her determination to promulgate a new political instrument which would enhance the royal power; but just when she was about to bring her plans to consummation they dethroned the Queen and organized a provisional government. The Committee of Thirteen, January 15, 1893, passed a resolution “that it is the sense of this committee that, in view of the present unsatisfactory state of affairs, the proper course to pursue is to abolish the monarchy, and apply for annexation to the United States.” The Queen's ministers appealed for help to the foreign legations, while the leading citizens of the town were openly and publicly preparing to abolish the Queen's government by force of arms. The United States legation was in close touch with the best element both of the Americans and of the native Hawaiians. Realizing the great significance of the Revolution and the importance of the interests of his country that were involved, the United States Minister, John L. Stevens (q.v.), had a force of 140 sailors and marines landed from the U.S.S. Boston, for the protection of American interests, and at once recognized the provisional government on behalf of his own. Commissioners were sent to the United States to negotiate a treaty of annexation, while Minister Stevens, believing that this small State was not safe from aggression, on his own responsibility declared Hawaii under the protection of the United States. February 16, 1893, President Harrison submitted to Congress a treaty of annexation, but upon the accession of President Cleveland the treaty was withdrawn, the Minister's action disavowed, and a special commissioner, Mr. Blount, was sent to the islands to report upon the situation. The commissioner's report represented that the action of Mr. Stevens had been unwarranted, and that it was the landing of the United States seamen that made the success of the Revolution possible. The disposition of the United States Government appearing to be favorable to the deposed Queen, negotiations were entered upon for her restoration; but her refusal to grant a general amnesty made it impossible to support her pretensions. Thrown upon its own resources, Hawaii was proclaimed a republic July 4, 1894, and duly organized, with Sanford B. Dole as President, and a Legislature of two chambers. The political excitement that had made the annexation question a disturbing one in the United States having subsided, and the Republican Party being again in power, the Government of Hawaii, then firmly established, renewed negotiations for annexation in 1898.
In accordance with a resolution of Congress, passed July 7, 1898, the Hawaiian Islands were formally annexed August 12, 1898. By the act
