King Kalakaua essays

King Kalakaua essays King Kalakaua was elected by the legislature in hawaii in 1874. He was so popular in the election because the sugar growers in Hawaii would benefit from him signing the reciprocity treaty if he became king. The treaty would allow them to export and import goods (mainly rice and sugar) tax free in Hawaii. The Hawaiian League was formed in 1887 composed of elite business men and sugar growers of missionary descent. Its primary goal was to eliminate the monarchy by further reducing the kings power. They desired an American democracy so badly that they forced the king to appoint a new cabinet consisting of members from the Hawaiian League. In that same year, Kalakaua adopted the Bayonet constitution because Lorrin Thurston , grandson of American missionaries, was the backbone for the revolution against the Hawaiian Monarchy. Lorrin and other American missionaries had a goal to (in their words) reform the monarchy. Thurston had a vision to change the Government of Hawaii into a democracy to protect and preserve the ways of the Hawaiians from other countrys invasions. The league had a vision that they would allow the king to remain in his current power except being limited to a new constitution of their making. Dethroning him would be a last resort, and only if he refused to comply. Many Hawaiian League members belonged to a volunter militia, the Honolulu Rifles, which was officially in service to the Hawaiian government, but was secretly the league's military arm. The league formed a military arm to protect themselves from any people who might damage the well being of the people in the league. Thurston desired justice from some of the ways of the Hawaiian people. They traded and freely smoked opium, had a corrupted government system because of it, drank and danced hula. Kalakaua was compelled to accept a new Cabinet composed of league members, who presented their constitution ...