From the time King Kamehameha I founded the Kingdom of Hawai'i by inter-island tribal warfare with the help of a British sailor named John Young and western guns, each successive constitution of the western-styled government of the islands had increasingly restricted enfranchisement of the native people of the islands. The laws of the Kingdom increasingly accommodated importation of labor for sugar plantations built by Ha'oles. The laws of the Kingdom established the concept of land ownership. Originally the concept of land ownership was contrary to the beliefs and customs of native Hawaiians and was literally kapu, a religious taboo.
During his brief reign, in 1887 members of the Ha'ole militia called the Honolulu Rifles forced King Kalakuaua, to enact a constitution written by planter Lloyd Thurston. This constitution disenfranchised all Asians as well as most poor, and thus most native Hawaiians. It favored white planters, mill owners, and sugar cane and pineapple producers. The Bayonet Constitution was the derogatory name given it by those it disenfranchised. Kalakuaua had been forced to sign the constitution at gunpoint. Rifles at the time were commonly fixed with bayonets. The Bayonet Constitution was law when Lili'uokalani became Queen in 1891.
In 1890 the McKinley Tariff had been passed by the U.S., which severely restricted the primary market for Hawaiian-produced sugar, and the Ha'oles began machinations to have Hawaii annexed. Lili'uokalani was aware of this intention. Under all constitutions, including the Bayonet Constitution, the ruler of the Kingdom was empowered to create law by signing a Constitution and by edict. To regain autonomy in her Kingdom, Lili'uokalani herself wrote the a new constitution setting aside the provisions of the Bayonet Constitution and restoring authority and power to the reigning Hawaiian aristocracy and restoring the franchise of native Hawaiians in 1892.
A committee of "public safety" composed of newly disenfranchised Hawai'i-born citizens of American parents (Ha'oles), foreign nationals and the naturalized citizens forced Lili'uokalani to step down from the throne on January 17, 1893.
