Changes

In 1849, there was an invasion by French troops over the issue of Catholics gaining religious rights. By this time, Protestant denominations were most active on the islands. The invading force caused damage but eventually withdrew. After 1850, Americans increasingly came to Hawaii and became the most influential on the islands. Initially, missionaries who largely converted the native population to Protestant Christianity were the most active in commerce and civil affairs. The missionaries became powerful in influence to the royal family and in helping to set up trade ties with the US. Eventually, most of the islands' indigenous religions faded. Sugar became the primary industry in Hawaii as that was seen as the most profitable, with more Americans migrating to the islands and setting up plantations. This also changed Hawaii's demographic makeup by bringing over 200,000 laborers from east Asia, including from China, Japan, and the Philippines. Many of these laborers stayed after their contract periods, although most did go home. Overtime, Hawaiians became more ethically diverse and interracial marriages became common. In 1872, the first ruling Hawaiian dynasty, the Kamehameha dynasty, died out. With the death of the dynasty, monarchs became elected with the first elected monarch being William C. Lunalil. In 1887, the so-called Bayonet Constitution, due to the fact it was threatened by force on the king, was passed, which effectively made the Hawaiian kingdom a constitutional monarchy similar to the United Kingdom. This gave the legislature and cabinet government power over the king. In 1891, Liliʻuokalani became the queen in Hawaii and she soon threatened to change the constitution to put more power back in the monarch's hands (Figure 2). The queen came in a time of economic troubles for Hawaii, as William McKinley, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, had supported legislation that created what became known as the McKinley tariffs that helped to remove advantages Hawaiian exporters enjoyed previously in the US. The tariffs became a catalyst to the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. In On January 17, 1893, a group of non-natives (5 Americans, 1 British, and 1 German) overthrew the queen as they saw the tariffs as a threat to their businesses. The local US government minister, John L. Stevens, then ordered US sailors to land on the island and take up positions on key areas of US interest. The Committee of Safety, which was a group of mainly US individuals with business and missionary interests that planned and supported the overthrow, proclaimed an 'imminent threat to American lives and property' to justify the overthrow and occupation of the Hawaiian islands by US forces. This effectively ended the Hawaiian Kingdom.<ref>For more on the last decades of an independent Hawaii and how the last monarch was overthrown, see: Siler, J.F., OverDrive, I., 2012. <i>Lost Kingdom</i>. Grove/Atlantic, Inc.</ref>