During the latter part of the nineteenth century, American and European business leaders in Hawaii struggled against native rulers King Kalakaua (1836-1891), who led from 1874 to his death in 1891, and his sister, Queen Liliuokalani (lih-LEE-uh-woh-kuh-LON-ee; 1838-1917), who succeeded him. By 1887, a group of American and other white business leaders had established an armed militia and were successful in developing a new constitution that limited royal powers. The "Bayonet Constitution," as it was called, based the right to vote on wealth, a provision that disenfranchised about three-fourths of the native Hawaiian voters. European and American males could vote, even if they were not Hawaiian citizens, but Asian immigrants were excluded.

Queen Liliuokalani attempted to regain some of the power of the monarchy when she took the throne in 1891. She opposed efforts...