Lili’uokalani of Hawaii (reigned 1891 – 1895)
Lydia Lili’u Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamaka’eha assumed the throne after the death of her brother in 1891. Her reign was difficult from the start. Soon after assuming the throne, Lydia immediately tried to revoke the Bayonet Constitution signed by her brother. The document minimized the power of the king, removed land rights of Native Hawaiians, and gave votes to foreign landholders. She had further setbacks in her reign. First, she was deposed before overriding the Bayonet Constitution.
The United States annexed her territory. Second, Lili’uokalani hoped to be restored to power by working with the United States government, but hope faded by 1895. Third, after a counter-revolution, she was put under house arrest at ‘Iolani Palace. She spent the rest of her life protesting the annexation of Hawaii, even suing the United States for the loss of crown land, and died in 1917 never regaining her throne.
