Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom
The Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom (Hawaiian: ʻAhaʻōlelo o ke Aupuni o Hawaiʻi) was the bicameral (later unicameral) legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom. A royal legislature was first provided by the 1840 Constitution[1] and the 1852 Constitution was the first to use the term Legislature of the Hawaiian Islands, and the first to subject the monarch to certain democratic principles. Prior to this the monarchs ruled under a Council of Chiefs (ʻAha Aliʻi).
Legislature of the Hawaiian Islands1
Legislative Assembly of the Hawaiian Kingdom2
Legislative Assembly of the Hawaiian Kingdom2
1840
1893
Council of Chiefs (ʻAha Aliʻi)
Appointed by the monarch with the advice of the Privy Council
Elected by popular vote
History[edit]
From 1840 to 1864, the Legislature existed as a bicameral parliament. However, with the 1864 Constitution, the Legislature was temporarily unified into a single-house (unicameral) legislature. This Constitution also created property and literacy requirements for both Legislature members and voters; these requirements were later repealed by the Legislature in 1874 during the reign of King Lunalilo. The subsequent 1887 Constitution, known as the "Bayonet Constitution," restored the two chambers as a bicameral legislature and made the revived upper House of Nobles elected to six-year terms, with higher property ownership requirements.[3]
Following the contentious 1892 Legislative Session of the Hawaiian Kingdom, tensions grew between some members of the Legislature and Queen Liliuokalani.[4] After the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, it became the Legislature of the brief Republic of Hawaii, followed in 1898 by the Territory of Hawaii after the American annexation. This was followed 61 years later by the present Hawaii State Legislature in 1959 after the admission to the Union of the Territory as the 50th State. It now consists of the lower Hawaii House of Representatives and upper house of the Hawaii Senate as the bicameral legislative body of the State of Hawaii under the 1959 Hawaii Admission Act and Constitution.