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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
Coat of arms or logo
Coat of arms of the Hawaiian Kingdom from 1845 to 1893
Type
Type
Bicameral (1840–1864, 1887–1893)
Unicameral (1864–1887)
HousesHouse of Nobles3
House of Representatives3
History
Established1840
Disbanded1893
Preceded byCouncil of Chiefs (ʻAha Aliʻi)
Succeeded byLegislature of the Republic of Hawaii
Elections
House of Nobles voting system
Appointed by the monarch with the advice of the Privy Council
House of Representatives voting system
Elected by popular vote
Meeting place
Aliiolani Hale, Honolulu
Footnotes
1Name of Parliament from 1852 to 1864
2Name of Parliament from 1864 to 1893
3Structure in place from 1840 to 1864

Structure

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The Legislature from 1840 to 1864 was bicameral and originally consisted of a lower House of Representatives and an upper House of Nobles as provided for under the Constitutions of the Kingdom of 1840 and 1852, until abolished by the 1864 Constitution which then provided for a unicameral Legislature.

House of Nobles

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The members of the upper House of Nobles (Hale ʻAhaʻōlelo Aliʻi) were appointed by the Monarch with the advice of his Privy Council. It also served as the court of impeachment for any royal official. Members were usually Hawaiian aliʻis, nobles, and royal or wealthy individuals. The position had no salary. It originally consisted of the King or Queen plus five women and ten men. [2] After the overthrow of the Kingdom and the subsequent United States annexation in 1898, this body was reconstituted as a Senate under the territorial constitution of the Territory of Hawaii.

House of Representatives

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The members of the lower House of Representatives (Hale ʻAhaʻōlelo Makaʻāinana) were elected by popular vote from several districts in the Kingdom. Revenue-oriented bills were issued through the House of Representatives, and it also served as the "grand inquest" of the Kingdom.

History

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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.

Presidents of the House of Nobles

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Speaker of the House of Representatives

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Presidents of the Legislature

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Vice-Presidents of the Legislature

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See also

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Further reading

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  • Hawaii (1918). Robert Colfax Lydecker (ed.). Roster Legislatures of Hawaii, 1841–1918. Honolulu: Hawaiian Gazette Company.

References

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  1. ^ "The 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii". Hawaiian Electronic Library. 1840. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
  2. ^ "Women and the Law". Hawaiian Journal of History. 11. Hawaii Historical Society. 1977. hdl:10524/444.
  3. ^ Anne Feder Lee (June 30, 1993). The Hawaii state constitution: a reference guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-0-313-27950-8.
  4. ^ KS’ Ho‘okahua Cultural Vibrancy Group. "The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy" (PDF). Retrieved 29 October 2023.
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