Qualla: Honolulu Courthouse Riot

Honolulu Courthouse Riot: Introduction

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Menzies Dickson, Public domain. The vote was 36 to 6, and it took less than a minute for the crowd to turn. On the afternoon of February 12, 1874, legislators inside the Honolulu Courthouse announced that David Kalakaua would be the next king of Hawaii. Outside, hundreds of Native Hawaiians who had come expecting their beloved Queen Emma to prevail erupted in fury. Rocks flew. Legislators were dragged from carriages. Within hours, American and British warships would land troops on Hawaiian soil to restore order. Twenty of those arrested would plead guilty without shame, proud of their stand for their queen. The riot lasted an afternoon, but the political fracture it exposed would take less than two decades to destroy the Hawaiian Kingdom entirely.

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Image: Menzies Dickson | Public domain

Honolulu Courthouse Riot: A Throne Without an Heir

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Menzies Dickson, Public domain. King Lunalilo's reign began with his election on January 8, 1873, and ended abruptly with his death on February 3, 1874. He had not named a successor. Under the Constitution of 1864, the legislature was required to hold a new election, and three candidates emerged: David Kalakaua...

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Image: Menzies Dickson | Public domain

Honolulu Courthouse Riot: Two Visions for a Kingdom

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Menzies Dickson, Public domain. Queen Emma campaigned under the motto "Hawaii for Hawaiians" and promised an all-Native Hawaiian cabinet, a prospect that made American-aligned legislators deeply uneasy. She also pledged to return to a constitution closer to Kamehameha III's, which would have restored powers the...

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Image: Menzies Dickson | Public domain

Honolulu Courthouse Riot: Rocks, Sticks, and People Through the Air

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Menzies Dickson, Public domain. A few minutes past three o'clock on February 12, legislators emerged from the courthouse to announce the result. Scattered cheers rose, then drowned under shouts of anger. Within seconds, rocks, sticks, and bodies were flying toward the departing legislators and their waiting car...

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Image: Menzies Dickson | Public domain

Honolulu Courthouse Riot: Foreign Guns on Hawaiian Soil

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit USS Congress, Public domain. By 4:30 that afternoon, Kalakaua wrote to the British and American commissioners requesting naval forces to suppress the unrest. By sundown, 150 troops from the USS Tuscarora and USS Portsmouth, along with 70 British soldiers, had taken control. The American troops dispersed the ...

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Image: USS Congress | Public domain

Honolulu Courthouse Riot: The Long Unraveling

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Menzies Dickson, Public domain. American businessmen interpreted the riot as evidence that more American influence in Hawaii was needed. Their first objective was Pearl Harbor -- officially justified as protection for the new king, but aligned with broader strategic and commercial ambitions in the Pacific. They...

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Image: Menzies Dickson | Public domain