Honolulu Courthouse riot

This riot should not be confused with the 1852 Whaler Riot in Honolulu.

The Honolulu Courthouse riot, or the Election riot, occurred on February 12, 1874, in the mid-afternoon, when Hawaiian advocates of Queen Emma, known as Emmaites, stormed the Honolulu Courthouse after American legislators announced David Kalākaua as King. The demonstrators were angered by the perceived legislature’s disregard for mass public, Native Hawaiian sentiment and by the growing influence of American businessmen and legislators in their sovereign nation’s affairs. By late afternoon, the unrest was suppressed by 150 U.S. troops from the USS Tuscarora and USS Portsmouth, along with 70 British forces deployed by the British Consul General—further alienating Native Hawaiians from their political autonomy.

Kalākaua took the oath of office the following day without further opposition. Over the next month, the Hawaiian Kingdom would make over 70 arrests but only half would be fully charged due to a lack of evidence, with 20 pleading guilty with unwavering, proud support for their Queen. This election would later set the stage for further engrossment of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s sovereignty by the American businessmen and legislators through the 1887 Bayonet Constitution and eventual illegal overthrow.