A New Constitution and New Laws
He came to power on November 30, 1863, after his brother's death, but refused to uphold the previous constitution of 1852. In May 1864 he called for a constitutional convention. On July 7, 1864 he proposed a new constitution rather than amending the old one. The convention ran smoothly until the 62nd article. It limited voters to being residents who passed a literacy test and possessed property or had income qualifications. On August 20, 1864, he signed the 1864 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii and took an oath to protect it. The constitution was based on the original draft but 20 articles were deleted. When he appointed Charles de Varigny as minister of finance in December 1863, Americans in Hawaiʻi were convinced that he had adopted an anti-American policy. In reality, his foreign policy remained the same. Later de Varigny became minister of foreign affairs from 1865–1869.
He was the first king to encourage revival of traditional practices. Under his reign, the laws against "kahunaism" were repealed. A Hawaiian Board of Medicine was established, with kahuna members, and la'au lapa'au or Hawaiian medicine was again practiced. He brought kahuna practitioners to Honolulu to document their remedies.
In 1865 a bill was brought before the legislature permitting the sale of liquor to the native Hawaiians. Kamehameha V surprised the supporters of bill, saying "I will never sign the death warrant of my people." Alcoholism was one of the many causes of the already declining population of the native Hawaiians.
Read more about this topic: Kamehameha V
Famous quotes containing the words constitution and/or laws:
“Can you conceive what it is to native-born American women citizens, accustomed to the advantages of our schools, our churches and the mingling of our social life, to ask over and over again for so simple a thing as that “we, the people,” should mean women as well as men; that our Constitution should mean exactly what it says?”
—Mary F. Eastman, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4 ch. 5, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)
“The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage. That is a commonplace truth, but one to which my studies are always bringing me back. It is the central point in my conception. I see it at the end of all my reflections.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)