Liliʻuokalani

Born in Honolulu in 1838 and hānai-adopted at birth by Abner Pākī and Laura Kōnia, Liliʻuokalani was raised alongside Bernice Pauahi Bishop and proclaimed eligible for the throne by Kamehameha III. After her brother David Kalākaua became king in 1874, she was named heir apparent in 1877 following their younger brother's death. She ascended January 29, 1891, and tried to draft a new constitution restoring monarchical power and voting rights for the disenfranchised. On January 17, 1893, the Committee of Safety - seven foreign residents and six Hawaiian subjects of American descent - overthrew her government with US Marines landed to protect American interests. The Provisional Government became the Republic of Hawaiʻi, seeking annexation that President Grover Cleveland temporarily blocked. After a failed uprising, she was placed under house arrest at ʻIolani Palace and forced to abdicate January 24, 1895, under threat of her supporters' execution. She lived as a private citizen until her death at Washington Place in 1917.