 On January 20 , 1887 , the United States began leasing Pearl Harbor . Shortly afterwards , a group of mostly non @-@ Hawaiians calling themselves the Hawaiian Patriotic League began the Rebellion of 1887 . They drafted their own constitution on July 6 , 1887 . The new constitution was written by Lorrin Thurston , the Hawaiian Minister of the Interior who used the Hawaiian militia as threat against Kalākaua . Kalākaua was forced to dismiss his cabinet ministers and sign a new constitution which greatly lessened his power . It would become known as the " Bayonet Constitution " due to the force used . 
