Editing Lunalilo (section)

==Election==
[[File:Lunalilo seated with Kalakaua and others.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Lunalilo was considered the more popular candidate.]]
King Kamehameha V, the last of the Kamehameha kings, died on December 11, 1872, without naming a successor. Under the Kingdom's [[1864 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom|1864 constitution]], if the king did not appoint a successor, a new king would be elected by the [[Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom|legislature]] from the eligible Hawaiian royals still alive. The other candidate was David Kalākaua. Lunalilo was the more popular of the two. His grandfather was Kalaimamahu, a half brother of Kamehameha I and was thus a cousin of King Kamehameha V. His grandmother was Queen Kalakua Kaheiheimalie, sister of Queen Kaʻahumanu. Because of this, many people believed the throne rightly belonged to Lunalilo since the only person more closely related to Kamehameha V, [[Bernice Pauahi Bishop]], made clear she did not want the throne. Another contender was [[Keʻelikōlani|Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani]] who was a half sister to King Kamehameha V. She was a favorite among the Hawaiian chiefs because of her adhering to the old Hawaiian ways. She was governess of Hawaii and refused to speak English even though she was fluent in it. Her genealogy, however, was too controversial and few people considered her suitable to take the throne. This left Kalākaua and Lunalilo, and of the two, Lunalilo was greatly favored. So great was Lunalilo's popularity that some people believed that Lunalilo could have simply walked into the capital and declared himself king. Lunalilo, however, insisted that the constitution be followed. He issued the following message six days after the death of Kamehameha V:

<blockquote>''"Whereas, it is desirable that the wishes of the Hawaiian people be consulted as to a successor to the Throne, therefore, notwithstanding that according to the law of inheritance, I am the rightful heir to the Throne, in order to preserve peace, harmony and good order, I desire to submit the decision of my claim to the voice of the people."''{{sfn|Dole|1915|pages=34–35}}</blockquote>

Lunalilo, unlike his more [[conservatism|conservative]] opponent, wanted to amend the constitution to make the government more [[Democracy|democratic]] by removing property qualifications for voting.{{sfn|Kuykendall|1953|page=246}} It was decided that there would be a popular [[election]] to give the people a chance to have their voices heard. However, because the constitution gave the legislature the power to decide who would be the next king, the popular election would be unofficial. Lunalilo urged the people of the Kingdom to have their voices heard.{{sfn|Galuteria|1993|pages=35–39}}

The [[1873 Hawaii monarchal election|popular vote]] was held on January 1, 1873, and Lunalilo won by an overwhelming majority.{{sfn|Judd|Hawaiian Historical Society|1936|page=39}}{{sfn|Tsai|2016|pages=61–62}} The week after, the legislature unanimously voted Lunalilo king. It has been speculated that the reason for the unanimous vote was because each legislator was required to sign his name on the back of his ballot, and the legislators were afraid to go against the wishes of the people. [[Queen Emma of Hawaii|Queen Emma]] later wrote in a letter that hundreds of Hawaiians were ready to tear to pieces anyone who opposed Lunalilo.{{sfn|Osorio|2002|pages=147–150}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Dole|first=Sanford B.|title=Thirty Days of Hawaiian History|newspaper=The Pacific Commercial Advertiser|location=Honolulu|date=January 31, 1874|page=3|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015418/1874-01-31/ed-1/seq-3/}}</ref>{{sfn|Tsai|2016|pages=62–63}}

At Lunalilo's investiture ceremony, held on January 9, 1873, at [[Kawaiahaʻo Church]], the courtyard was filled to capacity and a large crowd watched from outside.{{sfn|Galuteria|1993|pages=41–42}} Because Lunalilo's popularity was so great, and because he became king through a democratic process, he became known as "The People's King."<ref name="KaleinamanuSilva"/><ref name="Fisher 2011">{{Cite web |last=Fisher |first=Bruce |date=2011-02-04 |title=The People's King in Hawaii |url=https://www.hawaii-aloha.com/blog/2011/02/04/the-king-who-was-elected-in-hawaii/ |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=Hawaii Aloha Travel |language=en-US}}</ref>