Kamehameha the Fifth: Last of the Name

Lot Kamehameha, who ruled as Kamehameha the Fifth from eighteen sixty-three to eighteen seventy-two, was the last Hawaiian monarch to carry the name of the great conqueror who unified the islands. He came to the throne determined to restore royal authority that he believed had been eroded under constitutional constraints, and in eighteen sixty-four he convened a constitutional convention, ultimately dissolving it and promulgating a new constitution by royal decree, concentrating power back in the hands of the monarchy. During his reign he pursued significant public improvements and the acquisition of land for the kingdom.

He never married and named no successor, a decision that would set off a contested election after his death on his forty-second birthday, December eleventh, eighteen seventy-two. That election placed Lunalilo on the throne and marked the beginning of an unstable era that would eventually end the Hawaiian monarchy altogether about two decades later.