On October 8, 1840, the Kingdom of Hawaii (Native spelling: Hawai‘i) adopts its first constitution, creating a formal government and granting all citizens of the independent nation equal rights, stating that “chiefs and people may enjoy protection under one and the same law.”
Passed during the rule of King Kamehameha III, the new system established a governmental structure in which, for the first time, citizens could vote to elect a house of representatives that would hold joint law-making power with the council of chiefs—giving commoners their first-ever voice in the government. The constitution also created a public school system and Hawaii’s first-ever Supreme Court.