major european powers recognised the country. the united states became its chief trading partner and watched over it to prevent some other power (such as britain or japan) from threatening to seize control. hawaiʻi was forced to adopt a new constitution in 1887. king kalākaua signed it, because the honolulu rifles, an anti-monarchist militia, thratened him. queen liliʻuokalani, who succeeded kalākaua in 1891, tried to replace the 1887 constitution with a new one. she was but was overthrown in 1893, largely at the hands of the committee of safety, a group of residents consisting of hawaiian subjects and foreign nationals of american, british and german descent, many of whom had been educated in the us, had lived there for a time. hawaiʻi was an independent republic until the u.s. annexed it through the newlands resolution, on july 4, 1898. this created the territory of hawaii. united states public law 103-150 adopted in 1993 (informally known as the apology resolution), acknowledged that "the overthrow of the kingdom of hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the united states" and also "that the native hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the united states their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the kingdom of hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum."