On January 17, 1893, a small group of businessmen, backed by the U.S. military and diplomatic personnel, illegally overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom. This led to the establishment of a Provisional Government (January 17, 1893 - July 3, 1894) and then the Republic of Hawaii (July 4, 1894 - August 12, 1898). The 1895 Land Act repealed most of the land laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom and merged the Government and Crown Lands – two distinct categories of landholdings with different purposes – into one category: "public lands." The 1895 Land Act also repealed a previous 1865 law making the Crown lands inalienable, allowing commissioners of Public Lands to sell “land patents” at public auction and establish a comprehensive homesteading program on the public lands. The Joint Resolution recognized the "special nature of the Government and Crown Lands, stating that their revenues and proceeds should be used solely for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands for educational and other public purposes.”