Download ACQUIRING hAWAII (1893)

Acquiring
Hawaii
(1893)
Hawaii also interested imperial powers. The Hawaiian Islands had a tropical climate and fertile, lava-enriched
soil. In 1778 British explorer Captain James Cook visited the islands and renamed them the Sandwich Islands.
Hawaiian chief Kamehameha united the eight major islands during his reign, which lasted from 1795 to 1819.
This monarchy held power until 1893.
The Hawaiian Islands lie in the Pacific Ocean some 2,000 miles west of California. They were a good place to
build naval bases and coaling stations for ships traveling to and from Asia. Some viewed Hawaiians as an uncivilized people who needed to be introduced to modern industrial society and Christianity. One early visitor described Hawaiian culture.
During the 1800s ships began arriving in Hawaii more often. The ships brought missionaries, settlers, and traders. They also brought diseases that reduced the Hawaiian population from about 300,000 in 1778 to fewer than
150,000 by 1819.
American influence. Pacific trading and whaling ships that stopped at the islands for supplies made the first U.S.
con-tact with the Hawaiian Islands. In the 1820s Protestant mis-sionaries from New England traveled to the islands to convert Hawaiians to Christianity. Missionaries and their families set-tled on the islands and began raising crops, particularly sugar.
American investors in the sugar industry gradually increased their control over the islands. As Hawaii's economy
boomed, sugar planters grew rich. Hawaiian sugar production rose, and the influence of Americans increased.
Expansion of the sugar industry meant that more laborers were needed.
Since Hawaiians were dying off at a high rate, planters brought in thousands of Japanese and Chinese workers,
who soon outnumbered Hawaiians. By the 1870s Americans controlled most of Hawaii's land and trade. They
exercised growing influence over Hawaiian king Kalakaua (kah-LAH-KAH-ooh-ah), who took the throne in
1874.
An 1875 treaty exempted Hawaiian sugar from U.S. tariffs. In exchange, Hawaii promised not to grant territory
or special privileges in the islands to any other country. In 1886 U.S. officials demanded control of Pearl Harbor
in exchange for renewing tax-free status for Hawaiian sugar. Kalakaua refused. Some 400 American businesspeople, planters, and traders in Hawaii then formed the secret Hawaiian League. Their goal was to overthrow the
monarchy and persuade the United States to annex Hawaii.
In July 1887 the League forced Kalakaua at gunpoint to sign a new constitution that limited his role to that of a
figurehead. It also limited native Hawaiians' right to hold office in their own country. Hawaiians resented what
they called the Bayonet Constitution. Kalakaua had no choice but to renew the treaty and grant the United States
exclusive rights to build a fortified naval base at Pearl Harbor.
In 1890 Congress enacted the McKinley Tariff, which created a crisis by ending Hawaii's favored position in the
sugar trade. The law permitted all countries to ship sugar duty-free to the United States. It also gave sugar producers in the United States a subsidy-a government bonus payment-of two cents per pound. This caused sugar
prices to drop, and the Hawaiian economy suffered.
A Nationalist Queen In 1891 Kalakaua died, and his sister Liliuokalani (li-lee-uh-woh-kuh-LAHN-ee) succeeded
him. Liliuokalaili was a champion of Hawaiian nationalism and pledged to regain "Hawaii for the Hawaiians." Liliuokalani was born into a Hawaiian rul-ing family in 1838. As a young girl she saw the monar-chy reclaim Hawaiian independence after a brief British takeover. She never forgot the pride she felt as the Hawaiian flag was again
raised over her native land.
Early in her reign, Queen Liliuokalani began working to overturn the Bayonet Constitution and replace it with one
that would return power to native Hawaiians. In 1893 she announced her plan to publish a new constitution. In response, the supporters of annexation forcibly occupied government buildings, declared the end of the monarchy,
and set up a provisional government of their own. Without authorization, the U.S. minister to Hawaii, John Stevens,
ordered marines ashore from the cruiser Boston, supposedly to protect American lives and property. With gatling
guns and cannons in place, the marines took up positions facing Iolani Palace and Liliuokalani.
No shots were fired, and the revolutionaries established a new government with Sanford B. Dole as president.
Again acting without authority, Stevens recognized the new government and proclaimed Hawaii to be under U.S.
protection on February 1, 1893. "The Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe:' proclaimed Stevens, "and this is the golden
hour for the United States to pluck it." Not wanting to see Hawaiians killed, a deeply saddened Queen Liliuokalani
reluctantly surrendered her throne.
The new government petitioned the United States for annexation, but anti--imperialists and Democratic senators
blocked the proposed treaty. Newly elected president Grover Cleveland withdrew the treaty and ordered an investigation. The investigator's report condemned the revolt and the U.S. role in it. The report also proposed putting
Liliuokalani back on the throne. Cleveland supported the report and asked the provisional government to resign.
Dole, however, refused to step down.
Unwilling to use military force to restore Liliuokalani, Cleveland reluctantly recognized the Dole government but
refused to approve annexation. From 1894 to 1898, the indepen-dent Republic of Hawaii waited for a friendly
Washington administration. It came with the election of President William McKinley. The United States annexed
Hawaii on July 7, 1898, despite the opposition of most of Hawaii's population.
Liliuokalani lived out the rest of her life in Honolulu, serving as a proud reminder of Hawaii's past. She died in
1917 and was buried in the Royal Mausoleum. Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1900 and the 50th state in 1959.
In 1993 Congress apol-ogized for the U.S. role in Liliuokalani's overthrow.