Who annexed Hawaii?

Answer 1

The overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy and annexation of Hawaii represents a imperial period in American history. The loss of Queen Lili'uokalani was seen as unfair, unjust, and cruel. It expanded the border of the United States far beyond any previous expansion. The annexation of what had been an independent country was very upsetting to the Hawaiian people and was seen as a threat by the Japanese Empire.

Answer 2

The Hawaiian Islands were occupied for centuries before Kamehameha conquered and united the islands into a single Kingdom. From 1810-1893, the Kingdom of Hawaii was a formally-recognized nation with embassies, ambassadors, and so on.

Unfortunately, it had a lot of political and economic problems; sources vary on who was to blame. American and European planters and businessmen blamed the native Hawaiian royalty and government. Native Hawaiians, particularly those in the modern sovereignty movement, blame the foreigners and missionaries who destroyed Hawaiian culture. In any case, after considerable unrest, the white businessmen unseated the reigning Queen Liliuokalani with the (unofficial, unapproved, and illegal) help of American sailors from a ship in port at the time.

The rebels immediately asked to be annexed by the USA, but President Cleveland rejected the idea and considered the overthrow of the rightful Hawaiian government to be a "substantial wrong," and sought to restore the monarchy. The rebels then formed a Republic on 4 July 1894, which lasted until the next US president, McKinley, agreed to annexation in 1898, whereupon Hawaii became a territory of the USA. During that period, there was an unsuccessful counter-rebellion in 1895.

In 1993, one hundred years after the fall of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the US Congress formally apologized for America's participation in "suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people."

--David Farnell, lecturer in American Literature and Culture at Kyushu University, Japan

sources: Gavin Daws, SHOAL OF TIME; RS Keukendall, THE HAWAIIAN KINGDOM; and plenty of other things I read while researching a paper on Herman Melville

Answer 3

The annexation of Hawaii began over sugar. In 1890 an American bill was passed which raised the tariffs on foreign sugar which led to large profit losses to sugar plantations in Hawaii which were largely operated by Americans. The plantation owners staged a coup to overthrow the queen because they knew that they would make more profit if America would annex Hawaii.

Answer 4

The United States government overthrew the Native Hawaiian Kingdom in 1899 and made Hawaii a territory in 1900. It became a state in 1959.

Answer 5

Read the story as written by the last ruling Monarch of Hawaii, Hawaii Story by the Queen Liliuokalani. She was clearly overthrown and by my reading and others, it was not a very nice thing.