Island Politics In The Nineteenth Century

The United States first began to deal with the issue of voter suppression during the Reconstruction. During Reconstruction freed slaves earned their right to vote and hold office through the fifteenth amendment in 1870. In 1877, Democrats, known as Dixiecrats, began to impose laws that were designed to suppress the African American vote or better known as Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow voting laws required the freedmen to pass literacy tests that they were unable to pass because of no formal education because of their status of slaves. Many states created poll taxes, which many poor Americans, white and black, were unable to pay. Many precincts made their voting precincts “white only” so that blacks would have nowhere to cast their votes. The Jim Crow voter suppression tactics were so successful that only three percent of African Americans in the south were registered to vote in 1940. Although African American males were given the right to vote in

After discovering how the island was conspired into this seizure, Cleveland recommended that the monarchy should be restored. In a message to the Congress, specifically addressing Minister Wallis, Cleveland urged to restore the condition of the island as it was previous to the “lawless landing” of the forces of the United States at the Honolulu. He proposed that “the past should be buried” and the “restored Government should resume its authority” without being affected. But Congress did not act upon this command. In 1894, Hawaii came under Stanford Dole, who, declared himself president of the Republic without much consent from the natives. The queen was placed under house arrest held for the guilt of treason. A fine of $5000 was also placed on her. In 1896, the Republican Party called for the annexation of Hawaii in the presidential election. In 1990, Hawaii legitimately became a U.S. territory under William McKinley, out of fear that it may be annexed by Japan. He also feared that he lacked majority support for the annexation in the Senate. Eventually, several immigrant laborers from all over the world joined the sugar business. Today Hawaii comprises of people belonging to China, Japan, and Portuguese from Madeira and the Azores including Puerto Rican’s, Koreans and Filipinos. This resulted in Hawaii

Another method of preventing blacks from gaining the vote was the successful ‘grandfather clause’ which stated if your grandfather had voted then you were also allowed to vote. In 1900 only 3% of southern blacks were able to vote. This evidence suggests that the black Americans did not stand ‘in the sun’ as the majority was unable to gain the vote and so the reconstruction failed to offer any real racial equality.

The right of all citizens of the United States to vote would not be denied by the United States Government or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power, by appropriate legislation, to enforce the provisions of this article. (Weatherford 245)

Voting right in America around the early 1800s was a very complex process, because many of the politicians and government leaders had supported slavery, which led to limited voting rights to those who were legally free. Women, however weren’t treated as equals to men, therefore they didn’t get much attention to their voting rights (which at the time there was none). There were two other major factors in voting as well, which were socioeconomics and land owners, making the poor worker class have very little political freedoms as well. Most of the voting privileges went to rich white men.

In order to limit the voting rights of African Americans, there were poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses were created. The poll taxes was an annual taxes, for those who wanted to vote.

Voting in the early 1800’s was limited to white landowning males who paid taxes; neither women, African American slaves, nor the non- landowning/ non-taxpaying white males had the right to contribute to the

In the year 1870 the 15th amendment was passed. The fithteenth amendemt reads “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (Mcneese, Tim). But even though this was passed blacks still saw a problem voting. America started the Jim

An important bill passed during this time of political experimentation was the Bill of Rights, which protect rights like freedom of speech, trial by jury, and freedom from self-incrimination (Shi and Tindall, 173). Along with Americans’ rights being outlined, people started expanding their political involvement. After the Revolution, former militiamen and soldiers were excited and eager to take part in the newly formed government. With the creation of state government opened up many opportunities for ordinary people to take political offices. Also, the qualifications for voting were lowers, so more white men could vote. In addition, all tax paying men in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, and Georgia could now vote. So, when compared to Great Britain, more men in the late eighteen and early nineteenth century could vote in America (Shi and Tindall,

Prior to the Jacksonian Era, the law restricted voting, for the most part, to white males who owned property. As suffrage became a popular topic, “men who could not meet property requirements insisted that they were as fit as others to exercise the rights of citizens [voting]” (GME, 357). Through petitions by landless men, the land requirement became invalid and

Voting right were really big issues for African Americans. The south made three restrictions to stop them. The south added poll taxes, which made the blacks pay to vote. The grandfather clause was an southern agreement, which stated if your grandfather voted you can vote. Also they added a literacy test, because they knew African Americans couldn’t read or write.

On January 17, 1893, the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown by the United States of America. A storm had broken out, and a group of American men took control of the Hawaiian Kingdom. This group of men, called the Hawaiian League would ultimately take over, and overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom. When the McKinley Tariff was signed, this allowed all imported sugar into the U.S. tariff free. This worried many foreign sugar businessmen that sugar would not thrive in Hawaii anymore. Many businessmen thought annexation would be a solution to help boost sugar again. The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was unjustified, because of the unlawful acts by Minster Stevens, and the Hawaiian League.

The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, which happened from January 17, 1893 to August 12, 1898, happened because the sugar planters and businessmen wanted more power over the Hawaiian Islands, both economically and politically. These foreigners tried to overthrow the Hawaiian Monarchy by using force, and the Hawaiians tried to stop the act of annexation. During the overthrow, some foreigners, such as Sanford B. Dole, Lorrin A. Thurston, and John L. Stevens, created the Hawaiian League, the Committee of Public Safety, and the Annexation Club to promote annexation on Hawaii. When the United States promoted the McKinley Tariff Act in 1891, it harmed the sugar industry in Hawaii, increasing the calls for annexation. At the same time, King David

During this time period, America's vision of politics was transformed. "Democracy appeared to suffuse every aspect of culture and politics" (Keene, 228). Considering the voting restrictions most states had in 1800, close to three decades later many states disregarded these restrictions. Several new states "adopted constitutions with no property requirements," and some older states even adjusted their constitutions (Keene, 228). America's ideas about voting were transformed to include nearly all white men with the growth of democracy. Although many states were broadening suffrage for white men, some were placing new restrictions on black men. These limitations made it were only a few black men had the right to vote. Overall, democracy transformed America's ideas on suffrage for the white and black man.

The United States had previously recognized the Kingdom of Hawaii’s independence. However, on January 17, 1893, U.S. troops took part in a conspiracy led by a small group of wealthy businessmen and sugar plantation owners to overthrow the monarchy of Queen Liliuokalani. Most Hawaiians opposed the nearly bloodless coup, as did incoming President Grover Cleveland. Once Cleveland left office, however, the United States fulfilled the conspirators’ wishes by annexing the islands in August 1898. Hawaii became a formal territory two years later and a state in 1959. The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was unjustified because Queen Lili’uokalani was charged for unnecessary reasons and was forced to do things against her own will that led to the absolute