Island Politics In The Nineteenth Century

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 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

Black voting fell off sharply in most areas because of threats by white employers and violence from the Ku Klux Klan.The reading and writing ability test did not just keep out the 60 percent of voting-age black men (most of them ex-slaves) who could not read. It left out almost all black men because the clerk would select complicated technical passages for them to understand. Very differently, the clerk would pass whites by picking simple series of words that make sense and that have a subject and a verb in the state constitution for them to explain.Mississippi also puts into law a "grandfather clause" that allowed registering anyone whose grandfather was qualified to vote before the Civil War. Obviously, this benefited only white person (who

Mid-term Essay Chapter XV: Black Voters: I found this chapter very interesting because of the Voting Rights Act Movement, the Civil War (1861-65) and the 15th Amendment passed in 1870. The fifteenth amendment forbade each of the states from denying black male citizens of the United States the right to vote based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Officials had even told black voters that they had the date and time wrong. Black voters were often forced to take literacy tests, which they undoubtedly failed. The most outrageous way of refusing black males the right to vote was that officials in the Southern states had been known to force black voters to “recite the entire Constitution.”

American law addressed how people would become slaves: “…a slave inherited that status from the mother, served for a lifetime, was of African descent, and was chattel property able to be bought and sold independently of the land” (32, Horton and Horton). Over time, states amended or completely abolished these laws, but this was standard practice up until the Civil War. We can see a somewhat extension of this practice even after the Civil War, but it was just the opposite, the Grandfather Clause. In the wake of Reconstruction throughout the South, there was still an abundance of animosity to those of any other color than white, and the legislatures wished to keep the whites in power, and anyone else out. Poll taxes and literacy tests soon regulated voting throughout the South, but those who had grandfathers who could vote without poll taxes or literacy tests were exempts from such regulations. This curtailed most now free blacks from voting, and still allowed all white to vote. It was only until 1915 that “Grandfather Clauses” and regulated voting was found unconstitutional. What was not discussed

In 1898 the united states gained control of several islands after the Spanish American war. After the war the united states promised to help them become stronger so they could be independent. However there were several issues such as shortages of food due to growing cash crops. After this the interest for Hawaii grew due to their port to china and East India and their sugar crop. The united states imperialized this area by creating sugar cane plantations

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,

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 grandfather clause was one of these racist laws. This law stated that an individual was not allowed to vote if their grandfather was unable to vote in slavery days. Luckily the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down. Sadly, however other rulings by the courts like William v. Mississippi, (1898) allowed states to add poll taxes and require literacy tests to voting requirements. These laws dramatically reduced the amount

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

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.

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

Women and those of color began to speak out for their right to vote and fight back against the injustices they were facing. Their problem was that if they didn’t have anyone in power to defend them, they wouldn’t make any progress. It was crucial for them to have the right to vote to get people in power that would help them get their unalienable rights. During the 1850s, the women’s rights movement gathered steam, but lost momentum when the Civil War began.

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

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)