Why Hawaii Should Not Have Been Annexed Essay

According to the information present in the speech given by a man named, Sanford J Dole, the Americans imperializing Hawai’i was a constructive motion. This is due to the fact that throughout the speech, Dole informs his audience on the benefits both the Hawaiians and Hawai’i would gain through Hawai’i being a territory of the United States(US). The speech was given on June 10th, 1900, at Iolani Palace, after Dole was elected to be the governor of the Territory of Hawai’i. As the speech is an original document, it is a primary source. Based on the information provided in the speech, the message Dole is trying to convey is that the day Hawai’i became a territory of the US, is one of the most important days in Hawaiian history. This is because

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, at 7:55 AM the Japanese Empire led a surprise attack on the US Naval base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, that would leave millions of Americans in shock, and heartbroken. Before the attack, the United States kept a low profile on International affairs, and concentrated on the domestic affairs at hand. This tragic moment in American history forever remembered. It is a mournful day for the American people, although, for the Japanese Empire it was an honorable day, one they would call a

The annexation of Hawaii was an important event in the history of the world. It is still not easy for the Hawaiians to accept the fact that America had taken over a land 2500 miles away from the West Coast. In 1917 Hawaii was considered the 50th state supported by the islanders after a plebiscite. Queen Lydia Kamakaeha Liliuokalani was overthrown because of the support of the United States army as well as naval forces to a group of businessmen belonging to the sugar and pineapple industry. The Armed forces of the United States were ordered to provide this support on the directives of the minister of the United States to Hawaii. In reality they were missionaries who had been welcomed for several years by the

Hawaii’s short story had many important events one including the Great Mahele or the great land division. The Mahele was the division of Hawaii’s land that altered the Hawaiian lifestyle permanently never returning. According to Star Advertiser, the Mahele in place in 1848, the land divided into four categories, consisting of land owned by the king, ali’i, land set aside to purchase, and land worked by the maka’ainana. At the time, foreigners living in Hawaii was frequent, as many stayed for the “paradise lifestyle,” but as time went on, possessing land seemed as it should be legal and allowed. In Hawaii, natives believed that the land did not belong to people, but the land belonged to the gods and they thought the foreigners way of thinking was bizarre. However, Kamehameha III had a different perspective on this idea, for he wanted to ensure that no hostile takeovers or wars would break out if the foreigners were being neglected (Borreca). The Mahele did not benefit the Hawaiians because the interaction of foreigners left the Hawaiians with little

On July 1898, Hawaii was officially annexed to the US after a valiant struggle. Ever since the Reciprocity Treaty was canceled out by the McKinley Tariff, many people have been yearning for annexation, such as sugar planters. Queen Liliuokalani, who was the last monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, was overthrown by Americans whose main goal was to make Hawaii a US territory. Queen Liliuokalani and her brother, King Kalakaua, opposed the annexation. However, the foreigners, known as the Committee of Safety, eventually overthrew the monarchy. When the US finally took over Hawaii, there were many diverse opinions as to whether the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy was justified. The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was not justified, because Queen

Although there are many more factors that could be taken into account I believe that the increase in demand for sugar, the low price of slaves in West Africa, and the amount of islands under British control with tropical weather are the main reasons why the sugar trade was

“Thus it appears that Hawaii was taken possession of by the United States forces without the consent or wish of the government of the islands, or of anybody else so far as shown, except the United States Minister.” President Cleveland’s words remind me of how cruel America took over Hawaii. Hawaii had been a Monarchy for many years, just as the United States has been a republic many years, yet the United States selfishly overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy just so they could have a naval base in the Pacific Ocean. Throughout this research paper I will support my claim of why I think it was not right that Hawaii was illegally annexed.

unlawfully gained Hawaii as a territory due to one major contributing factor, the Spanish-American War. High tensions and treaties failing, the U.S. sought to use Hawaii as a strategic gain on Spanish, by creating a strong military base in the Pacific. “Advocates argued that Hawaii was needed to support American soldiers in the Philippines“(Moss 18). It is required for the people of the native land to consent to being annexed into a country by Joint Resolution, but nevertheless, the appropriate procedures were ignored. These procedures were not met because of the potential economic, strategic, and imperial gain. After illegally annexing Hawaii by Joint Resolution and violating the U.S. Constitution, Hawaii ultimately became a controlled point in the U.S.’s stride for imperialism

The Spanish-American war gave the push that the American government needed to make a final decision over Hawaii. The Hawaiin Islands were known as the

John L. Stevens came to the island of Oahu in September 1889, acting as the U.S. Minister to Hawaii. While his mission in Hawaii was not clearly stated, his political actions on the islands clearly showed that Stevens thought that the annexation of Hawaii was proper and inevitable.

The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was on January 17, 1893 when the government's power fell in the foreigners hands who supported annexation. The Annexation Club focused on overthrowing the Queen and seeking annexation to the United States. This was caused by the McKinley Tariff Act by the United States which the Reciprocity Treaty on tariff that helped protect both United States and Hawaii sugar growers was now removed and the Hawaiians had a huge disadvantage because of the tariffs the Hawaiians need to pay. This was horrible for the foreigners because now that there was no more reciprocity treaty, the Hawaiians had to pay for the tariffs once again. The overthrow was unjustified for the Hawaiians because of John Stevens actions and the Hawaiian League.

As a result to new people coming into colonizes Hawaii and its people, the Hawaiians suffered many consequences. Formerly, the Hawaiian Islands remained isolated from the rest of the world. Once they were tainted with outside contact, the Hawaiians quickly fell ill with disease causing their population to go on rapid decline. Smaller populations allowed the missionaries to eventually gain more control. Eventually hula was prohibited, as well as the language and other past times, the final straw coming down to Hawaii's illegal annexation. The Hawaiian culture was almost lost completely; but if so it would have been legitimate to the missionaries because they were indeed "helping" these indigenous peoples become less savage like and closer to God.

The battleships, primary targets in the attack, remained anchored along an area referred to as “Battleship Row”. Within minutes after the assault began the USS Arizona sunk to the bottom of the bay taking 1,177 lives with her

The first and foremost answer would be the sinking of the Lusitania, an British cruise/transport ship, bound for Britain from New York. The German U-boat ring sought to sink all supply ships headed for Britain in order to starve the island. It sank the Lusitania as part of its efforts. 1195 people died, including 128 Americans.

On December 7th, 1941 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was the target of an unannounced military attack by the Japanese Navy. This resulted in the United States entry into World War II. After almost 4 years of war, 400,000 US casualties, 6 months of air strikes on Japanese cities and an impending defeat of Japan, an ultimatum was delivered to Japan by the United States: surrender or be destroyed.