Why I Think It Was Not Right That Hawaii Was Illegally Annexed

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

In Ancient Hawaii, King Kamehameha the Great unified the Hawaiian Islands. After Kamehameha unified the islands he rewarded his loyal followers making them chiefs and letting them rule over the land. Then after Kamehameha the Great died his son Kamehameha III did very little to change the land ownership in Hawaii. But Kamehameha III divided the land into two separate categories with the Act of 1848 “The Great Mahele”. There was the Crown Lands that he kept for himself and the Government lands which were to be split between the commoners, government, and the chiefs. The Great Mahele of 1848 had social, political, and economical effects on the Native Hawaiians.

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

Accordingly as planned, the Mahele began with the king, chiefs, and maka’ainana owning one third of all lands, but as time went on the maka’ainana land began to reduce rapidly (Cachola). Unfortunately, not knowing how to buy land or earn money, the land set aside for buying soon became foreign owned land. Seeming like enough land owned by the foreigners, apparently it wasn’t, more and more Hawaiians could not pay taxes, leaving foreigners with an abundance of land to purchase with little competition. Nonetheless, while land was being taken from the Hawaiians, foreigners prospered, almost taking over all of the land in Hawaii. There was an abundance of land owned by the foreigners and Hawaiians owned almost nothing after removed from their beloved homes.

In conclusion the oppression of Native Americans is an often overlooked subject. It's important to learn about this and be aware of it because many Native Americans still live on reservations. Their oppression has not yet dissipated completely and not until recently, as recently as 1962, were they allowed to vote in every state. So we must be well informed in order to continue to dissipate Native American oppression and try to correct the mistakes of the

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

After the Civil War, the United States struggled to keep up with other countries in the world. While figuring out how fix the corruption in the American government, the other countries were practicing imperialism. Imperialism is a policy by which strong nations extend their political, military, and economic control over weaker territories. Realizing that we needed to make a change, the United States started working towards the goal of practicing imperialism as well. To do this, our first few targets were Hawaii and Alaska. In 1867, we sought to buy Alaska because they had resources that we wanted, such as lumber and minerals. This was known as Seward’s Folly after the Secretary of State William Seward. In 1898, our desire of Hawaii was fulfilled when they agreed to annexation. However, this was not without struggle. King Kalakaua of Hawaii wanted the white planters to vote, but when he died, his sister, Queen Liliuokalani reversed his decision. She took away the power of whites, which eventually led to her being overthrown with the help of the United States Marines. The Hawaiian people opposed annexation, but when Mckinley became president, Hawaii was declared American territory. Sanford B. Doyle, a white plantation owner who asked for the annexation, became the first governor of Hawaii. This addition into American territory drastically influenced our economy.

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

Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawai 'i. Kihei, Hawaiʻi: Koa, 2009. Print.

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.

It was also to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of that overthrow . “... apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893… and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination”. It had apologized both for any government role in the overthrow. Letting them determine what should be done now meaning if they accept it or not. It says that Native Hawaiians “never directly relinquished their claims” to sovereignty of their lands, which were taken without consent. But they wanted to give it back by helping them reorganize a government. The Akaka Bill would reestablish native government and they would receive federal recognition and it would begin immediately to regain the relationship between the United States and Native Hawaiians.

One of the reasons why the Mahele was unjustified, was because the government treated Hawaiians unfairly. Hawaiians wanted

In the 1820’s Missionaries have been starting to visit Hawaii inspired by Henry Obookiah who the first Hawaiian Missionary. Henry Obookiah was a Hawaiian missionary that told the English about the Hawaiian religion and how it works, and it convinced the English to go and spread their religion. But not everything ended well according to the plan for the Hawaiians. People only notice the negative effects that the missionaries cause the Hawaiians to go through, but they miss the benefits that the missionaries gave the Hawaiians. Although the missionaries have brought negative effects to the Hawaiians, they also have given the Hawaiians some benefits with the new religion, new language, and new technology.

The people of Hawaii and other Pacific Island Nation groups have experienced great injustice from their colonial powers and the acts of imperialism. Lands were seized, cultural practices banned, language lost, and people were even forced to move away from their homes for the purpose of bomb testing. The United States and other countries abroad sent out representatives to do their work for them; in return their future actions would be justified in describing the Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders as savages that need to have wider powers enforced upon them; thus resulting in a tangled web of political mythologies.

This happened because, the foreigners took every single firewood they can obtain from the Hawaiian’s land. There was also another incident related to this matter. Every time the Hawaiians have regrown their plants, the foreigners pull them out and took everything for themselves. These facts are more of an economic related problem because, all the incidents are relevant to resource and food related. In the past the there weren't any problems where the Hawaiians did not have any resource, the Hawaiian instead had the system of the Kapu system. The Kapu system was where the Hawaiians will only take what they will need, but now, it was different because, they can’t get the resources they need to