Power Hungry Americans
Stealing the Land of Hawaiians
Thesis
PRESIDENT BENJAMIN HARRISON
President Benjamin Harrison was an important figure in Hawai’i history because he was the one who introduced a treaty to the senate to annex Hawai’i. He was also president during Kalakaua’s reign. In 1887 he renewed the Reciprocity treaty. In the treaty it had the same conditions but the only thing that was different this time was that he wanted to annex Pearl Harbor as part of renewing the treaty. After Kalakaua said no they forced him to sign the treaty with the U.S. by saying they were going to kill him if he didn’t. Thus gave power to the cabinet and giving Pearl Harbor to the U.S.
PRESIDENT GROVER CLEVELAND
President Grover Cleveland was an anti-imperialist that thought what the United States was doing to Hawai’i was wrong. He than withdrew the annexation treaty to find if there was going to be any wrong doings. Cleveland was going to restore Liliuokalani back to power but the Americans highly favored the thought of annexation. He thought the treaty was done wrong and thought of it to be an act of war towards Hawai’i. Thus Cleveland was shocked by the overthrow on the Hawaiian Kingdom that he knew it was illegal and immoral. Though he may have known that all this was illegal and immoral Cleveland didn’t do anything about the overthrow of Hawai’i, he practically sat there and just watched what the Americans were doing to the Hawaiians.
MINISTER JOHN L. STEVENS
Minister John L. Stevens Supported the Hawaiian Kingdom overthrow because he thought it would benefit the U.S. He Represents the U.S. for all matters that happen. This includes political matters in Hawai’i. Stevens thought that the Hawaiians were unfit to rule because they are unintelligent and child like in their actions. Stevens also supported the Committee of Safety so thus they would talk to him about ideas. The Committee of Safety talked to Stevens to see if he supported the coup d’état, which he said that he supports it. Stevens also gave orders to the marines to disembark odd the ships to go to downtown Honolulu to threaten Queen Liliuokalani to surrender to them.
Historical Significance
Is Hawai'i Legally and Lawfully a State of the Union
Hawai'i is not legally and lawfully a state of union. This is because in history books it says that there was a Treaty of Annexation that was signed by both the Hawaiians and Americans. The truth is that there was no Treaty of Annexation and that American forcefully took over Hawai’i without actually making a treaty.
Hawai'i Annexation Treaty
Committee of Safety
Citations
Benjamin Harrison. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Harrison>.
Grover Cleveland. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland>.
"Picture Display Page - John L. Stevens." Picture Display Page - John L. Stevens. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://libweb.hawaii.edu/digicoll/annexation/images/pic3.html>.
Liliuokalani Preventing U.S. Annexation - Hawai'i Digital Newspaper Project. Digital image. Liliuokalani Preventing U.S. Annexation - Hawai'i Digital Newspaper Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. <https://sites.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/ndnp-hawaii/Home/historical-feature-articles/liliuokalani-preventing-us-annexation>.