A Despondency for the Hawaiians,
a triumph for the Americans - the overthrow of the monarchy.
THESIS
The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom on January 17, 1893 would not have been possible without the role of President Cleveland, President McKinley, and U.S. Minister John Stevens played.
President Grover Cleveland
President Grover Cleveland had just taken office when the overthrow and annexation of Hawaii came about. As someone who is an anti-imperialist, he did not favor the annexation of Hawaii to the United States. In fact, he even wanted to give the monarchy back to Hawaii, just like how it has always been for them. Regardless of what he wanted, the Hawaiian Kingdom was still overthrown. Hawaiians protested against this and as the president at the time, he had to do something about it. He ordered an investigation to be informed whether such dethronement of Queen Lili’uokalani was legal or not. The result came back to him and he found out that the actions that led up to the overthrow of Hawaiian Kingdom were all illegal. With that said, he insisted for Americans to give back the Native Hawaiians not only their lands that were now resided by foreigners, but also their monarchy. American, however, did not want it and threatened the president that if that was what he wanted he would rather kill his own people. Cleveland did not want to end the life of many Americans which resulted to not giving what Native Hawaiians wanted – the monarchy – that eventually led up to the annexation of Hawaii to the United States.
President William McKinley
President William McKinley, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of President Grover Cleveland. President McKinley was a strong supporter of land expansion so he clearly favored the annexation of Hawaii to the United States. When it came to annexation of Hawaii, his view of expansion was one, but having Hawaii as a Pacific naval installation was another. The occurrence of Spanish-American War at the Pacific only gave height to the interest of United States actually annexing Hawaii. This was because some battles between U.S. and Spain took place in the Pacific. What is better than actually taking a possession of a land that would put the United States in a much more advantage during the war? The question in former is probably what was going through President McKinley’s mind at the time, especially because the U.S. wanted to win the war. So that means, he was willing to do anything, even if it meant overthrowing and annexing Hawaii illegally and unlawfully.
U.S. Minister John L. Stevens
John L. Stevens was the United States Minister to Hawaii, but was associated with Lorrin Thurston and Sanford B. Dole, people who led the Committee of Safety. He was the first person the committee called when they conspired to overthrow the queen with the eventual goal of annexation. He was asked to summon United States Marines to the island and instructed them to protect American residents. Such even led to intimidating and preventing the kingdom to defend itself. Thus, on January 17, 1893, the committee overthrew Queen Lili'uokalani and then set up a provisional government, headed by Sanford B. Dole, with the consent of U.S. Minister John L. Stevens. Stevens is the main key person to the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and who is responsible for taking an illegal action of sending troops to Hawaii. Because of actions that was followed through by the minister, Honolulu Rifles took over the government, disarmed the Royal Guard, and declared a provisional government. From this alone, it can be concluded that the overthrow itself was both illegally and unlawfully done.
Historical Significance
The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was made possible by Americans. It did not matter whether they were for annexation of Hawaii or not; they all played a big role to it. Three of those people are President Cleveland, President McKinley, and U.S. Minister John Stevens. Such event still left the native Hawaiians in melancholy and repugnance, and that is why it should not be forgotten and is very important in history. It had such a big impact on Hawaii all economically, socially, and politically. Who would have thought that an island that values its tradition, culture, and nature would be transformed drastically. So drastic to the point where native Hawaiians themselves were stripped away from their tradition and culture because the missionaries and Americans that settled on the land had a goal of "civilizing" them. As a result, not only did they lose the things they value, but they also lost the land they love .. forever. Because of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, more foreigners came to populate the islands of Hawaii. Soon, there were more foreigners compared to the natives, and Hawaii eventually became a part of the United States. Hawaiians no longer get to practice their tradition as much because they now have to take on the responsibilities and duties of being an American citizen. Not only that, but Hawaiian lands have also developed so drastically in a way native Hawaiians did not want. Tall buildings, bizarre technologies, and individuals who knows nothing about the history of Hawaii, unfortunately, started to colonize the islands. The overthrow of Hawaiian kingdom led to radical changes in all aspects of life of every native Hawaiian, thus it shall never be forgotten.
Is Hawai'i legally and lawfully a state of the union?
Hawaii is illegally and unlawfully a state of the union. Reason being is because 1) Hawaiian kingdom led by Queen Lili'uokalani was illegally overthrew by the Committee of Safety, and 2) U.S. Minister John L. Stevens recognized Sanford Dole as the president of the provisional government of Hawaii. First, the Committee of Safety took illegal actions to overthrow the monarchy. Specifically, when the committee called John Stevens to summon the U.S. Marines to Hawaii. This was an act against the law because not the congress nor the president were informed about such action and actually agreed to the actions taken by Stevens. It is illegal for military to invade a nation without the consent from the president or congress. Most importantly, however, it was unethical how John Stevens recognized Dole as the president of the new provisional government of Hawaii when he did not even had the right to do such action. Not only was this not acknowledged by the president and congress, but it was also not favored by the native Hawaiians.
Supplemental Information
Keanu Sai, the minister of interior for Council of Regency Hawaiian Kingdom, comprehensibly talked about how the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was illegal and unlawful.
Attempted Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom,1893
CIite
Voice, Hawaiian. "Attempted Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom,1893." YouTube.
YouTube, 14 Jan. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
"Grover Cleveland." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
"John L. Stevens." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
"List of Federal Judges Appointed by William McKinley." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
Web. 11 Mar. 2015.