Down Goes The Hawaiian Kingdom
Thesis
On January 17, 1893, United States troops took part in breaking down the Hawaiian Kingdom. It was led by a small group of wealthy businessman and sugar plantation owners to overthrow the monarchy of Queen Liliuokalani. The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom would not have been possible without the roles of President Cleveland, President Harrison, and Minister Stevens.
President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland is our 22nd and 24th President of the United States. President Cleveland was a democratic. When he took office in March, He withdrew annexation treaty. He also took out Minister John L. Stevens from his post and assigned a special commissioner to look what was going on in Hawaii. When the commissioner found out what happened to Queen Liliuokalani, He then reported it to President Cleveland. What the commissioner reported to President Cleveland was that Queen Liliuokalani was illegally overthrown and that the Hawaiians did not support what the United States were doing to them. Cleveland urged to restore the Hawaiian monarchy. The Provisional Government establishes the Republic of Hawaii in July of 1894. Cleveland did not want to use the military force so the supporters of Queen Liliuokalani launched a revolution in January 1895.
Minister John L. Stevens
John L. Stevens was the United States Minister to the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893. He was accused of unlawfulness to overthrow Queen Liliuokalani. In association with the Committee of Safety, they are the first Americans attempting to overthrow a foreign government under the United States government. January 14, 1887, the Bayonet Constitution was a constitution that reduces the power of the queen and the people of Hawaii. The committee of safety was a small group of white people that planned to take the Hawaiian government by overthrowing the Queen. American Marines arrived in Honolulu to support Coup D’état. Coup D’état meant that they wanted to forcefully take out the Queen out of her political stance. Stevens than realized that he was not reporting what he was doing to the United States government or the President.
President Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison is the 23rd president of the United States. Benjamin Harrison’s presidency was during Queen Lydia Liliuokalani and King Kalakaua’s reign in Hawaii. President Harrison was one of the first that created the Reciprocity act. The Reciprocity act was that the Hawaii can send sugarcane to the United States with out having to pay taxes. He forced King Kalakaua to sign the Bayonet Constitution in 1887. The Bayonet constitution gives the cabinet more power rather than the king or queen. It’s called the bayonet constitution because a bayonet was pointed to the king when he was signing the new constitution. He proposed an “annexation” to Hawaii. Later that year, the Pearl Harbor belonged to the United States. This is what President Benjamin Harrison did during his time of duty in the United States. He was the person that ignited the whole situation of annexing Hawaii.
Is Hawaii legally and lawfully a state of the Union
Hawaii is illegally a state of the union because of what happened in the past. The United States Overthrow the Queen disrespected the Hawaiian Government. The unlawfulness that John L. Stevens did made me think that they disrespected the Hawaiian government. And if I was Hawaiian then I would not considered myself being Hawaiian.
Historical Significance
Citation
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