Losing Our Land
The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom
Thesis
The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 was caused by the actions by those of the United States Government such as Minister John L. Stevens, President Grover Cleveland and President William McKinley.
Minister John L. Stevens
John L. Stevens was assigned to Hawaii to represent the U.S. on all political representation matters. He supported the Committee of Safety’s decision of overthrowing the annexation of the Hawaii government. He threatens Queen Liliuokalani to surrender the kingdom of Hawaii to the United States. When the queen does not comply with the orders of Stevens and the Committee of Safety to surrender, Stevens orders U.S. marines to disembark their ship and march into downtown Honolulu. By sending marines to Honolulu, Stevens hoped to get Queen Liliuokalani to surrender using military force. Without permission from anyone in the kingdom, Stevens recognized a new government and proclaimed the kingdom of Hawaii a U.S Protectorate. Though Liliuokalani surrenders, she does not surrender the the provisional government, she surrenders to the U.S.
Pres. Grover Cleveland
President Grover Cleveland, who was a close friend of Queen Liliuokalani, was against the annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He believed that the Committee of Safety’s decision to overthrow Hawaii was an “Act of War”. Cleveland sent secretary Blount to investigate what was happening in the Kingdom. When Blount returned he reported that the overthrow was illegal and immoral. The United States was illegally taking something that did not belong to them in the first place. Cleveland said to fix the problem, the American flag must be lowered and the Kingdom must be returned to Hawaii. Although he was against the overthrow, he did not do anything to stop it. He was told that if he wanted the overthrow to end, he would have to send U.S troops to the streets of downtown Honolulu to shoot the Americans living in Hawaii. Cleveland didn’t want to kill Americans so the overthrow was never stopped. In a way, Cleveland supported the overthrow of Hawaii.
Pres. William McKinley
Historical Significance
The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom would not have been possible without the decisions made by Minister John L. Stevens, Pres. Grover Cleveland and Pres. William McKinley. The Overthrow is an important event in history because it shows how a country came to take over another because of their selfish desires. Americans came into Hawaii wanting to change how the natives acted; They wanted the Hawaiians to be more like them, a civilized society. They wanted Hawaii to make a profit for themselves. They wanted Hawaii because it would give them military advantages. The Americans got what they wanted by using force and slowly changing the kingdom to conform to America’s ways. From this project, take away how America was acting to the Hawaiians. They oppressed the Hawaiian kingdom, so in the end they could have what they wanted. Hawaii was taken away illegally, America had no business in claiming the kingdom as a state of the Union.
Is Hawai'i legally and lawfully a state of the Union?
Hawai’i is not legally and lawfully a state of the Union. As reported by Senator Blount, the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was illegal and immoral. The overthrow was voted on by the United States’ House of Representatives and Senate. No treaty of annexation was created or signed by the Hawaiian Kingdom; So because there is no formal or legal agreement on annexing the Kingdom of Hawaii to the United States, Hawaii is not a legal state of the Union.
Supplemental Information
Citation
Kaulana Nā Pua. Prod. Kamehameha Publishing. Perf. Project Kuleana. Kaulana Nā Pua. Project Kuleana, 4 June 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhibLQFebpQ>.
Schamel, Wynell and Charles E. Schamel. "The 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii." Social Education 63, 7 (November/December 1999): 402-408. <http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/hawaii-petition/>
Silva, Noenoe K. "The 1897 Petitions Protesting Annexation." Anti-annexation Petitions. Noenoe K. Silva, 1 Oct. 2002. Web. 11 Mar. 2015. <http://libweb.hawaii.edu/digicoll/annexation/pet-intro.html>.