A Brief Note On The US Intervention Of The Hawaiian Monarchy

The American intervention and overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, in 1893, was one of the most pivotal moments in American foreign policy history, because it marked the first instance of overseas intervention by the United States government, a practice that became commonplace for the federal government in the years following. When it was annexed, Hawaii was a sovereign state headed by Queen Liliuokalani. The Queen's attempts to exert more control over the nation's economy and political system infuriated American businessmen who had built up sizable economic interests in Hawaii under its previous monarch. In response, they established a committee of safety and asked America to get involved to safeguard their interests. After the US government supported

Firstly, the U.S. government became more willing to use military force to defend its economic and political interests abroad, which signaled a shift in US foreign policy toward an interventionist and imperialist approach. The US government justified its actions in Hawaii by portraying the Hawaiian people as backward and oppressed, the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy also brought attention to the role of race and colonialism in American foreign policy. The importance of the United States’ overthrow in terms of its effect on the future of American foreign policy is highlighted in Stephen Kinzer’s novel Overthrow, where he writes, “That night [Stevens and the men who visited him,] did much more than seal a country’s fate. They also opened a tumultuous century of American sponsored coups, revolutions, and invasions” (Kinzer, 9). Kinzer touches upon this idea once again later in the text when he explains, “Over the years that followed, a new generation of businessmen, politicians, and military planners in the United States became more interested in overseas trade” (Kinzer,