How Did Queen Lilliuokalani Influence The Government In Hawaii

On January 17th, 1893 the Queen of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen Liliuokalani, who had been ruling for a short two years, abdicated her throne. Due to the landing of the American Marines, she was forced to give her power to the United States. The American military had marched into her palace and claimed it as their own. To her dismay, she would not be taking back her place in the kingdom. In her biography, she had referred to the overthrow as “ unrighteous, and cost[ing] much humiliation and distress.”. Americans had denounced the Hawaiian monarchy and created the Provisional Government of Hawaii in its place. In order to avoid bloodshed, Queen Liliuokalani respectfully yielded. Although the native Hawaiians stood by their Queen urging to reinstate

Before Queen Liliuokalani was in power King David Kalakaua controlled Hawaii. In 1887, he signed the Bayonet Constitution which granted Americans the majority of the political power. King Kalakaua’s main purpose was to serve as a “political front” which Americans mainly controlled the government. The Bayonet Constitution also changed the voting rights in Hawaii so that only opulent Hawaiian male descendants would be granted the ability to vote. The Americans that were responsible for such political changes, called themselves the “Hawaiian League.” However, Hawaiians were very displeased with the way their government system was being changed abruptly. When Queen Liliuokalani came into power subsequently after, King Kalakaua, the people urged for her to create a constitution for them to gain their rights back. Although, it was not shortly after that a committee of white businessmen were held responsible for her overthrow. When the news of “annexation” was being introduced, the Hawaiians were infuriated by the thought of it. In efforts to oust the idea of annexation, they created a petition, which they hoped would be enough for the United States to recognize. (See Appendix B) However, the interests of the white businessmen had seemed to be enough to overrule the opinions of the Hawaiians and their island was occupied. Americans had strongly impacted all the

Prior to the increasing numbers of settlers in Hawaii, their affluent economy had been primarily based on fishing, agriculture, and art. Each person was responsible for creating or trading what they needed. However, once the Westerners arrived they had changed the economy to look more like theirs: people created things for trade. Asides from military purposes, one of the primary reasons for Hawaii’s occupation was to expand trade. The Big Five companies were sugar plantations which controlled most of Hawaii’s economy. In the 1930s they were responsible for” 96 percent of Hawaii’s sugar crop.” They later took over the pineapple industry as well. The people who ran these sugar factories are usually described as being responsible for sustaining Hawaii’s economy. However, Grover Cleveland described them as “insurgents.” Their ultimate goal was to annex Hawaii in order to eliminate other sugar competition. When the McKinley Tariff Bill, a bill which raised the taxes on the transportation of foreign goods in order to eliminate competition, was passed in 1890, the Hawaiian economy was suffering greatly, while the U.S. economy was thriving. Hawaiians lost the only advantage that they had over the United States, now sugar was duty-free and Americans were granted a “two-cent subsidy.” Americans dominated the economy in Hawaii until the 1950s, when sugar plantations began shutting down.