The Annexation Of Hawaii In The 1860's

Annexation of Hawaii American’s saw a need to annex Hawaii because of their large amount of trade in sugarcane, the large amount of profit they were making from the sugarcane trade, for the land expansion, and for a military base. The earliest interests in Hawaii date back as far as the 1820’s! While none of this was set into motion until the 1860’s. There were some serious plans set in motion during the 1860’s or so, but the Civil War took over all plans and put hold on Hawaii until the 1890’s. After the Civil War Hawaii’s profits on sugarcane were incredibly large. This made American’s want Hawaii even more. But President Harrison didn’t exactly see it that way. He instead saw it as a threat to America’s sugar trade. He then passed the McKinley Tariff in 1890 which raised the import rates on foreign sugar. This led to a depression in

to provide some more protection. Without the President’s approval some U.S. marines showed up to help the farmers overthrow the Queen. The farmers imprisoned the Queen, seized 1.75 million acres of sugarcane, and hung up the American Flag at Honolulu. Leaving Queen Liliuokalani with no other choice than to step down from her throne.Grover Cleveland was president at this time serving his 2nd term, at the White House. Cleveland believed that what we did in Hawaii, and how we treated the Queen was very wrong so he withdrew the annexation treaty, and had a investigation done to find out our potential wrongdoings. Cleveland even tried to restore Queen Liliuokalani to her throne, but was unsuccessful because most Americans favored annexation. So, the annexation was held off until McKinley was in office in 1897. America now needed Hawaii more than ever, because they were at war with Spain, and needed a base for their ships. President McKinley signed a joint resolution that annexed the islands on July 12, 1898. Hawaii gained statehood on August 21,