American Imperialism Blog Project: The Annexation of Hawaii by the U.S.

The Annexation of Hawaii by the U.S.

A little history...

It seemed like just another tropical day on the pretty island of Hawaii... but little did the surfer dudes and hula dancers know they were in for the biggest shock of their lives.
In 1893, sailors and marines arrived surrounding Queen Liliuokalani's island where she lived peacefully in her palace. Haoles, or white foreigners planning to overthrow her monarchy prepared for a bloody battle between themselves and the Hawaiians in order to gain their territory. However, although this was illegal on the United State's behalf, the Queen shockingly surrendered to the U.S. in order to avoid a bloodshed and trust in the U.S. government and to allow them to restore sovereignty with it's new Pacific power.

In her own words...
"I, Liliuokalani, ... do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself and the constitutional government of the Hawaiian Kingdom... Now, to avoid any collision of armed forces and perhaps the loss of life, I do under this protest... yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall... undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian islands."

However, the Queen still maintained her superiority and power with her own people, whom respected her still as their former leader. Queen Liliuokalani also stated that if she ever restored to power, she would behead those who had conspired to depose her.