General Overview

The controversy over the annexation of Hawaii began in 1893 when a group of eighteen white planters, with the support of US Marines, staged a coup and overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy. The coup was investigated by President Grover Cleveland when the new government sent in a request for annexation; the request for annexation was rejected when President Cleveland saw that the natives did not want to be annexed. He removed the coup government and had the monarchy restored to the throne. Then, Queen Liliuokalani and President Cleveland signed the 1893 Executive Agreements between the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii that made it so all US presidents must enforce Hawaiian Law and restore the monarchy to the throne as it was before the US Marines landed.

However, during the President McKinley’s presidency, Hawaii was annexed as a territory. There were no revolts so Hawaii was accepted as US territory. In 1959 Hawaii became the fiftieth state of the United States of America.  Nothing was done until 1993, one hundred years after the United State’s uninvited intervention, when President Clinton issued an apology letter to all native Hawaiians apologizing for the destruction of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

In present times, the Hawaiian royal family continues through the bloodline of Prince Kalokuokamaile. Also, the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement is trying to get the monarchy restored even if the monarch would have no power. In addition, President Obama and other high-profile politicians are being sued for violation of the 1893 Executive Agreements between the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii. 

 

The US Harms Hawaii on PhotoPeach

Opinion Statement

The United States of America was wrong when it annexed the Hawaiian Islands. In 1893, just five years before the islands were annexed, the President of the United States signed a formal agreement with the Queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii that required the United States to restore the monarchy to how it had been before United States Marines had arrived and supported the coup led by American sugar planters in 1893. If the United State’s Marines had not supported the planters in their treacherous coup, the Hawaiian monarchy would not have fallen and the Kingdom of Hawaii, a kingdom that had existed on its own for years without a larger nation to protect it, would still exist today.

When President McKinley approved the annexation in 1898, he overlooked the fact that there had been no popular vote among the native people about whether or not they wanted to be annexed into the United States. He also neglected the fact that the Queen had not signed the request for annexation. Instead, McKinley blatantly ignored the agreements signed five years before and allowed the United States to annex Hawaii and break its promises to the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Not only did the United States wrong Hawaii by annexing it, but they also put the islands into danger. By being a part of the United States, Hawaii became a target for enemies of the United States. Hawaii was and still is more vulnerable than the rest of the United States because of its remote location in the Pacific Ocean. This vulnerability was illustrated when the islands were bloodily targeted on December 7, 1941, by the Japanese who bombed Pearl Harbor. Hawaii would not have been targeted if it had not been part of the United States. Japan would have dropped those bombs somewhere else because Hawaii was not its enemy, the United States was. Japan only attacked Hawaii because it was part of the United States.  

In addition to making Hawaii a target for terrorists, prolonged contact with the United States has killed many of the native plants and customs of Hawaii. Much of the Hawaiian tradition was lost when the United States first sent missionaries in 1820 because the Hawaiians converted to Christianity and lost faith in their old gods. Many of the Hawaiians also died of sicknesses brought by the whites. Many of the new plants and animals brought in by planters killed or took over native flora and fauna. Also, the planters brought in so many workers from all parts of the world, especially Asia, that the native Hawaiians only made up a small percentage of the Hawaiian population and have lost much of their sway over how the island is run.

In 1993, President Clinton offered an apology to the native Hawaiians about killing the Kingdom of Hawaii. But even though the United States recognized that what it had done was wrong, they did not do anything more. They offered an apology but neglected to try to right their wrong.

Even though the United States might claim that its annexation was beneficial to Hawaii, the truth is that the annexation of Hawaii was wrong in both the moral and legal senses.