Hawaii
In 1867, the United State took over the Midway islands. Soon thereafter, the United States began to consider taking the Hawaiian Islands. They had been economically important since 1767. American merchants stopped there on their way to China and Asia. Also, sugar cane growers sold almost all of their crops to the United States. Since there wasn't a tax on sugar cane imported to the US in 1875, the growers made a lot of money on the sugar. In the mid 19th century, American owned sugar plantations accounted for three fourths of the islands wealth.
In 1887, the United States started pressuring Hawaii to let them build a naval base at Pearl Harbor, a major shipping port. They agreed and it became a major refueling station. Hawaii's King Kalakaua amended their constitution to let only wealthy landowners vote. After he died in 1891, his sister, Queen Liluokalani took over. When she came to power, she had a "Hawaii for Hawaiians" agenda. This meant that she wanted to change the amendment so everyone could vote. In order to stop this, business groups(encouraged by Ambassador John L Stevens) organized a revolution. With the help of marines, they overthrew her and set up a government headed by Sanford B. Dole. President Cleveland ordered Dole to return the throne to the Queen, but he refused , and Cleveland recognized the Republic of Hawaii. He would only consider annexation if a majority of Hawaiians favored it. In 1897, William McKinley, succeeded Cleveland at President. He favored annexation and annexed Hawaii even though no Hawaiians voted for it.
I think this way of taking Hawaii wasn't fair for the Hawaiians because they didn't even get to vote for it. I also think that Hawaii was a major part of America because of all the sugar it produced and how it made a military base for us.
Comments
Good job!