Reciprocal The Tragedy Of American Diplomacy

The United State’s expansion into its western continental territories, fueled by the idea of manifest destiny, began the US experiment with empire. Under the threat of the dominant pro-haole interests, King Kalakaua involuntarily signed a new constitution that replaced the treaty of friendship that had governed US and Hawaiian interests in 1887. This Bayonet constitution reduced the power of the Hawaiian monarchy and expanded political representation to anyone who was literate and who owned more than three thousand dollars worth of land. Since an insufficient number of native Hawaiians fulfilled these standards, the constitution essentially put the Americans in control of the Hawaiian government and people. The Political Instability of Reciprocal

Williams investigates the direct link between the United States political power at the time and their motives for expansion. The United States was already a world power, deserving of its title following the War of 1812. A turning point in US-Hawaiian relations occurred in 1890, when Congress approved the Mckinley Tariff, raising import rates on foreign sugar. Hawaiian sugar planters were now being undersold in American markets, prompting a depression that swept throughout the islands. The sugar growers, the majority of which were white Americans, knew that if Hawaii were to be annexed by the United States, the tariff problem would naturally disappear; however, Queen Liliuokalani ascended to the Hawaiian throne and refused to recognize the Bayonet constitution, replacing it with a constitution that increased her personal authority. She was determined that the root of Hawaii’s problems was foreign interference. According to Williams, the 1890’s served as a climax where the United States began to use new strategies and tactics that enabled them to become an influential empire. The move was countered by the Committee of Safety and was supported John Stevens, the U.S minister to