Why Do US Involvement In Hawaii?

Hawaii, which is said to derive from “Hawaiki”, was originally home to the Polynesian people who sailed from their ancestral land of Raiatea hundreds of years ago. As the superpowers of the world, like Great Britain and America, rose to power, Hawaii found itself as a target for potential profit. Like many other islands that are the product of thousands of years of volcanic activity, Hawaii has a warm climate with rich soil and a diverse biological population. It is these characteristics that made the land so appealing to many foreign planters who wished to expand their business, and in turn make more profit. However, many American and European people began to decentralize the culture in Hawaii through attempts of assimilating the native people there, and conflict arose consequently.

Reasons for U.S.

Involvement in Hawai’i

Though the Polynesians used to make up most of the population in Hawaii, they found themselves slowly becoming the minority at the turn of the century. Many immigrants, especially from China and Japan, were encouraged to come to Hawaii in pursuit of economic opportunities while others, like planters from America, came to take advantage of the large sugar business. However, because Hawaii was not an American state, the planters there had to pay import taxes and as a result, their product was undersold in American markets. Therefore, Hawaii’s economy grew weaker and the planters grew angry. So they did what they thought would solve all their problems: ask Congress to annex Hawaii. Unfortunately for the

planters, Hawaii’s Queen Lili’uokalani blamed the financial unrest on the foreigners and planned to implement a new constitution which would enhance the throne’s

powers.

What happened in next? In January of 1893, Sanford B. Dole organized the “Committee of Safety” and plotted to overthrow the Queen after asking for assistance from the U.S. Navy. Many Americans at the time were for imperialism, and this may be a big contributing factor as to why the marines ended up storming Hawai’i without the consent of the president. The presiding president at the time was Grover Cleveland. Cleveland was in the minority with his anti-imperialistic views. He believed that the decision to hold Queen Lili’uokalani at gunpoint so as to seize the territory of Hawai’i was truly a disgraceful act from America. Even though the American public heavily favored the incorporation of Hawai’i as either an American territory or state, Cleveland vetoed Senate’s proposals of annexation and even ordered for an investigation to look into the attack on Hawai’i.