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STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP sheg.stanford.edu
Annexation of Hawaii Timeline !
January 1891 – Lili’uokalani became the queen of Hawaii after her brother, King
Kalākaua, died.
1892 – Queen Lili’uokalani supported efforts to revise and strengthen the
Constitution. She wanted to give voting rights to Hawaiians, take away voting
rights of non-Hawaiians, and return power to the monarch by requiring the Queen
to sign any proposed legislation before it became law.
January 1893 – The Hawaiian League lead a coup d’état against Queen
Lili’uokalani, successfully overthrowing her. They proclaimed the establishment
of the Republic of Hawaii and worked with a U.S. government official in Hawaii
who immediately recognized them as a legitimate provisional government.
March 1893 – Grover Cleveland became U.S. president; he refused to recognize
the provisional government and sent an investigator to Hawaii. Eventually,
Cleveland decided that the provisional government was not legal but left the
decision of whether to restore Queen Lili’uokalani to her throne up to Congress.
They did not take any action.
March 1897 – William McKinley, who was in favor of annexing Hawaii, became
president of the U.S. He supported a treaty that would annex the territory, but it
was not supported by the necessary two-thirds of Congress.
September 1897: The Hui Aloha ‘Āina, a group of Hawaiians opposed to
annexation, held a mass meeting to protest annexation. They also began a
petition drive to gather signatures of Hawaiians opposed to annexation.
November 1897-February 1898: Representatives from Hui Aloha ‘Āina and
Queen Lili’uokalani travelled to Washington, D.C., to present the petition and
arguements against annexation to U.S. Senators.
February 1898: The Spanish-American War began, with the U.S. fighting in both
Cuba and the Pacific. Several members of Congress changed their minds in
favor of annexing Hawaii because they wanted to secure a fueling station and
military base in the Pacific.
July 1898: A joint resolution to officially annex Hawaii passed in the U.S.
Congress and was signed by President McKinley.
August 12, 1898: “Annexation Day” was proclaimed and a ceremony was held to
lower the Hawaiian flag and raise the American flag at the palace.
