1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is production of iHeartRadio. Hello 2 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a show 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:18,959 Speaker 1: that explores the ups and downs of everyday history. I'm 4 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: Gabe Lucier and in this episode, we're talking about how 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: the Hawaiian Kingdom became a territory of the United States 6 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: and spoilers, it wasn't by choice. The day was July seventh, 7 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight. President William McKinley signed a joint resolution 8 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States. Previously, Hawaii 9 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: had been recognized internationally as a sovereign nation under the 10 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: rule of Queen Lilio Koalani, and it it may very 11 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: well have retained that sovereignty if not for the creeping 12 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:09,479 Speaker 1: influence of Sandford Dole and his fellow American businessmen. The 13 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: first known settlers of the Hawaiian Islands were Polynesian voyagers 14 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: who migrated there sometime in the eighth century. The original 15 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: native society developed around a caste system and was eventually 16 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 1: divided into four distinct chiefdoms Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, and Kawai. 17 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: In eighteen ten, about one thousand years after the first 18 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: people's arrival, King Kamehameha the First, united those chiefdoms into 19 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: a single royal kingdom, which he then ruled himself until 20 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: his death in eighteen nineteen. That same year, Hawaii welcomed 21 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: the first Protestant missionaries, who had come from the US 22 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: and England in hopes of converting the Hawaiians to Christianity. 23 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: In the decades that followed, they established churches and congregations 24 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: throughout the Hawaiian Islands, gradually changing the culture and religious 25 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: life of the people who lived there. In the eighteen thirties, 26 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: the westernization of Hawaii was kicked into high gear by 27 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: the arrival of American business investors. Lured by the promise 28 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: of fertile volcanic soil and an ideal climate. Wealthy American 29 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:24,119 Speaker 1: planters bought up large tracts of lands on the islands 30 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: and began planting non native cash crops such as coffee, sugar, cane, 31 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: and pineapple. The resulting plantations changed Hawaii's economy through the 32 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: introduction of capitalist systems such as private land ownership, taxation, 33 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: and wage labor. In recognition of the many rapid changes 34 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: the islands had undergone in just a few short decades, 35 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: King Kamehamea the Third voluntarily gave up his absolute power 36 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty. The king remained the ceremonial head of 37 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: the new constitutional monarchy, but from then on he worked 38 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:02,919 Speaker 1: with a house of nobles and a house of tenants 39 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: who represented the citizens. One of the king's first major 40 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: acts under this new system was to send delegations to 41 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,519 Speaker 1: the US and Europe in eighteen forty two. He did 42 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: this to help shore up Hawaii against foreign invasion by 43 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: establishing the island's presence as a sovereign kingdom. The mission 44 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: succeeded the following year, when many of the world's major powers, 45 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: the US included, signed treaties recognizing Hawaiian independence. Unfortunately, America's 46 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: businessmen made no such acknowledgment themselves. Hawaii's fertile soil and 47 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: close proximity to the States had long made it a 48 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: tempting target for a coup, and in the late nineteenth century, 49 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:50,119 Speaker 1: Sandford Dole and his fellow plantation owners attempted just that. 50 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: If the name Dole sounds familiar, it's probably because of 51 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: the Dole Food Company, the world famous pineapple producer that's 52 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: largely responsible for that fruit's presence in Hawaii today. The 53 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: company's founder, Sandford Dole, had made a fortune in Hawaii 54 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: in the mid eighteen hundreds, and as a way to 55 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: exert even more control over the islands, he partnered with 56 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: other American businessmen and lawyers to form the so called 57 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: Hawaiian League. In eighteen eighty seven, the group sent an 58 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:26,559 Speaker 1: armed militia to force Hawaii's King David Kalakawa to sign 59 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: a new constitution known as the Bayonet Constitution. It transferred 60 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: most of the monarchy's power to the Legislature, a ruling 61 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,919 Speaker 1: body whose elections were rigged in favor of white interests. 62 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: Four years later, King Kalakawa died and was succeeded by 63 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: his sister, Queen Lilio Kalani. After taking the throne, she 64 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: actually refused to honor the Bayonet agreement and tried to 65 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: revise the constitution to return power to the monarchy. As 66 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: you might imagine, though, Sandford Dole and his cohort's Word 67 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: weren't happy about that development. So in January of eighteen 68 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: ninety three, Dole organized a so called Committee of Safety 69 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: and then laid in wait near the Queen's palace. They 70 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,040 Speaker 1: were soon joined there by three hundred marines from the 71 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: USS Boston, who had been called in to protect Dole's 72 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: committee by the US Minister of Hawaii, John L. Stevens. 73 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: The action marked a turning point and the businessmen's struggle 74 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: for control of the Hawaiian government. As the presence of 75 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,599 Speaker 1: U S marines provided tacit government approval for doles coup, 76 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 1: it also left Queen Lili o'cullani with no choice but 77 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: to surrender in order to avoid a full blown war. 78 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: The queen held out hope for years that the US 79 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:48,040 Speaker 1: government would come to its senses and recognize Hawaii's sovereignty 80 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,679 Speaker 1: once more, but as you likely know, that never happened. 81 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: President Benjamin Harrison liked the idea of annexing the Hawaiian 82 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: islands after the coup, but after losing his bid for 83 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: reas election in eighteen ninety three, the final decision fell 84 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: to his successor, Grover Cleveland. In eighteen ninety four, an 85 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: impatient Sandford Dole asked President Cleveland for permission to proceed 86 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: with the annexation of Hawaii instead, though Cleveland called for 87 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: a special investigation into Dole's bloodless coup, and it was 88 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: soon determined that Queen Lilio Kulani had been overthrown illegally. 89 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: In response, the President ordered the American flag to be 90 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:34,039 Speaker 1: lowered from all Hawaiian government buildings. He also recommended that 91 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: the queen be restored to her throne, but Dole flatly refused. 92 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,720 Speaker 1: By that point, he and the Safety Committee had already 93 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: established a provisional government in Hawaii, and instead of giving 94 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,719 Speaker 1: up that power, Dole doubled down by proclaiming Hawaii a 95 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: republic and installing himself as its first president. It was 96 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,479 Speaker 1: a deeply troubling turn of events for native Hawaiians, especially 97 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: since the red rest of the world was just sitting 98 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: by watching the coup unfold. Even the US President had 99 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: admitted the takeover was illegal. Looking back on the ordeal, 100 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: President Cleveland later wrote that quote, the provisional government owes 101 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: its existence to an armed invasion by the United States 102 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: by an act of war. A substantial wrong has been 103 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: done to the nation's great shame. That wrong was never corrected. 104 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: President Cleveland was unwilling to overthrow Dole's government by force, 105 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: and his successor, William McKinley, eventually negotiated a treaty with 106 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: the Republic of Hawaii, lending further legitimacy to Dole's rule. 107 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: In response, the island's native inhabitants organized to assert Hawaiian independence. 108 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: They mounted multiple rebellions and signed numerous petitions and protests 109 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: of annexation, sometimes garnering signatures for more than half of 110 00:07:56,200 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: the island's indigenous population. The people of Hawaii were clearly 111 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: opposed to annexation, but in the end their consent was 112 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: deemed unnecessary. American leaders had flirted with annexation for some time, 113 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: but never felt fully justified in claiming the islands as 114 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: US territory. That finally changed in early eighteen ninety eight 115 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: with the outbreak of the Spanish American War. Part of 116 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 1: the conflict was said to be fought in the Philippine Islands, 117 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: and the Congressmen who supported annexation were quick to point 118 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: out the strategic utility of the Hawaiian Islands as a 119 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:40,319 Speaker 1: mid Pacific fuelling station and naval base. The argument proved convincing, 120 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: and on June fifteenth, eighteen ninety eight, the House of 121 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: Representatives passed the so called New Lands Resolution with a 122 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: simple majority vote of two hundred and nine to ninety one. 123 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: Then three weeks later, the Senate passed it as well 124 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: by a vote of forty two to twenty one. On 125 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: July seventh, President McKinley signed it into law, making the 126 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: annexation of Hawaii official. In case you're wondering, that action 127 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: did nullify Sanford Dole's power as the President of the 128 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: Republic of Hawaii. However, it hardly mattered, as he was 129 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:22,199 Speaker 1: immediately reinstated as the first governor of the newly formed 130 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: Territory of Hawaii. Over the course of the next fifty years, 131 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: native Hawaiians endeavored to make the best of their situation 132 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: by working to achieve statehood and the full rights of citizenship. 133 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: There were numerous setbacks and painful losses along the way, 134 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: but in nineteen fifty nine, Hawaii finally joined the Union 135 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: as the nation's fiftieth state, a bittersweet victory. To be sure, 136 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know a little 137 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:00,200 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. You can 138 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, 139 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, And if you have 140 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:11,840 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, you can always send them my 141 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: way by writing. To this day, at iHeartMedia dot com. 142 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays and Ben Hackett for producing the show, 143 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,559 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 144 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: here again soon for another day in history class.