We are going to be telling you how Hawaii became part of the U.S.
First Inhabitants
I am a Hawaiian Chief. The year is around 500 AD.
Europeans Arrive
"I see Hawaii!" --Capt. James Cook
King Kamehameha
I have become the main chief of the islands of Hawaii.
By Jillian Malcomb
Queen Lili'uokalani
I became Queen after my brother, Kalakaua died.
The first people to arrive at the Hawaiian Islands were the Polynesians around 500 AD. They arrived by canoe. They farmed the land and fished. Each settlement was ruled by a chief.
Queen Lili’uokalani Strengthens Constitution in Hawaii
British Captain James Cook was the first European explorer to visit Hawaii in 1778. He was treated like a god and given gifts. He named the islands the Sandwich Islands after the Earl of Sandwich.
The Queen Loses Power
"I'm no longer in power."
For much of the history of Hawaii, each island was ruled by different chiefs, but in the late 1700s, Chief Kamehameha, began to rise to power. By 1810, he had taken control of all the islands and became the first Hawaiian king.
Grover Cleveland Becomes U.S. President
In 1891, King Kalakaua died of Bright's disease and his sister, Lili'uokalani, became queen of Hawaii.
Queen Lili’uokalani wanted to give voting rights to Hawaiians and return power to the monarch by requiring the Queen to sign any proposed legislation.
In 1893, the Hawaiian League lead a coup d’état against Queen and overthrew her. They proclaimed the establishment of the Republic of Hawaii. They worked with the U.S. government who recognized them as a legitimate provisional government.
Cleveland becomes U.S. president and does not recognize the Hawaii government and sent an investigator there. He decides the provisional government was not legal but left the decision of whether to restore the queen to power up to Congress.They did not take any action.
William McKinley becomes U.S. President.
Some Hawaiians against Annexation
The Spanish-American War Begins!
Annexation Day: Aug. 12, 1898
McKinley becomes U.S. President in 1897 and supported a treaty to annex Hawaii,but it was not supported by Congress.
In 1897, a group of Hawaiians against annexation began a petition to gather signatures of Hawaiians who were opposed to it.
In 1898, after the Maine explodes, we enter into a war with Spain. Spain surrenders after Roosevelt and the Rough Riders capture San Juan. Members of Congress change their minds in favor of annexing Hawaii because they wanted to secure a fueling station and military base in the Pacific.
A joint resolution to officially annex Hawaii passed in the U.S.Congress and was signed by President McKinley. America's annexation of Hawaii in 1898 extended U.S. territory into the Pacific and resulted in the rise of the United States as a Pacific power!