The Great Debate Anti-Imperialism and the Annexation of Hawaii; 1893-1898

On January 17, 1893, Liliuokalani, Queen of the Hawaiian Islands, was overthrown by an handful of both denizen Americans and Hawaiian citizens of American descent, with the aid of more than one-hundred United States Marines. A "Provisional Government" was organized which was immediately recognized by the American Minister at Honolulu. This Provisional Government dispatched representatives to Washington, D.C. to negotiate a treaty of annexation with the lame-duck Harrison administration. A treaty was quickly drawn up and submitted to the United States Senate for approval. It was generally believed that the treaty would be approved and signed before the Cleveland administration, elected in November, 1892, assumed power. On August 12, 1898, more than five-and-one-half years after the revolution, the United States formally took control of the Hawaiian Islands. Why such a delay? A newspaper poll in February of 1893 revealed that only two Senators opposed Hawaiian annexation. By mid-March, however, the annexation treaty was withdrawn from the Senate "for the purpose of examination" by Cleveland. At year's end, the possibility of annexation was thought to be dead