The Imperialists: 1890 Donna C.

The Age of Imperialism---1890’s

In 1875 the Treaty of Reciprocity between the U.S. of America and the Hawaiian kingdom allowed sugar to be shipped from Hawaii to the U.S. duty free. This treaty allowed over 300,000 tons of sugar to be shipped duty free. At this time Queen Liliuokalani governed the islands. She was determined to eliminate American influence in the government even though it appeared American influence was everywhere. The workers who worked on the plantations were immigrants from many different countries. They were contract workers who were ruled by an iron fist. The McKinley Tariff came along and raised duties on ALL imports; this was in violation of the treaty of 1875.

This angered and upset the plantation owners greatly. They turned to the Queen for support. They thought the only way to avoid an economic crisis was to seek annexation to the U.S. The Queen strongly disagreed. She did not want foreigners running her country. In 1893 the owners planned a revolt which was supported by American troops. They successfully dethroned the Queen. They quickly asked for the U.S. to annex the island as a territory. President Cleveland refused saying that the native Hawaiians did not support this move. In 1898 the republicans gathered enough votes to annex Hawaii claiming the U.S. needed the Pacific Islands for a fueling station.