Why Did The United States Rule The Kingdom Of Hawaii?

Hawaii is known as the go to Paradise for most people who want to travel the country without leaving the United States. Over 150 years ago this was not the case, Hawaii was controlled by monarchs that were established by European explorers. Even before this Hawaii was controlled by groups of indigenous people known as the Polynesians. Every island had a distinct cultures, beliefs, and leaders. The Kingdom of Hawaii lasted a little less than a century with two distinct dynasties. Liliʻuokalani was the last monarch to rule the Kingdom of Hawaii before Americans annexed Hawaii by force. By using many different primary sources, it gives in depth information on the last years of the Kingdom of Hawaii and it being annex by the United States. These
Lots of them have hypothesized and came up with their own conclusions using textual and visual documents from the time. There is one event or series of events that is talked about across a couple of my sources, that is the cash crop known as sugar. Sugar was a luxury in the United States since it had to be imported in from other tropical countries. Since sugar was imported, it had a hefty tax causing the prices of sugar to be a luxury good rather than a common good. The reason the sugar industry expanded rapidly in Hawaii was because of the “reciprocity treaty set the tone for Hawai’i’s economy and society.” This “made it possible for sugar to be sold to the U.S. market tax-free,” when being imported into the United States. The price of sugar in the United States dropped significantly making it easily assessible and affordable to the average person. La Croix pointed out, that the “Rapid expansion of the sugar industry after reciprocity sharply increased its demand for labor.” Since the increase of demand for sugar, “sugar planters were altering the Hawaiian landscape.” With the thoughtful researching on the reasoning behind the interaction between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States. The secondary sources selected backs up points made throughout the essay with unique
La Croix gives a different outlook to the motives behind the annexation of Hawaii, through the view of Hawaii’s economic history at the time. He uses evidence from the time to back the claims being made throughout his article. The Schamel brothers also provide information about the people who opposed the annexation of Hawaii. With simple language and an organized structured article, the information is quick and easily accessible. Tom and Manulani wrote a book detailing the events leading up to the interaction between the Natives and the Americans. These research papers would ultimately use primary sources to back up claims being made in their papers. Many researchers would use government officials and highly credible speakers to give their papers more