Preview

Why Was Hawaii Important To The United States

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1776 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Was Hawaii Important To The United States
Hawaii was important to the United States for its military potential, as well as many economic reasons such as its rich agrarian industry. Without Hawaii, the United States would have had to negotiate more for navy bases from which it could launch aquatic assaults on the Axis Powers and Japan. This significantly increased our participation in World War II, while decreasing our debt to other nations for allowing us to use their ports.
The first settlers of the islands were probably Polynesians from Tahiti. Later on, those people were conquered and killed by a second wave of Polynesians. This left behind almost no trace of their existence besides graves and temples that they had built before they were killed. The language and culture of native
…show more content…
Her followers started rioting in and around the palace, American and British troops were asked to help. They graciously agreed to landing on the island and bringing it under order. A trusted friend of Queen Emma told her that she lost democratically, so she stopped the riots completely. Because Queen Emma was raised by European foster parents, she was important to the history of Hawaii. Not only did she bring in Christian influences, churches and schools, she also was baptized and set an example for Hawaiians who still distrusted Americans.

American businessmen with interests in the islands also asked the U.S. navy to land on the island nation to protect American interests. The United States government provided generous terms to Hawaiian sugar growers, and after the Civil War, profits began to swell. A turning point in U.S.-Hawaiian relations occurred in 1890, when

Congress approved the MCKINLEY TARIFF, which raised import rates on foreign sugar. Hawaiian sugar planters were now being undersold in the American market, and as a result, a depression swept the islands. The sugar growers, mostly white Americans, knew that if Hawaii were to be annexed by the United States, the tariff problem would naturally disappear. Later, (1898) it was annexed by the U.S. The business men were involved in production and sale of
…show more content…
While most of Europe was battling Germany, Japan attacked China and ultimately Indonesia. Japan relied on imports from those areas due to being an island nation, and even more so after WWII diminished their imports. The United States was using Hawaii to stage their Pacific naval fleet. In 1941, Japanese Senior Staff officer Kuroshima Kameto met with Operations Chief Tomioka to discuss a bombing in Pearl Harbor. The Japanese navy had been practicing these techniques because they knew that they could not defeat Hawaii in terms of anti aircraft guns, shallow waters and many more naval ships. They could not defeat the United States in a long drawn out battle. Emperor Hirohito was opposed to the plan and pushed for diplomacy in September of 1941. The

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Queen Lili'ouklani succeeded her sibling to end up ruler of Hawaii. She was raised a Christian and was conversant in English. She was faithful to the Hawaiian people. She contradicted Hawaii being attached into the US. This prompted her end. American and British farmers started to assume control; they purchased up bundles of area and had an extensive group of farmers. By 1875 US corporations overwhelmed the sugar trade.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emperor of Japan Hirohito, during world war two gained enormous amount of land, Having advancing at a very rapid pace invading almost all of southeast asia in a time span of less than 10 years. The US played an essential role in the advancement of military for the Japanese as the trade between US provided them with oil. However, July 26, in 1941, The US President, Roosevelt started seeing the Japanese as a threat and decided to sign an Executive Order freezing all Japanese assets held in the U.S, as Roosevelt thought that cutting trade off japan will act as a buffer in them advancing as the Japanese relied on the 9US trade to get fuel. In response the Japanese decided to bomb the pearl harbour which was the navy military base in the US. This marked the day the pacific…

    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    And that is unfair to hawaii because a bunch of people wanted hawaii to become apart of the united states just for the one reason that they didn't want to pay taxes. They took positions around the royal palace, aiming guns and cannons at the building. The rebels said they were ending the monarchy. The queen gave up under protest on January 17, 1893. Hawaii was put under protection by the u.s., while the Senate made a treaty to annex the islands.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    What were the reasons for the strengthening of American ties to Hawaii in the late nineteenth century?…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the 1840’s sugarcane was first introduced to the economy. By 1853 nearly three thousand acres of cane were under cultivation and its production continued to increase and eventually became the chief industry of the Islands (Carpenter 40). Sugar was the new king of the islands, and would continue its reign well on into the twentieth century. Today the industry is all but dead in the state, and the economic impact of its absence is still felt in many areas (Carpenter 40). Through the 1850’s 60’s and 70’s a movement to establish closer commercial relations between Hawaii and the United States was desired. Many reciprocity treaties were drawn up but then shot down as the two countries argued over trading rights. It was not until 1875 they met a negotiation with the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875. It created a duty-free market between the U.S. and Hawaii. The interesting thing about this treaty is that it never once mentions the sovereignty of Hawaii, a very crafty move by the U.S. In this document they managed to give the appearance of sovereignty and modelled the treaty to seem extremely favourable to Hawaiian trade, which depended greatly on sugar, while in actuality elusively avoiding the talk of Hawaii’s sovereignty (Carpenter 47-52). In reality, what the treaty did was establish the control and monopoly of the United States over…

    • 1877 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    King David Kalakaua Essay

    • 1514 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Grant American and other politically influential and officials, in December 1874. He was able to generate so much goodwill toward Hawaii that not even a month after he left the Washington Congress decided in favor of signing a reciprocity treaty. In 1875 the treaty went into effect which allowed Hawaiian sugar traders to trade freely in the United States. As a result land values in Hawaii increase rapidly as sugar production rose. And a basis for economic stability was established for the islands. The US, on the other hand, gained rights to the land that became known as the Pearl Harbor naval base.…

    • 1514 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Apush Ch.20 Outline

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages

    ii)Hawaii had been series of islands w/ self-sufficient communities. After 1810 American traders, missionaries, planters began settling there. Disease decimated Native populations; by 1840s Americans spread thru islands…

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The United States was wrong for annexing Hawaii because they took away the nation’s independency and culture. Prior to the United States’s interference, Hawaii was a “very successful” and independent country with “remarkably distinctive society that bound them together in elaborate webs of obligation, ritual and reverence for nature.” The United States had no right to interfere in the political and economical system of a foreign nation governed by its own monarchy. But an American born missionary named Amos Starr Cooke convinced King Kamehameha III of Hawaii to proclaim a reform which took away the lands of the Hawaiian people and allowed ambitious planters to buy it legally. This opened the door for the creation of the reciprocity treaty between…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Queen Lili’uokalani is connected to the annexation of Hawaii because she was the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Japanese attack force, led by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo began a 3,000-mile journey across the Pacific Ocean. Trying to Sneak six aircraft carriers, two battleships, two heavy cruisers, three submarines and more across the pacific ocean. If the attack on Pearl Harbor turned out differently then we might even have navy bases here in the west coast. Over 2,400 americans were killed and 1,178 were injured. About 4 battleships were lost and 3 damaged and over 200 aircrafts were damaged and destroyed.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The monarch, Queen Liliuokalani, never regained control and the new governor of Hawaii, Sanford Dole, refused to give up his new power. Liliuokalani wouldn’t give up and gathered signatures from the indigenous Hawaiian people who were against the annexation. The signatures in total totaled 21,269. The Senate quickly accepted it, but with the Spanish-American war happening, talks of annexation rose. In the end, the Hawaiians were powerless against America and were eventually annexed.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the war America slightly got more involved in the war. For example the Lend-Lease act was passed during World War II which stated that military manpower and supplies could be sold, leased, transferred, or exchanged to any country whose defense would be vital to the protection of the U.S. After keeping neutral for the longest time, Japan was about to change that. On December 7, 1941 Japan planned an attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack was so effective due to the fact that all the boats were lined up and planes were in a row out of hangers because there was an inspection coming. Admiral Yamamoto, their greatest military leader,knew that it would be a bad idea to attack America and would start a war that Japan could not win.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before all of this though America imperialised Hawaii in the late 1800’s. The United States recognized Hawaii as its own nation and had sugar tariffs imposed on the sugar…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the territories he considered buying were the Hawaiian Islands. During the early 1800's, missionaries from the United States went to Hawaii to try to convert people to Christianity. Their descendents started sugar plantations. The planters conquered Hawaii's financial system by the late 1800's. The Queen thought that the planters had too much authority. So, she thought that she should try to limit their power. Meanwhile, in the United States, the trade laws were changed to support sugar grown completely in American states. The American planters that lived in Hawaii were upset that they had changed the law not to their advantage. In 1893 the planters rebelled. They overthrew Queen Liliuokalani and arranged their own regime. After that, they asked the States to annex them into the US. When the president at the time, which was President Benjamin Harrison, heard the planters demand he approved and sent the treaty to the Senate. But Grover Cleveland became the president before the Senate could act on the treaty. He withdrew the treaty because he thought…

    • 941 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the mid-1800s, British and French governments began negotiations with Hawaii to gain economic privileges. Fearful that Hawaii would become a territory of one of these two nations; the United States signed a treaty with its Pacific neighbors to declare a friendly relationship. Annexing Hawaii was done because the united States were fearful of foreign influences in the Western Hemisphere. The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 states that any attempt by European powers to colonize in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as hostile to the U.S.…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays