 As early as 1873 , a United States military commission recommended attempting to obtain Ford Island in exchange for the tax @-@ free importation of sugar to the U.S. At that time Major General John Schofield , U.S. commander of the military division of the Pacific , and Brevet Brigadier General Burton S. Alexander arrived in Hawaii to ascertain its defensive capabilities . U.S. control of Hawaii was considered vital for the defense of the west coast of the United States , and they were especially interested in Pu 'uloa , Pearl Harbor . The sale of one of Hawaii 's harbors was proposed by Charles Reed Bishop , a foreigner who had married into the Kamehameha family , had risen in the government to be Hawaiian Minister of Foreign Affairs , and owned a country home near Pu 'uloa . He showed the two U.S. officers around the lochs , although his wife , Bernice Pauahi Bishop , privately disapproved of selling Hawaiian lands . As monarch , William Charles Lunalilo , was content to let Bishop run almost all business affairs but the ceding of lands would become unpopular with the native Hawaiians . Many islanders thought that all the islands , rather than just Pearl Harbor , might be lost and opposed any cession of land . By November 1873 , Lunalilo canceled negotiations and returned to drinking , against his doctor 's advice ; his health declined swiftly , and he died on February 3 , 1874 . 
