Title: Queen Lili‘uokalani - The First and Last Queen of Hawai‘i | American Masters | PBS
Headings: Queen Lili‘uokalani – The First and Last Queen of Hawai‘i
Queen Lili‘uokalani – The First and Last Queen of Hawai‘i
Closed Captions

Content: But the white businessmen and politicians were already plotting her overthrow. Queen Liliokalani became the target of what can only be described as a vicious smear campaign against her in the U.S.
press. The San Francisco Examiner described her as a 'black pagan queen who wanted nothing short of absolute monarchy.'. ' A trap was sprung upon me by those who stood waiting, as a wild beast watches for his prey.'. January of 1893, a battalion of U.S. Marines marched through downtown Honolulu. They had a cannon and machine guns. Within 48 hours, the Kingdom of Hawai'i had been overthrown and a provisional government led by U.S. businessman was in charge. It was essentially a bloodless coup. Queen Liliokalani traveled to the U.S. to appeal to the president and Congress to restore her to the throne. It would be very, very unusual for a woman of color to demand a meeting with not only the president, but many other people in Washington at the time.