Title: Hawaii’s Monarchy Overthrown With U.S. Support, 120 Years Ago - HISTORY
Headings: Hawaii’s Monarchy Overthrown With U.S. Support, 120 Years Ago
Hawaii’s Monarchy Overthrown With U.S. Support, 120 Years Ago
Sugar barons and businessmen overthrew Hawaii’s longstanding monarchy 120 years ago, setting the stage for U.S. annexation.

Content: But after U.S. President Grover Cleveland took office that March, he withdrew an annexation treaty, dismissed Stevens from his post and appointed a special commissioner to look into the matter. When the commissioner determined that Liliuokalani had been illegally overthrown and that most Hawaiians opposed the coup, Cleveland’s administration urged that the monarchy be restored. The provisional government instead dug in its heels, establishing a Republic of Hawaii in July 1894. Cleveland proved unwilling to use military force, so Liliuokalani’s supporters launched a counter-revolution in January 1895. Several people died in the failed attempt, over 350 were arrested and the queen was forced to officially abdicate the throne. After spending nearly eight months imprisoned in the palace, she then traveled to the United States in a last-gasp effort to drum up support. It was all for naught. When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Hawaii became a strategically important position for U.S. troops fighting in the Philippines. Annexation came that August with the backing of Cleveland’s successor, William McKinley, and Hawaii was on the road to statehood. In 1993 President Bill Clinton signed a bill apologizing to native Hawaiians for the overthrow of their kingdom.