# Annexation of Hawaii The **Annexation of Hawaii** by the United States was accomplished by the **Newlands Resolution** (a joint congressional resolution) signed by President [[William McKinley]] on **July 7, 1898** — five years after a U.S.-Marines-backed overthrow of Queen **Liliuokalani** (January 17, 1893) had ended the Hawaiian Kingdom, and amid the [[Spanish-American War]] (April-August 1898). The annexation's strategic context was Pacific naval-base requirements for the war against Spain in the Philippines. ## Historical sequence - **1810s-1893**: Hawaiian Kingdom under the Kamehameha dynasty and subsequent monarchies - **1875**: U.S.-Hawaii Reciprocity Treaty established preferential trade relationship - **January 17, 1893**: A coalition of American-and-European sugar-plantation owners and U.S. Marine forces from the USS *Boston* overthrew Queen **Liliuokalani** — the last sovereign of the Hawaiian Kingdom. President **[[Benjamin Harrison]]**'s administration had been preparing for annexation; the post-coup Provisional Government petitioned for U.S. annexation - **March 1893**: [[Grover Cleveland]] took office and **withdrew the annexation treaty from Senate consideration**. Cleveland's investigation (the Blount Report) found that the U.S. Minister had been substantially involved in organizing the coup; Cleveland's December 1893 message to Congress called for Liliuokalani's restoration — never acted on - **1894**: Republic of Hawaii proclaimed by the Provisional Government's leadership; recognized by the United States - **1895**: Liliuokalani's attempted royalist counter-coup failed; Liliuokalani imprisoned and formally abdicated - **1897**: McKinley elected; reopened annexation question - **April 1898**: Spanish-American War broke out; Pacific naval-base requirements made Hawaiian annexation strategically urgent - **July 7, 1898**: **Newlands Resolution** — joint congressional resolution (not a treaty) annexing Hawaii. The joint-resolution mechanism circumvented the two-thirds Senate threshold required for treaty ratification — a procedural innovation [[John Tyler]] had pioneered for Texas annexation in 1845 - **August 12, 1898**: Formal transfer ceremony in Honolulu - **April 30, 1900**: Hawaii organized as a U.S. territory (Hawaiian Organic Act) - **August 21, 1959**: Hawaii admitted to the Union as the 50th state ## Right-wing relevance The Annexation of Hawaii is significant to right-wing political-historical analysis in two ways: **1. The Pacific imperial debut.** The annexation, completed alongside the [[Spanish-American War]]'s Philippines / Guam / Puerto Rico / Cuban-protectorate transfers, marked American overseas imperial expansion at scale. The doctrine — that the United States could and should acquire and govern non-contiguous territories — is the operational ancestor of the post-1945 American global-military-base network, the Cold War interventions, and the contemporary national-greatness conservative tradition. The 1898 imperial moment is one of the foundational events for understanding 20th-century American foreign policy. **2. The joint-resolution annexation procedural template.** The Newlands Resolution's bypass of the treaty-ratification two-thirds Senate threshold via joint congressional resolution is the procedural innovation that [[John Tyler]] had used for Texas in 1845 and that the McKinley administration reused for Hawaii in 1898. The contemporary right-wing discussions of potential territorial acquisitions (Greenland, parts of Panama, Canada-as-51st-state under various Trump-era proposals) operationally invoke the precedent that joint resolution can substitute for treaty when the political will exists. **3. The 1993 apology resolution.** In 1993 the U.S. Congress passed an "**Apology Resolution**" (signed by [[Bill Clinton]]) formally apologizing to the Hawaiian people for the 1893 overthrow. The resolution is occasionally invoked in contemporary discussions of native-Hawaiian political-historical claims and broader American imperial-history reckoning. ## Connections - [[William McKinley]] — Signed the Newlands Resolution July 7, 1898. - [[Grover Cleveland]] — Withdrew the earlier (Harrison-era) annexation treaty; called for Liliuokalani's restoration in 1893. - [[John Tyler]] — Originator of the joint-resolution annexation procedural template (Texas 1845). - [[Manifest Destiny]] — Doctrinal framework. - [[Spanish-American War]] — Concurrent strategic context. --- *Filled in 2026-05-16 as part of the post-midterm-elections stub-candidate sweep.*