​Petition Against Annexation of ____?

​Petition Against Annexation of ____?

By Timothy Barr

Open Ended

What type of document is it? (Primary source isn't the answer. What specifically is this?)

Open Ended

Who most likely wrote the document?

Open Ended

What was the purpose of the document?

Open Ended

Why do you suppose it was written in two languages?

Multiple Choice

Based on you analysis, which annexation does this document relate to?

• Annexation of the Philippines
• Annexation of Alaska
• Annexation of Hawaii
• Annexation of Puerto Rico

Open Ended

If this petition was signed by over 50% of the native population of Hawaii, do you think the United States should have annexed it? Why or why not?

​This is just one of 556 pages in this Hawaiian Patriotic League petition that was signed by over 21,000 native Hawaiians (out of a population of under 40,000). The petition contributed to a defeat of a proposed treaty to annex Hawaii.

Hawaii’s monarchy, Queen Lili’uokalani, had been overthrown in a bloodless coup with the help of the U.S. government. The new government of the declared “Republic of Hawaii” was run by a group of non-native U.S. businessmen and politicians with sugar interests. They were in favor of annexation to protect Hawaii’s free-trade status since the United States was the major importer of Hawaiian agricultural products.

Delegates of the native Hawaiian group came to Washington, DC, with the petition and met with Queen Lili’uokalani, who was already in Washington lobbying against annexation. After meeting with members of Congress and voicing their opposition, only 46 senators were in favor of the resolution to annex Hawaii, less than the 2/3 majority needed for approval of a treaty.

Multiple Choice

Who was the queen of Hawaii?

• Queen Liliʻuokalani
• Queen Emma
• Queen Kaʻahumanu
• Queen Kapiʻolani

Multiple Choice

True or False: Queen Lili’uokalani, had been overthrown in a bloodless coup with the help of the U.S. government

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

What commodity were US businessmen and politicans interested in Hawaii for?

• Coffee beans
• Cotton plants
• Pineapple
• Sugar cane

The victory was short-lived, however. Lili’uokalani never regained power because leaders of the Republic of Hawaii refused to turn over power. Then unfolding world events forced the annexation issue to the fore again. On February 15, 1898, the U.S. Battleship Maine was blown up in Havana Harbor in Cuba. The ensuing Spanish-American War, part of which was fought in the Philippine Islands, established the argument that the Hawaiian islands would be strategically valuable as a mid-Pacific fueling station and naval installation.

 

Pro-annexation forces in Congress submitted a proposal to annex the Hawaiian Islands by joint resolution, a process requiring only a simple majority in both houses of Congress. This eliminated the 2/3 majority needed to ratify a treaty. On July 12, 1898, the Joint Resolution passed and the Hawaiian islands were officially annexed by the United States.

Multiple Choice

Which war prompted the US annexation of Hawaii?

• Spanish-American War
• Cuban-American

• Mexican-American

• World War I