"The History They Didn't Teach You in School"--an occasional series. September 12th, 1838, Hawai'i's last monarch, Queen Liliuokalani, born.
On September 12th, 1838, Queen Lydia Liliuokalani, the last monarch of Hawai'i, was born in Honolulu. She would reign over her country from 1891 to 1898, the pivotal years when the United States assumed control over Hawai'i and overthrown her government.
Americans had first gone to Hawai'i in the early 19th century, mostly as missionaries, and soon discovered that there were fortunes to be made as sugar planters. In the aftermath of the Civil War, American influence over the Hawai'ian economy grew rapidly, as sugar from the islands poured into the United States––millions of pounds of sugar were exported annually to the U.S. while less than a thousand was sold to the rest of the world. At the same time, the political influence of the white sugar barons grew, and Hawai'i essentially lost its political sovereignty as the price for gaining American markets.
In 1890, however, the McKinley Tariff, which protected American commodities, caused a virtual depression in the Hawai'ian sugar industry, and U.S. interests began to advocate the annexation of the islands so that its sugar could compete on the world market.
Taking over in 1891, Liliuokalani was an ardent nationalist, and fought against American control of her country. In 1893, she drew up a new constitution asserting Hawai'ian sovereignty and trying to reclaim power from the American interests there. Fearing her nationalist ideology, the U.S. minister in Hawai'i, John L. Stevens [a civilian without a military commission] ordered 150 Marines ashore and they ousted the Queen in a bloodless coup. The monarchy was abrogated and a provisional government, led by the American planter Sanford Dole, assumed power over the islands and was recognized by President McKinley on July 4th, 1894.
A year later, Liliuokalani was arrested after weapons were found
in her home, though she claimed to have no knowledge of any plans to oust
the Dole regime and restore her to the throne. She was placed under house
arrest and released after a year. In 1898, in the aftermath of the Spanish-American-Filipino
War, the U.S. annexed Hawai'i and held it as a protectorate until it became
the fiftieth state in 1959.
For more info:
Liliuokalani, Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen
Michael Dougherty, To Steal a Kingdom
Helena Allen, The Betrayal of Liliuokalani