Timeline

January 1891: Lili’uokalani became the queen of Hawaii after her brother, King Kalākaua died.

1892: Queen Lili’uokalani backed efforts to improve the Constitution. She wanted to grant voting rights to Hawaiians, take away voting rights from non-Hawaiians, and give the power back to the monarch by requiring the Queen to confirm any suggested legislation before it became law.

January 1893: The Hawaiian League lead a successful rebellion against Queen

Lili’uokalani. They announced the establishment of the Republic of Hawaii and worked with a U.S. government official in Hawaii who identified them as a valid provisional government.

March 1893: Grover Cleveland became U.S. president. Cleveland ignored the provisional government and sent an investigator to Hawaii. Eventually,

Cleveland decided that the provisional government was not constitutional but left the decision of whether to restore Queen Lili’uokalani to her throne up to Congress.

March 1897: William McKinley, who supported the of the annexation of Hawaii, became

President of the U.S. McKinley supported a treaty that would annex the territory. However, the treated was not supported by the required two-thirds of Congress.

September 1897: The Hui Aloha ‘Āina, a group of Hawaiians didn’t support the annexation,. The group even held a mass meeting to protest annexation and started a petition to collect signatures of Hawaiians objected the annexation.

November 1897-February 1898: Representatives from Hui Aloha ‘Āina and Queen Lili’uokalani traveled to Washington, D.C., to display the petition and arguments against the annexation to U.S. Senators.

February 1898: The Spanish-American War began, with the U.S. fighting in both Cuba and the Pacific. Several members of Congress changed their thoughts in the favor of annexing Hawaii because they desired to obtain a fueling station and a military base in the Pacific.

July 1898: A joint resolution to formally annex Hawaii passed in the U.S.

Congress and was signed by President McKinley.

August 12, 1898: “Annexation Day” was declared and a celebration was held where they lowered the Hawaiian flag and rose the American flag at the palace.