Summary Of Pat Pitzer's The Overthrow Of The Monarchy

According to the article “The Overthrow of the Monarchy” written by Pat Pitzer, Hawaii became a territory in the year 1900. The US finally agreed to annex Hawaii became a territory in the year 1900. The US finally agreed to annex Hawaii due to the Spanish-American War which occurred in 1898. Many people were against the annexation and made a petition called Hui Aloha Aina. This petition got over 21,000 signatures. The queen has lost her throne and has tried many ways to get it back. Everytime she tries to regain her power and the throne, the US stops her. Once the queen was sentenced to 5 years of hard labor and had to pay a $5,000 fine. The overthrow was unfair because the US used illegal methods and forced King Kalakaua to give most of his power to them. The overthrow was illegal and immoral. In the article, written by Pat Pitzer, it says that John L. Stevens illegally assisted the overthrow. Minister Stevens was called upon by Lorrin A. Thurston to bring troops off of the USS Boston (a ship from the US Navy) to the palace in support of the Committee of Safety. James Blount was against the annexation and supported the Hawaiians.. It was said that the overthrow was a conspiracy between …show more content…
Lorrin A. Thurston used illegal methods to overthrow Hawaii, he called John L. Stevens to bring troops to the palace in support of the Committee of Safety. The king also had no choice but to sign a document that would give most of his power to the US, he was forced to accept a new Cabinet composed of league members, who presented their constitution to him for his signature at ‘Iolani Palace. Even though people thought that Queen Lili'uokalani goal was to take over Hawaii her way, she really worried about her people and the independence of her kingdom. If the overthrow never happened what would Hawaii be like today? Would the Hawaiian Population increase or would it