USA HISTORY

AMERICAN IMPERIALISM(1890 1919)

AMERICAN IMPERIALISM

[SOURCES]
Why did America annex Hawaii in 1898?

(A) Beautiful beaches

(B) Sugar Cane plantations

(C) ** It’s location in the Pacific Ocean

(D) Tourism benifits

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -Spurred by the nationalism aroused by the Spanish-American War, the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898 at the urging of President William McKinley.

Concept note-2: -Ultimately, annexation was achieved due to the perceived threat of the Japanese invasion. Waves of Japanese came to the islands in increasing numbers to work in the sugar trade. U.S. military leaders feared potential Japanese occupation of the islands and created a strategic naval base in the center of the Pacific.

Concept note-3: -When the Hawaiian islands were formally annexed by the United States in 1898, the event marked the end of a lengthy internal struggle between native Hawaiians and non-native American businessmen for control of the Hawaiian government.

Concept note-4: -The United States wanted to use Hawaii as a platform from which they could have a dominant Military presence in the Pacific. It was whaling, sugar and pineapples that first brought Pearl Harbor to America’s attention. U.S. business interests and naval strategists had long coveted the island kingdom.