Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

On 18 January 1778, Captain James Cook of England made the first European contact with Hawaii. The onslaught of European diseases unknown to the Hawaiians probably reduced their population from 300,000 in 1778 to 135,000 in 1819. The islands became a way station for Yankee ships en route to China. US missionaries arrived in 1820 and stimulated interest by American investors in developing the islands. US sugar plantations came to dominate the islands’ economy after 1854. The continuing decline in the Hawaiian population (to 40,000 by 1890), led US businessmen to seek field laborers through J apanese and C hinese immigration . On 30 January 1875, Hawaii negotiated a treaty that allowed its sugar to enter the US duty-free and obliged it to refrain from giving territorial or economic concessions to foreign powers. The US became the best market for Hawaiian sugar until the M c K inley T ariff imposed heavy duties, which led American sugar planters to favor US annexation. On 20 January 1887, the US obtained the exclusive right to build a navy base at Pearl Harbor. In 1887, US expatriates helped engineer a revolt that instituted a constitutional monarchy. Queen Liliuokalani rescinded the constitution in 1891 and assumed autocratic powers. US citizens overthrew the monarchy on 16 January 1894, with assistance from US marines, and proclaimed a republic, which the US recognized on 7 August ... log in or subscribe to read full text