Sunday, February 21, 2016

The Annexation of Hawaii

Annexation of Hawaii

   The annexation of Hawaii was where missionaries from America came to teach Christianity to the people, but ended up becoming powerful sugar farmers. However, the queen of the islands tried to limit their power, but the missionaries revolted and requested that America annex Hawaii. Japan was also trying to gain Hawaii, as shown in this political cartoon. The cartoonist saw Japan as being an annoying pest who would bug America for control over Hawaii. This is shown by the dog pestering Uncle Sam for the sausage, which is labeled as being Hawaii. If a Japanese native saw this, they would probably be offended by being represented as merely an annoying dog. The techniques used in the cartoon are labeling and an analogy. Labels can be seen due to the fact that the cartoonist labeled the dog as Japan and the sausage as Hawaii. Analogies can be seen by the fact that Japan is as annoying as the dog and that the sausage entices the dog, as Hawaii enticed Japan. This supports my idea of imperialism because when you take over a certain area, other countries want it too. Also, smaller countries could get annoying when they want some of the land that you have taken over. At the time, Mexico was also threatening our way or life.

Citation: Fish, Der. "The Hawaiian Gazette. (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, August 20, 1897, Page 3, Image 3." News about Chronicling America RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025121/1897-08-20/ed-1/seq-3/>.

1 comment:

  1. I suggest doing research and fact checking.

    "The annexation of Hawaii was where missionaries from America came to teach Christianity to the people, but ended up becoming powerful sugar farmers." - This is wrong because it was not the missionaries that would go on to overthrow the Kingdom, but their children. The missionaries that came to Hawaiʻi were naturalized, so their children were Hawaiian Subjects not American.

    "the queen of the islands tried to limit their power, but the missionaries revolted and requested that America annex Hawaii." - The Queen was not doing anything wrong because she was well in her right. On January 14, 1893, in an attempt to counter the effects of the so-called constitution of 1887, Her Majesty Queen Lili'uokalani, drafted a new constitution that embodied the principles and wording of the Constitution of 1864.

    In a meeting of the Privy Council that afternoon, Lili‘uokalani took the oath of office, where she swore “in the presence of Almighty God, to maintain the Constitution of the Kingdom whole and inviolate, and to govern in conformity therewith.” Chief Justice Albert F. Judd administered the oath and Lili‘uokalani was thereafter proclaimed Queen. The oath did not state that she maintain the 1887 Bayonet Constitution, but rather “the Constitution.” The Bayonet Constitution was never ratified by the Legislative Assembly, so therefore it was never a constitution to begin with. The 1864 Constitution remained the constitution of the country.

    "Japan was also trying to gain Hawaii, as shown in this political cartoon. The cartoonist saw Japan as being an annoying pest who would bug America for control over Hawaii. This is shown by the dog pestering Uncle Sam for the sausage, which is labeled as being Hawaii." - Japan and Hawaiʻi had close ties with each other. During the overthrow [Japan wanted to intervene at that time; but was told to back off. They stood by on alert to protect their citizens in the Kingdom.]: Hawaii State Archives

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