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→The US Conquest
In 1849, there was an invasion by French troops over the issue of Catholics gaining religious rights. The invading force caused damage but eventually withdrew. After 1850, Americans increasingly came to Hawaii, initially missionaries who largely converted the native population to Christianity. The missionaries became powerful in influence to the royal family and in setting up commerce on the islands. Sugar became the primary industry in Hawaii as that was seen as the most profitable. This also changed Hawaii's demographic makeup by bringing over 200,000 laborers from east Asia, including from China, Japan, and the Philippines. Many of these laborers stayed after their contract periods, although most did go home. In 1872, the first ruling Hawaiian dynasty, the Kamehameha dynasty, died out. With the death of the dynasty, monarchs became elected with the first elected monarch being William C. Lunalil. In 1887, the so-called Bayonet Constitution, due to the fact it was threatened by force on the king, was passed, which effectively made the Hawaiian kingdom a constitutional monarchy similar to the United Kingdom. This gave the legislature and cabinet government power over the king. In 1891, Liliʻuokalani became the queen in Hawaii and she soon threatened to change the constitution to put more power back in the monarch's hands. The queen came in a time of economic troubles for Hawaii, as President McKinley had enacted tariffs that removed advantages Hawaiian exporters enjoyed previously in the US. In 1893, a group of non-natives (5 Americans, 1 British, and 1 German) overthrew the queen as they saw the tariffs as a threat to their businesses. The local US government minister, John L. Stevens, then ordered US sailors to land on the island and take up positions on key areas of US interest. The Committee of Safety, which was a group of mainly US individuals with business and missionary interests that planned for the overthrow, proclaimed an 'imminent threat to American lives and property' to justify the overthrow and occupation of the Hawaiian islands by US forces. This effectively ended the Hawaiian Kingdom.
==The Joining the US Conquest== Hawaii from 1893-1895 had effectively been ruled by the Committee of Safety, who had lobbied formal annexation of Hawaii by the US government. The new government was known as the Republic of Hawaii with Sanford B. Dole as head of government. However, President Cleveland, instead, felt the overthrow during the time of his predecessor was illegal and wanted Queen Liliʻuokalani back on the thrown. A royalist faction had attempted to overthrow the Republic, but was stopped before their attempt came into fruition and the Queen was now placed in house arrest and was made to formally abdicate the thrown. By 1897, the new President, William McKinley, was determined to expand the United States as European and other powers also extended their territory globally and across the Pacific. He felt the United States needed to compete. Japan had vehemently opposed annexation, even sending warships in an event that foreshadowed the events of Pearl Harbor 44 years later. With the Newlands Resolution in July 7, 1898, Congress paved the way for Hawaii to be formally annexed. Despite widespread opposition that wanted the queen to be reinstated, Sanford B. Dole was appointed as the new territory governor in 1900. Throughout the early half of the 20th century, Hawaii was dominated by major sugercane companies. The military, particularly the navy, saw Hawaii as critical to western defenses of the US. After the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the US into World War II, Japanese Americans, who made-up a much larger percentage of residents in Hawaii relative to other states, avoided being interned, mainly due to their large numbers. Interestingly, the most decorated US unit in World War II, for its size, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was mainly composed of Japanese-Americans who fought mainly in Europe. In 1952, the Democratic Party became the most powerful political force on the islands, paving the way for industrial strikes and labor movements that weakened the sugercane plantations. By this stage, the Democrats made many appeals for statehood and in 1959 Eisenhower signed the Hawaii Admission Act to allow Hawaii to become the 50th state. The vote was preceded by a referendum in which 93% of the population had wanted statehood for the islands. During the 1960s, there was renewed interest in Hawaiian culture and language as many on the islands saw the nature in which Hawaii became a US territory as illegal. In 1993, President Clinton signed the "Apology Resolution" to formally apologize to 'Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893...and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination.'
==Hawaii Statehood==
