Hawaiian Annexation
In the 1880s, Hawaii was still a monarchy ruled by the Kamehameha family. Many U.S. citizens had settled in Hawaii and had established a commercial economy. The Americans had also brought disease to the island, which killed many island natives as it had killed many Native Americans on the mainland.
Since it was a prime stop along a trade route, Hawaii became a possible location for American naval ships. In 1887 the United States negotiated a treaty with Hawaii that established the Pearl Harbor naval base. Americans began to control the sugar plantations in Hawaii and lifted the tariffs on sugar exports. When Queen Liliuokalani opposed U.S. control, the tariffs were placed back on the exports and the Hawaiian economy began to fail. This led the way for planters, including Sanford Dole, a pineapple planter, to remove the queen from power and call for annexation to the United States. The annexation was approved in 1898.