June 15, 1898: Hawaii

When Queen Liliuokalani moved to establish a stronger monarchy in the 1890's, American businessmen who owned sugar plantations, under the leadership of Samuel Dole, deposed her in 1893. The administration of President Benjamin Harrison encouraged the takeover, and dispatched sailors from the USS Boston to the islands to surround the royal palace. Dole sent a delegation to Washington in 1894 seeking annexation, but the new President, Grover Cleveland, opposed annexation and tried to restore the Queen. Dole declared Hawaii an independent republic. Spurred by the nationalism aroused by the Spanish-American War, the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898 at the urging of President William McKinley. Hawaii was made a territory in 1900, and Dole became its first governor.

Clearly an act of imperialism, or clearly not?