680 ★ CHAPTER 17 Freedom’s Boundaries, at Home and Abroadthe outlook of James G. Blaine, who
served as secretary of state during Benja-
min Harrison’s presidency (1889–1893).
Blaine urged the president to try to
acquire Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Cuba
as strategic naval bases.
Although independent, Hawaii
was already closely tied to the United
States through treaties that exempted
imports of its sugar from tariff duties
and provided for the establishment of
an American naval base at Pearl Har-
bor. Hawaii’s economy was dominated
by American- owned sugar plantations
that employed a workforce of native
islanders and Chinese, Japanese, and
Filipino laborers under long- term con-
tracts. Early in 1893, a group of Ameri-
can planters organized a rebellion that
overthrew the Hawaii government of
Queen Liliuokalani. On the eve of leav-
ing office, Harrison submitted a treaty
of annexation to the Senate. After
determining that a majority of Hawai-
ians did not favor the treaty, Harrison’s
successor, Grover Cleveland, withdrew
it. In July 1898, in the midst of the Spanish- American War, the United States
finally annexed the Hawaiian Islands. In 1993, the U.S. Congress passed, and
President Bill Clinton signed, a resolution expressing regret to native Hawai-
ians for “the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii... with the participation of
agents and citizens of the United States.”
The depression that began in 1893 heightened the belief that a more aggres-
sive foreign policy was necessary to stimulate American exports. In the face of
social conflict and the new immigration, government and private organizations
promoted a unifying patriotism. These were the years when rituals like the Pledge
of Allegiance and the practice of standing for the playing of “The Star- Spangled
Banner” came into existence. Americans had long honored the Stars and Stripes,
but the “cult of the flag,” including an official Flag Day, dates to the 1890s. New,
mass- circulation newspapers also promoted nationalistic sentiments. By the
late 1890s, papers like William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal and Joseph
Pulitzer’s New York World— dubbed the “yellow press” by their critics after theA cartoon in Puck, December 1, 1897, imagines
the annexation of Hawaii by the United States
as a shotgun wedding. The minister, President
McKinley, reads from a book entitled Annexation
Policy. The Hawaiian bride appears to be looking
for a way to escape. Most Hawaiians did not
support annexation.