- Newlands Resolution
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On August 12, 1898, the flag of the Republic of Hawaii over ‘Iolani Palace was lowered to raise the United States flag to signify annexation.
The Newlands Resolution, was a joint resolution written by and named after United States Congressman Francis G. Newlands. It was an Act of Congress to annex the Republic of Hawaii and create the Territory of Hawaii.
In 1898 President of the United States William McKinley signed the treaty of annexation for Hawaii, but it failed in the Senate after the 38,000 signatures of the Ku’e Petitions were submitted.[citation needed] After the failure, Hawaii was annexed by means of joint resolution, called the Newlands Resolution.
It was approved on July 4, 1898 and signed on July 7 by William McKinley. In August of the same year, a ceremony was held on the steps of Iolani Palace to signify the official transfer of Hawaiian sovereignty to the United States.
The Newlands Resolution established a five-member commission to study which laws were needed in Hawaii. The commission included: Territorial Governor Sanford B. Dole (R-Hawaii Territory), Senators Shelby M. Cullom (R-IL) and John T. Morgan (D-AL), Representative Robert R. Hitt (R-IL) and former Hawaii Chief Justice and later Territorial Governor Walter F. Frear (R-Hawaii Territory). The commission's final report was submitted to Congress for a debate which lasted over a year. Congress raised objections that establishing an elected territorial government in Hawaii would lead to the admission of a state with a non-white majority.
See also
- Hawaiian Organic Act, approved in 1900 by Congress to adopt a form of government for the new territory, in supplement of the Newlands Resolution.
External links
A page of the Ku’e Petitions that prevented Hawaii from being annexed by treaty.
On the day of annexation most Hawaiians shuttered themselves at home and mourned for the end of Hawaii's independence and the monarchy. Queen Liliuokalani gathers with Princess Kaiulani, Prince Kawananakoa, and other members of the royal court at Washington Place to mourn.
Sanford B. Dole, left, continued as President of the newly created Territory of Hawaii until the Hawaiian Organic Act of 1900 established a permanent territorial government led by a governor.Territorial expansion of the United States Concept: Manifest Destiny
Thirteen Colonies (1776) · Treaty of Paris (1783) · Louisiana Purchase (1803) · Red River Cession (1818) · Adams–Onís Treaty (1819) · Texas Annexation (1845) · Oregon Treaty (1846) · Mexican Cession (1848) · Gadsden Purchase (1853) · Guano Islands Act (1856) · Alaska Purchase (1867) · Annexation of Hawaii (1898) · Treaty of Paris (1898) · Treaty of the Danish West Indies (1917)
Categories:- Republic of Hawaii
- Territory of Hawaii
- United States federal territory and statehood legislation
- 1898 in law
- 1898 in the United States
- Indigenous land rights in Hawaii
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