How did America convince the Hawaiians to join the United States as a territory?
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The United States "convinced" Hawaii to become a US territory through force.
Hawaii was, in those days, a monarchy ruled by native Hawaiians. But the real power, economically speaking, in the islands was held by Americans who had come over and become sugar planters. These Americans wanted to be annexed to the United States because they wanted to be able to sell their sugar to America without having to pay tariffs on it. The Americans were the ones who (with the help of some US Marines) forced Queen Liliuokalani to abdicate the throne. Once they had changed the system of government, they made a treaty with the United States in which they were annexed as a territory.
Well my theory on why is because of what happened in Pearl Harbor, they couldn't defend themselves so they tried the next best thing and that was to find the strong nation that would defend them at every time of desperation, yet on the other Hawaii was also a good investment due to a place that is considered a paradise to some.
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