Upfront

The New York Times

The News Magazine for Teens January 30,2012

Should the

United States

Abandon its

Isolationist

Past?

Exclusive with

a Hawaiian

citizen about

the Hawaiian

Annexation.

How did Hawaiian citizens react to the annexation of their homelands? Emele Kealoha, a Hawaiian citizen, experienced this monumental moment when Hawaii became an American territory. My interview with Emele showed how Americans became interested in Hawaii in the 1800’s, planters and the U.S. Marines overthrowing their king and queen, and how Hawaii became a part of the United States.

Emele told me that before the United States was interested in adding Hawaii to their country, there were many people that came to Hawaii to settle down with their families or were interested in the sugarcane industry. In the 1700’s, British explorer Captain James Cook visited the islands making the U.S. more interested in beating out Great Britain before they could take over Hawaii. Also, in the 1820’s, U.S. ships began arriving and bringing traders and missionaries. Missionaries came to convert Hawaiians to Christianity. Later, families came to live in Hawaii or to raise crops, especially sugarcane. As the Americans came, investors in the sugarcane industry began increasing their control on the islands along with James B. Dole supplying 90% of the world canned pineapple in the 1930’s. Many Hawaiian citizens watched as Americans were beginning to take over their home.

Men and women would sigh petitions trying to help Hawaii from becoming a

part of the U.S., but the petitions failed.

Hawaiian Annexation

Emele told me that before the United States was interested in adding Hawaii to their country, there were many people that came to Hawaii to settle down with their families or were interested in the sugarcane industry. In the 1700’s, British explorer Captain James Cook visited the islands making the U.S. more interested in beating out Great Britain before they could take over Hawaii. Also, in the 1820’s, U.S. ships began arriving and bringing traders and missionaries. Missionaries came to convert Hawaiians to Christianity. Later, families came to live in Hawaii or to raise crops, especially sugarcane. As the Americans came, investors in the sugarcane industry began increasing their control on the islands along with James B. Dole supplying 90% of the world canned pineapple in the 1930’s. Many Hawaiian citizens watched as Americans were beginning to take over their home.

Emele told me that many people in Hawaii helped to plot against the King and later the Queen to get rid of the monarchy and to become a part of the United States. First, the Hawaiian League forced King Kalakaua to sign the Bayonet Constitution that would restrict his powers and would give Pearl Harbor, the port, to the U.S. permanently. After King Kalakaua died in 1891, his sister, Queen Liliuoka, took the throne and wanted to make Hawaii its own territory again. John L. Stevens, planters, and with the help of the U.S. Marines, they overthrew her and she surrendered. After, her rain as queen, Sanford B. Dole, a sugar tycoon, became the president of Hawaii and turned Hawaii into a republic protected by the U.S. Some citizens would do anything to become a part of the United States. Emele told me that the worst part about this situation was the actual annexation. President Grover Cleveland of the U.S. put the treaty with Hawaii on hold because he disapproved of the annexing of Hawaii. The next president, William McKinley, favored annexation and decided to add Hawaii to the U.S. as a territory. Congress approved of the vote in 1898 and later became a state in 1959. This moment was hard for some citizens. They didn’t want to give up their homes and freedom to the U.S. Emele struggled with Hawaii becoming a part of the United States.

The annexation of

Hawaii took place in

Honolulu in 1898.

By: Emily Tinsman

When building the Panama Canal many problems and issues occurred many of which were working conditions along with shortages of labor, fatality, and technical and engineering problems. Many of the problems which occurred ether stopped of slowed the construction of the canal. The Panama Canal was located in the province of Colombia. The United States interest in the canal they believe that the canal would make traveling quicker when moving from the Atlantic to the Pacific instead of going all the way around South America. This idea was appealing and when Colombia became independent they agreed with one of our treaties and started to build what would be one of the largest canals.

Muckraking the Panama Canal

One of the main problems of which took place in the canal were harsh working conditions. The workers were constantly exposed to the elements such as the harsh wet weather and made them susceptible to pneumonia. The workers were also exposed to harsh terrain that made it very difficult for construction. An example is the minerals located in the canal often hampered with the construction making it more difficult to build. The camp quarters in which they lived had lack of sanitation and hygiene which made them more prone to diseases such as hook worm, small pox, dysentery, typhoid, and other contagious infections such as bubonic plague. People like Dr. William C. Gorgas the carnal tried to improve sanitation and health to the camps in which workers lived. Another thing that often affected the workers is discrimination. According to PBS, the racial divide began with “The distinction that began as a division between "skilled" and "unskilled" laborers, but as time passed it evolved into a purely racial divide.”

“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far” this quote was often used by Roosevelt. The “big stick” he referred to his naval

power/ military power.

Another problem that occurred was the number of fatalities. Although according to my source the second year after 1906 they had

over 24,000 and almost doubled in size within five years they had 45,000 people who not only came from America but also Europe, West Indies and Asia. "You here who are doing your work well in bringing to completion this great enterprise are standing exactly as a soldier of the few great wars of the world's history," Teddy Roosevelt expressed this to the workers during his trip to Panama in 1906. "This is one of the great works of the world" he announced. Within the second year the

death toll for only workers was 4% and over 22,000 workers were hospitalized many and every evening a train travels to Mount Hope

Cemetery brought car loads of coffins per day. Main causes for death was yellow fever and malaria. The main cause for this is that the

workers were unprotected by mosquitoes transmitted diseases such as yellow fever and malaria. To decrease the death rate in Panama Dr. C. Gorgas (the carnal of the army) worked to eliminate the yellow fever

and malaria problem. Some of the problem solvers used was the draining of swaps and cleared vegetation, they spread oil on standing

pools, and bred many lizards and spiders to keep the mosquito population down to a minimum.

The last problem was the actual construction itself. The construction contained many problems such as engineering and organization. John F. Stevens was appointed chief engineer by Teddy Roosevelt to accomplish what would be one of the largest canals. Roosevelt's requirements were it lad to be at least fifty miles in length, at sea level, and had to be at least half as long as Suez Canal. When building many factors caused problems such as the overall weather and the land it was being built on. Panama is known to be hot and humid and contain allot of precipitation. This can be a problem because this creates many mud slides that can slow the production of the canal. During many mudslides they lost many lives and equipment under the rubble. In conclusion many problems involving the work environment affected many workers when trying to complete the task of building the canal. These main problems were the construction of the canal, sanitation and fatality. These problems listed affected the over well fare of all workers working on building the Panama Canal. By: Rachael Tigrett

Main cause of death was mosquitos and accidents

Construction on Panama Canal

Adaela Timmerman: My Interview with Emilio Aguinaldo

Emilio Aguinaldo, the first president of the Philippine Republic

Peace

My interview with Emilio Aguinaldo showed his fight for independence, his work for the U.S., and how he ended up fighting against the United States. His battle for independence, he was against the people ruling his country for years. He had asked the United States to back him up. He had been fighting Spain for two years.

Spain had been controlling the Filipinos for years. That is the reason they started fighting. Aguinaldo had been against this. When he made his deal with the U.S., they would have tobe ready when called to battle, when they had failed to do such, Aguinaldo became angry. He says, “They promised me something, they would aid to me when I called. They have betrayed my trust.” I had a quick Q&A with Aguinaldo about the war between the Filipinos and America.

Well there you have it, peace between the Filipinos and the Americans was settled in 1946 when America granted them full independence. Aguinaldo has told me for anyone who has a goal in life, “Life is a sea, you can learn to ride with the waves, those are your bumps in life. But when you find your center, you’re sure to achieve anything you set your mind to”. How inspirational, with Upfront Magazine, this has been Adaela Timmerman with my interview with Emilio Aguinaldo.

Q: What happen after they didn’t come to you assistance? A: Well when that happened, my people demanded war and I decided to make myself President to show I meant business with America. Q: What did The Americans think when you became president? A: They felt threatened, as if they were worried that we would attack America and take it as our own. Q: And after that? A: Well as expected war broke out between us and America had decided to come to their senses. Q: Which was? A: Well after that we stopped the bloodshed and America Decided to give us a voice when it came to election of the legislated votes. Q: And what was your reaction to this? A: At first I thought it was a set up but when they told me they were serious in letting us have a voice, I knew they were telling the truth. Q: Delightful, now what happened after your people voted? A: Well after weeks of debating on Independence for the Philippines, on July 4, 1946 the U.S. granted the Filipinos full independence. Q: And your reaction to this? A: Ecstatic, I started in this fighting for something, fighting towards my goal for my people and for me, and achieving that goal is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Me: Thank you Mr. Aguinaldo for all your time. Aguinaldo: My pleasure.

The Spanish American War By: Drew Romkey

With the independence of a nation in mind, a war on opposite

sides of the world, the mysterious sinking of an American naval vessel, and several thousand American soldier deaths, this is the Spanish-American war. Cuba, an island that has been under Spanish control for centuries, wants to become an independent nation, although Spain refuses to release control of the island. Cuba has generated revenue for Spain because its main trading port, Havana, is an extremely popular trading city. Riots have broken out constantly due to the fact that Spain does not want to lose its Caribbean territory. American ships had been sent down to Cuba to protect civilians by intervening in the riots. Spain then insults the United States for defending Cuban civilians as well as advocating their freedom. Spain then declared war on the United States. After declaring war on America, Spanish outposts in the Philippines and Cuba were attacked. While the United States was fighting for freedom in both hemispheres, Cuba would be completely independent where as the land in the Philippines would be mainly controlled by the United States, but still be an area of democracy and freedom.

Spanish Officers

“With the independence of a nation in mind, a war on opposite sides of the world, the mysterious sinking of an American naval vessel, and several thousand American soldier deaths, this is the Spanish-American war.” The Spanish-American war was one of the first things the United States did to help with freedom of nations. If it were not for this war, Cuba and the territories in the Philippines could still be under Spanish control. Americans saw that freedom of countries was an extremely important thing and they used their resources to help a nation that they did not have close ties with.

The United States naval ship, the

U.S.S. Maine, had mysteriously sunk in a harbor in Cuba, before the conflict. In American investigations, Spain caused the sinking of the ship. Spanish investigations had shown the exact opposite, that the explosion happened inside of the ship, possibly a spark in the store of gunpowder. Regardless of the real sinking of the ship, this incident was a primary cause of the start of the war. Thousands of American soldiers died in the course of the war. They died for the freedom of others.

An explosion from the Spanish American War of 1898

Bibliography

Website Sources:

• 1905, December. "Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal . TR, The Story of Theodore Roosevelt . WGBH American Experience | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tr-panama/>.

• "The Workers . Panama Canal . WGBH American Experience | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/panama-workers/>.

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• "Liliuokalani — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." History.com — History Made Every Day — American & World History. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1994-2011. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://www.history.com/topics/liliuokalani>.

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Book Source:

• Ayers, Edward L., and Samuel S. Wineburg. "Chapter 7: Entering the World Stage."American Anthem: Modern American History. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2007. 198-227. Print.

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<http://thamanjimmy.blogspot.com/2010/10/history-of-roosevelts-big-stick-policy.html>.

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"The 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii." National Archives and Records

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petition/>.

• "United States Annexation of Hawaii." Hawaii for Visitors - Hawaii Travel Web Site by

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