Page:American Diplomacy in the Orient - Foster (1903).djvu/401

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE ANNEXATION OF HAWAII
377

the American minister requested the United States naval commander to land marines to protect American interests, and at five o'clock on the afternoon of the 16th a detachment of troops was landed and placed about the legation and consulate. On the day following, January 17, 1893, the revolutionists assembled under arms, and, marching to the government building, proclaimed the overthrow of the monarchy, and the committee of public safety took possession of the government without loss of life. The queen alleged that her adherents had been overawed by the landing of the United States troops, and, while peacefully submitting to the change, she appealed to the President of the United States to restore her to power.

A provisional government was at once established, with Judge S. B. Dole as president, Judge Dole was born in Honolulu, of American parentage, and resigned from the Supreme Court to accept the position. The new government was organized without opposition throughout the islands and recognized as the de facto government by the representatives of all the foreign powers resident at the capital. One of its first acts was to dispatch a commission of its citizens to Washington to negotiate a treaty of annexation to the American Union. The commissioners arrived in Washington on February 3, and, being introduced by the resident Hawaiian minister to the Secretary of State, laid before him their credentials and asked to enter upon negotiations. President Harrison, having satisfied himself that they represented the de facto and established government, and that ultimate annexation had been for many