Projected Annexation Of Hawaii example essay topic

President McKinley William McKinley was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio. Niles was a small town with no railroad and few wagon roads. He was the seventh child. When he was 9 years old they moved to Poland, Ohio. He went to the schoolhouse and then entered the local academy until he was 17. When he was 18, he taught school and earned $25 a month.

When vacation came he worked at the Poland post office. When the Civil War came, he enlisted. Shortly after he enlisted he was promoted to sergeant. When the war came to an end, he was a major at the age of 22. He attended the Albany Law School and he joined a law firm in 1867. He was elected county prosecuting attorney.

On January 25, 1871 he married Ida Saxton. He campaigned for General Rutherford B. Hayes who was his commanding officer during the Civil War. In 1876 he was elected to Congress and served 7 terms. He sponsored the tin industry and in 1896 he ran for president and won. He found that the gold in the Treasury was low and he worked on obtaining more gold for the Treasury. He passed the Tariff Bill and imports and exports increased.

Hawaii asked for annexation to the United States. He sent the Treaty of Annexation to the senate but they rejected it. "Reporting the stalemate between Spanish forces and revolutionaries in Cuba, newspapers screamed that a quarter of the population was dead and the rest suffering acutely. Public indignation brought pressure upon the President for war. Unable to restrain Congress or the American people, McKinley delivered his message of neutral intervention in April 1898. Congress thereupon voted three resolutions tantamount to a declaration of war for the liberation and independence of Cuba".

When the Battleship Maine was sunk, the United States declared war. During the 100 days of this war, the United States destroyed the Spanish fleet outside Santiago harbor in Cuba. Also, they seized Manila in the Philippines and occupied Puerto Rico. After the victory in Manila Bay, Congress began to see the projected annexation of Hawaii differently. The Senate and the House of Representatives took a vote on making Hawaii a territory of the United States. It was passed in June by the House of Representatives and then in July by the Senate.

In 1898, Hawaii became a territory of the United States. They abandoned the Nicaragua project in 1898 and started work on the Panama Canal. In 1900, McKinley again campaigned for a second term and won. Theodore Roosevelt was his Vice President.

His second term came to a nearly end in September 1901 when he was at the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition. He was near the crowd when a deranged anarchist, LeonCzolgosz, shot him 2 times. He was first shot in the chest and then second the abdomen. He died eight days later on September 14, 1901.

He is important because he was the 3rd assassinated president. He also increased foreign trade. He also made Hawaii a Territory of the United States.