cannons on Honolulu until Kamehameha III signed the islands over to them. The British government later repudiated the deal and Hawaii regained its sovereignty after five months under the Union Jack. Meanwhile, the native Hawaiian population continued to decline as a result of disease and emigration (McDougall 211-17). Smallpox claimed 10 percent of the population in 1853 (McDougall 337).
Hawaii reacted to these imperialist incidents by forming a legislature and a cabinetùboth of which were populated by Americans. Already masters of HawaiiÆs economy and religion, the United States added HawaiiÆs political arena to its domain by 1845 (McDougall 217-18). Under the auspices of land reform, native Hawaiians were stripped of much of their property, mostly for the benefit of Americans (Dougherty 108-09).
By the 1860s, American business leaders on the islands were urging the United States to annex Hawaii. The Civil War raged, however, and the United States did not dare risk angering Britain. By the 1870s, King David Kalakaua assumed
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