Why did the U.S. want to annex Florida?
The US did not want any Spanish or English troops on its southern border. Spain had long rejected repeated American efforts to purchase Florida. But by 1818, Spain was facing a troubling colonial situation where the cession of Florida made sense. Spain had been exhausted by the Peninsular War in Europe and needed to rebuild its credibility and presence in its colonies. Revolutionaries in Central and South America were beginning to demand independence. Spain was unwilling to invest further in Florida, encroached on by American settlers, and it worried about the border between New Spain (a large area including today's Mexico, Central America, and other regions) and the United States. With almost no military or government presence in Florida, Spain was not able to restrain the Seminole warriors who routinely crossed the border and raided American villages and farms.[5]
Why did some U.S. business leaders want the US to annex hawaii?
At some point, it was inevitable that Hawaii was going to succumb to imperialism by one of the world powers at that time. In fact, all the major powers (Britain, France, Germany, Spain, US) were carving up the Pacific long before Hawaii was annexed in 1898. US business leaders wanted annexation because it meant that they could continue business as usual. The majority of the foreign population in the islands was American-born anyway, and English had already taken hold as the language of commerce in Honolulu and the ports on the other islands.
What if the US had annexed all of Mexico after the Mexican-American War?
I highly doubt the United States could have kept hold of it. The Mexican Cession was easy to conquest and annex because it was basically empty ready for Anglo-Saxon settling. But Mexico proper, that was another story. You are talking about annexing 7 million of brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking, Catholic people to the USA in a time where the white-skinned Irish were having trouble with nativists, just because their Christianity was different from the mainstream Protestantism.I doubt the WASPs will accept it and the Mexicans themselves would accept it too. Remember, Mexico fought an 11 year war to be an independent nation and later they fought a guerrilla war against the French who wanted to establish an Empire there. That tells you a lot about the Mexicans, maybe that they cherish their independence and they will be willing to fight to the death to keep it. A total Mexican annexation would have been a constant headache for the Americans, and besides, it would be a contradiction towards America’s founding principles. If Mexico didn’t want to be ruled by Washington DC, then why should they insist on doing that?Considering that slavery was abolished in Mexico years earlier, it would have been interesting to see how the American-occupied Mexico would have acted during the Civil War. Would they have sided with the Confederacy against the Union that occupies them? Or maybe the Union in exchange for a formal independence? Or maybe they would be a “third side” where they would seek independence on their own? Or maybe the French would have intervened Mexico proclaiming themselves to be liberators of the Mexican people, thus switching the Second Intervention sides totally?It’s very hard to even imagine a scenario. I can somehow picture the USA annexing the Central American republics like El Salvador o Guatemala as their sense of nationalism was weaker than the Mexican and they had smaller population, nothing that an intense WASP colonization could fix. But still, there was Mexico in the middle, rendering the scenario unthinkable. It’s interesting how Mexico, without knowing it, acted as the “Protector” of the territorial integrity of the republics south of Rio Grande.
Why did sugar planters in Hawaii want the United States to annex Hawaii?
Simply put, They would become the effective government. The power of money and greed brought down and destroyed a sovereign independent nation.
Why didn't the US ever annex Cuba?
The United States eventually came to the aid of Cuba, which sought for secession from Spain, for a number of reasons, including the sinking of the "Maine" battleship and the harsh treatment Cuban secessionist rebels had begun to endure. Rounded up and quarantined, these Cubans who sought freedom were often silenced, mistreated and starved. Growing American sentiment against Spain in favor of secession eventually led to our intervention. Teddy Roosevelt and his rough riders are probably the best-known element of this war. Roosevelt's heroism played no small part in securing his popularity as president a few years later. Annexation at the end of the war was certainly considered, and urged by many. The hypocritical nature of such an action was evident though. We would be taking over a country that had sought independence, ousting one overlord to implant another. Had we foreseen the future Cuban missile crisis and years of cold relations, annexation would probably have been guaranteed.After the Treaty Of Paris, the U.S. did end up with Guam and Puerto Rico, as well as the Philippines (which was eventually relinquished). The Philippines became independent in 1946.For additional information on the Spanish American War, see this wiki page:Spanish–American War
Why did the US think it had the right to annex Hawaii?
For a time, the US didn’t feel it had a right to annex Hawaii. When US citizens deposed the Queen and used US Marines to do so (illegally), President Cleveland demanded they return the islands to its native people. He was ignored.During the McKinley Administration, the islands were annexed out of necessity because it was feared that Britain would take them. I am not justifying annexation, but British occupation of the islands was a real problem to consider. America already had “economic ownership” of the islands and annexation formalized what was inevitable. Basically, someone was going to take them so it might as well have been the USA.
Why did the united states annex hawaii?
Turns out Hawaii was a good place for sugar. The ex slave owners them went to Hawaii and basically made a fortune again . Selling this sugar was also beneficial to United States. When the natives got tired of being mistreated, the natives and their new Queen Lilikalani, who is I believe a national hero for them now, rebelled. The U.S. of course used their military might to put the natives on check. The U.S. then sent a naval fleet to good old Pearl Harbor. Queen Lilikalani was then given the choice to surrender or get attacked. She surrendered and was put into house arrest for the rest of her life. So the U.S. stayed and in the end, Hawaii became a state. I think there is a strong movement in Hawaii to become independent once again.