House Joint Resolution 259, 55th Congress, 2nd session, known as the "Newlands Resolution," passed Congress and was signed into law by President McKinley on July 7, 1898 — the Hawaiian islands were officially annexed by the United States. Sanford Dole became the first Governor of the Territory of Hawaii. When the Hawaiian islands were formally annexed by the United States in 1898, the event marked the end of a lengthy internal struggle between native Hawaiians and non-native American businessmen for control of the Hawaiian government.

America's annexation of Hawaii in 1898 extended U.S. territory into the Pacific and highlighted resulted from economic integration and the rise of the United States as a Pacific power. Spurred by the nationalism aroused by the Spanish-American War, the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898 at the urging of President William McKinley. Hawaii was made a territory in 1900, and Dole became its first governor.

Hawaiian independence ended with the formal U.S. annexation of Hawaii on August 12, 1898, following the Senate passage of a joint Congressional resolution on July 6, which was signed by U.S. President William McKinley the next day. Owing to U.S. annexation of Hawaii, the legation ceased to exist on August 12, 1898.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled, That said cession is accepted, ratified, and confirmed, and that the said Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies be, and they are hereby, annexed as a part of the territory of the United States and are subject to the sovereign dominion thereof, and that all and singular the property and rights hereinbefore mentioned are vested in the United States of America.

In 1897, more than 21,000 native Hawaiians—out of a population of less than 40,000—signed this petition opposing the annexation of Hawaii. It contributed to the defeat of a proposed annexation treaty. After America went to war with Spain in 1898, however, proponents of annexation argued that Hawaii was needed to support military action in the Philippines. In July 1898, a joint resolution passed control of Hawaii's 6,450 square miles of territory to the United States.

United States annexes Republic of Hawaii on July 7, 1898, when President William McKinley signed the Newlands Resolution. Hawaii was formally transferred to the United States during a ceremony at Iolani Palace on August 12, 1898. As the newly appointed governor of the Territory of Hawaii, Sanford Dole spoke as the Hawaiian flag was lowered with King Kalakaua's composition and National Anthem, Hawaii Ponoi, playing the background, and then replaced by the American flag and The Star-Spangled Banner.

Hawaii was formally annexed to the United States on August 12, 1898, following a complex history of American interest in the islands that began in the early 19th century. Ultimately, Congress passed the Newlands resolution, leading to Hawaii's official annexation. Hawaii remained a U.S. territory until it achieved statehood in 1959, becoming the 50th state.

Still lacking the votes for a treaty, McKinley sought to annex Hawaii by joint resolution, which passed Congress and was signed into law on July 7, 1898. Protests in Hawaii and the United States over the circumstances of annexation led to defeat of the treaty in the Senate in February 1898. But the patriotic enthusiasm generated by the Spanish-American War (April–August 1898), which involved a major naval action in the Pacific that demonstrated the islands' potential strategic importance, created a political opening for McKinley.

With the passage of Hawaiian annexation in 1898, her control of the throne was permanently lost, and Hawaii became a U.S. territory. On June 15, 1898, the House passed the resolution by a vote of 209 to 91; three weeks later, the Senate passed it by vote of 42 to 21. Annexation had finally succeeded, passed by a joint resolution rather than by treaty. U.S. Marines were present at the Hawaiian annexation ceremonies on August 12, 1898.

On July 8, 1898 the final signature was attached to the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawai'i to the United States. This despite the fact that the opposition was made clear in the “Petitions Against Annexation” signed by more than half the Hawaiian population. The United States annexed Hawai'i the following year.

Still lacking the votes for a treaty, he sought to annex Hawaii by joint resolution, which passed Congress and was signed into law on July 7, 1898. The Hawaiian Islands were officially annexed on July 12, 1898 and the Republic of Hawaii ceded to the United States 1.8 million acres of Hawaiian land which had once belonged to the monarchy.

Despite the opposition of much of the native Hawaiian population, McKinley signed the 1898 Newlands Resolution, annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States as “The Territory of Hawaii.” It was not until the 1950s that Hawaii formally became a state, however.