2 verifications about Hawaii Hawaii ×
“The annexation of Hawaii in 1898 gave the United States control of Pearl Harbor.”
Annexation did place Pearl Harbor under full U.S. sovereignty in 1898, but it did not mark the first time the United States exercised control there. The U.S. had already secured exclusive rights to use Pearl Harbor as a coaling and repair station through treaties in the 1870s and 1880s. The claim therefore conflates earlier operational control with later sovereign control.
“The United States annexed Hawaii in 1898.”
The historical record supports this claim. Official U.S. records and standard historical references identify 1898 as the year Hawaii was annexed, with the Newlands Resolution enacted on July 7 and the formal transfer occurring on August 12. The main caveats concern the exact milestone being referenced and the contested legitimacy of the process, not the year itself.