<P> Congress conducted an independent investigation, and on February 26, 1894, submitted the Morgan Report, which found all parties, including Minister Stevens--with the exception of the Queen--"not guilty" and not responsible for the coup . Partisans on both sides of the debate questioned the accuracy and impartiality of both the Blount and Morgan reports over the events of 1893 . </P> <P> In 1993, the US Congress passed a joint Apology Resolution regarding the overthrow; it was signed by President Bill Clinton . The resolution apologized and said that the overthrow was illegal in the following phrase: "The Congress--on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893, acknowledges the historical significance of this event which resulted in the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people ." The Apology Resolution also "acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum". </P> <P> After William McKinley won the 1896 U.S. presidential election, advocates pressed to annex the Republic of Hawaii . The previous president, Grover Cleveland, was a friend of Queen Lili ʻuokalani . McKinley was open to persuasion by U.S. expansionists and by annexationists from Hawai ʻi . He met with three non-native annexationists: Lorrin A. Thurston, Francis March Hatch and William Ansel Kinney . After negotiations in June 1897, Secretary of State John Sherman agreed to a treaty of annexation with these representatives of the Republic of Hawaii . The U.S. Senate never ratified the treaty . Despite the opposition of most native Hawaiians, the Newlands Resolution was used to annex the Republic to the U.S.; it became the Territory of Hawaii . The Newlands Resolution was passed by the House on June 15, 1898, by 209 votes in favor to 91 against, and by the Senate on July 6, 1898, by a vote of 42 to 21 . </P> <P> In 1900, Hawaii was granted self - governance and retained ʻIolani Palace as the territorial capitol building . Despite several attempts to become a state, Hawaii remained a territory for 60 years . Plantation owners and capitalists, who maintained control through financial institutions such as the Big Five, found territorial status convenient because they remained able to import cheap, foreign labor . Such immigration and labor practices were prohibited in many states . </P>

How did the hawaiian islands became a u.s. territory