April 13, 1868. Established as a military district under command of General Jefferson C. Davis, U.S.A. May 17, 1884. Under naval rule, the senior naval officer as commandant. May 17, 1884. Organized as a district by Act of Congress. September 15, 1884. Civil government inaugurated. The first governor by presidential appointment was John H. Kinkead of Nevada, a Republican. Term of office, September 15, 1884, to September 15, 1885. Hawaii, Annexation, 6740 Square Miles. Cause. Political reasons, justified on naval grounds, or to protect American interests, already paramount in the islands, based on supposed necessities arising out of the situation incident to the Spanish-American War in 1898. July 4, 1894. The Hawaiian, or Sandwich Islands became a republic, followed by an agitation for annexation to the United States. June 16, 1897. Treaty of annexation signed by plenipotentiaries of the United States and the Republic of Hawaii. June 11, 1898. Joint resolution for annexation presented to the House of Representatives, Washington, by its Committee on Foreign Affairs. June 15, 1898. Joint resolution passed by the House of Representatives; ayes 201, nays 19, not voting 49. July 6, 1898. July 7, 1898. Resolution passed the Senate; ayes 42, nays 21. August 12, 1898. Transfer of the sovereignty of the islands to the United States by Sanford R. Dole, President of the Republic of Hawaii. April 30, 1900. An act to provide a government for the territory of Hawaii enacted by the first session of the Fifty-sixth Congress, and approved by the President (April 30, 1900). The act to take effect June 14, 1900. June 14, 1900. New territorial government inaugurated at Honolulu. Inauguration of Governor Sanford R. Dole on the steps of the Capitol at 10 A.M. THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. Hawaii (Ha-wye-e), 4210 square miles. Kaui (Kow-e or Koy-eye), 590 square miles. Niihau (Ne-e-hoh), 97 square miles. Kahoolawe (Kah-hoo-lah-way), 63 square miles. The uninhabited islands are, Ni-ho-a, Ka-u-la, Le-hu-a, and Mo-lo-ki-ni. The acquired territory of Hawaii includes Nihas or Bird Island, 1822; Stewart, 1855; Laysan, 1857; Palmyra, 1862; Ocean, 1886; Necker, 1894; French Frigate Shoal, 1895; and Gardner Island, Mara or Moro Reef, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Gambia Bank, and Johnston or Cornwallis Island. Porto Rico, Philippine Islands, Guam, and Isle of Pines (Spanish Territory). Acquired as result of the Spanish-American War. Decision of Treaty at Paris, December 10, 1898. 119,868 square miles. Porto Rico, 3668 Square Miles. The Island of Puerto Rico, including Isla Culebra and Isla de Viegues. Island of Porto Rico, 108 miles long and 43 miles in width. October 18, 1898. Formal possession taken by the United States. April 12, 1900. An Act providing a civil government. Passed Senate, April 4, 1900; ayes 40, nays 31. Passed House of Representatives, April 11; ayes 161, nays 153. Bill signed by President McKinley, April 12, 1900. May 1, 1900. Military government ceased; civil government went into effect. May 27, 1901. Supreme Court of the United States decided Porto Rico as acquired territory, and subject to special action of Congress. See "Constitution" in "Political Vocabulary." Philippine Islands, 115,300 Estimated Square Miles. [No government survey has been made. In the "Guia Official de las Islas Filipinas para 1895: Publicada por la Secretaria del Gobierno General; Manila, 1898," the area of the Archipelago is given as 355,000 square kilometers (187,057 square miles). This does not include the Jolo (Sulu) group.] Extract from Article III. of the Treaty at Paris, December 10, 1898, outlines the Philippine Islands. "A line running from west to east along or near the twentieth parallel of north latitude and through the middle of the navigable channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) to the one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence along the one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the parallel of four degrees and forty-five minutes (4.45) north latitude to its intersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119,35) east of Greenwich, thence along the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119.35) east of Greenwich to the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7.40) north, thence along the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7.40) north to its intersection with the one hundred and sixteenth (116th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence by a direct line to the intersection of the tenth (10th) degree parallel of north latitude with the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, and thence along the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the point of beginning. "The United States to pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty." When the Peace Commissioners, in lieu of "the Philippine Archipelago," to avoid loose definition, drew the above geographical boundary line on basis of fixed meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude, they described parallelograms, causing an inset at the southwest corner which excluded some of the islands off the coast of Borneo. The southern boundary started at the eastern end, at the 127th meridian, along parallel 4 degrees 45 minutes westward to meridian 119 degrees 35 minutes, thence north to latitude 7 degrees 40 minutes, when deflected westward to meridian 116. A year following signature of treaty it was discovered the islands of Cibitu and Cagayan (Sulu) were excluded by the inset. According to the principles of common law an exact boundary, not a general terminology, was essential, upon which a treaty entered into with Spain, November 7, 1900, for the purchase of the two islands for $100,000. Ratified by the Senate, January 22, 1901, by a vote of 38 to 19. Ratifications of the treaty exchanged, March 23, 1901, at Washington, D.C., by the Duke d'Arcos, the Spanish minister, and Secretary of State Hay, payment being made by a Treasury warrant for $100,000. President McKinley issued a proclamation, March 25, 1901, announcing the purchase of Cibitu and Cagayan of the Jolo Archipelago. The islands number between 1000 and 2000: the "Guia" previously referred to notes 1200; the Derrotero del Archipielago Filipino," Madrid, 1879, i.e. the "Coast Pilot," describes 583. These islands are within a land and sea area of 1200 miles latitude and 2400 miles longitude. The Philippines were gained to Spain through the discovery of Magellan. The treaty of 1494 gave Spain, as her half of the world, all beyond the meridian of 370 leagues west of Ferro. The Philippines when discovered were moved on the maps twenty-five degrees east of their true position on the globe, when the islands in fact lay within the half of the world belonging to Portugal. The Spaniards made the maps and were thus enabled to bring the islands within their half. May 1, 1898. Destruction of Spanish fleet in Manila harbor and possession taken of the city of Manila by Commodore Dewey of the United States Navy. December 10, 1898. Treaty of Peace signed at Paris, covering surrender and indemnity for full possessions of the Philippines. July 4, 1901. Civil government inaugurated at Manila. Guam, Guajam, or Guahn, 900 Square Miles. One of the Mariana or Ladrone Islands in the Pacific, about thirty miles in length and about ten miles in width. December 10, 1898. at Paris. Ceded by Article II. of the Treaty of Peace February 1, 1899. Taken possession of by Commander Taussig of the United States gunboat "Remington." Isle of Pines, Greater Antilles (Isla de Pinos). Ceded to the United States under the Spanish-American Treaty of Peace, December 10, 1898. Article II. - Spain ceded to the United States the island of Porto Rico, and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and the island of Guam, in the Mariannes or Ladrones. Article I. reads "Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba." The treaty specifically ceding all the Spanish West India islands, except Cuba, to the United States. |