The correct answer is 3) Missionaries interested in converting Hawaiians to Christianity.
Americans' interest in Hawaii was inspired by Missionaries interested in converting Hawaiians to Christianity.
It all started with the first Christian missions that arrived in Hawai by the 1820s. The New England missionaries were the first to arrive a the islands and tried the conversion of the Natives. However, white Americans soon realized that Hawaii had plenty of lands to grow Sugar, and by the 1840s they saw a great opportunity to annexation. What followed was a series of turmoils and conflicts in Hawaii due to the permanent intervention of United States interest on the islands, until in 1959, Hawaii officially entered as the 50 state of the Union.