When Hawaii finally joined the United States and became a state, it was the 50th, and most recent territory to achieve statehood. While it wasn’t until 1959 that this happened, the United States was involved in Hawaii much earlier, and one of the main reasons was agriculture. Hawaii is a tropical land, which is good for production of crops such as pineapple, coffee, and sugar. Of these crops, sugar is one of the most impactful. Sugar production was huge in the nineteenth century, and is one of the biggest reasons that the United States chose to occupy and annex Hawaii.
Before examining the impact of sugar, it is important to establish some background on U.S. involvement in Hawaii. The United States was worried about other countries, specifically Great Britain and France, moving in on Hawaii and attempting to add the territory to their empires. The U.S. had both territorial and economic interests in Hawaii, as it had lots of fertile land unlike any in the continental United States, and would be an ideal location for a military base in the Pacific. The first relations between the United States and Hawaiian Kingdom came in 1849, when the two governments established a “treaty of friendship” to open relations. The U.S. also urged Britain and France to not pursue any interests in Hawaii.
The next step in relations between the two places came in 1875, when a trade reciprocity treaty was signed. The United States has successful whaling and sugar businesses based in Hawaii. They also liked Hawaii because it provided a great opportunity for Protestant missionaries to spread Christianity to the islanders. However, the primary motive was the booming sugar industry. Five companies spearheaded the industry, and they were known as “The Big Five.” Each company was founded by foreigners. The companies were called Alexander & Baldwin, American Factors (Amfac), Castle & Cooke, C. Brewer & Co., and Theo H. Davies & Co. Each company played a different role in the industry, such as supplying resources, running trade routes, trading stocks, and merchandising agents. Furthermore, the companies increased their economic and political power by working on the board of directors of each other and rigging elections on the economy.
These five companies helped to bring the booming sugar industry into the United States in the late-19th century. The first Hawaiian sugar plantation was founded in 1835. In 1837, before the U.S. and Hawaii established relations, the Hawaiian sugar industry produced only two tons. Early sugar plantations lacked many necessities, such as water supply, market for labor, and a strong market for sugar. Water issues were solved in 1856, when the Lihue Plantation became the first Hawaiian plantation to install an irrigation system. Foreign workers flocked to Hawaii to help on these plantations. From 1852 until the end of World War II, 385,000 workers came to Hawaii from Asia, North America, and Europe. The last weakness (lack of market) was helped by The Big Five. Castle & Cooke was founded in 1851 by Samuel Castle and Amos Cooke. They ended up finding success in the sugar industry by using the trading lines they had established previously through missionary stints. Theodelphius Davies founded Theo H. Davies & Co., which helped provided merchandising to 22 sugar plantations.
Theo H. Davies & Co. and Castle & Cooke helped to set up an American market for sugar. The efforts of the two companies combined with the innovation of irrigation ditches and foreign workers helped to send the sugar industry to new heights. By 1876, which was only a year after the trade reciprocity treaty was signed, this production jumped to 13,000 tons. In current metrics (as of February 2nd, 2018) this amount of sugar would be worth over $3.5 million. The two treaties opened the door for the sugar market, and it only grew from there.
The annexation of Hawaii by the United States was another helping factor to the sugar industry. The Hawaiian Islands were annexed in 1898, after a tumultuous five years of unrest. The unrest began in 1893, when Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani attempted to restore power to the Hawaiian monarchy, rather than the foreign powers that had intervened in the territory. Naturally, foreign plantation owners did not like this, as it would have resulted in a tariff on exports from Hawaii, which would cost them money. These plantation owners urged then U.S. president Benjamin Harrison to annex Hawaii. Harrison supported an American-led coup, and sent U.S. sailors to the royal palace to attempt to overthrow the queen. However, Harrison was nearing the end of his term, and Grover Cleveland was inaugurated in 1894. President Cleveland wanted to restore Liliuokalani to power, but he was opposed by plantation owner Samuel Dole, a la Dole Food Company. Dole proclaimed Hawaii to be an “independent republic” and no further action was taken until 1898, when new president William McKinley came into power. There was a peak in American nationalism after the Spanish-American War was won in that same year. This nationalism spurred McKinley to annex Hawaii, which was done in the later months of 1898. President McKinley then took it a step further and established Hawaii as a U.S. territory in 1900, and Samuel Dole was declared the first Hawaiian governor.
After the events that led to Hawaii becoming a territory of the United States, sugar production skyrocketed. In 1898, the year of annexation, 225,000 tons were produced. By 1932, production had reached 1 million tons, and annually averaged that much until the mid-1980s. By today’s standards (about 13 cents per pound), that would mean over $269 million of revenue. Sugar consumption increased as well. In the beginning of the 19th century, the average person consumed 22 pounds of sugar per year, yet by 1900, this mark increased to nearly 90 pounds per person per year. Hawaiian sugar plantations could’ve had something to do with this, as a similar sized increase was seen in sugar production in Hawaii.
In conclusion, it is undeniable that sugar was one of the leading factors in the United States interest in Hawaii. The U.S. was interested in increasing their economy when pursuing Hawaii, and did so by shipping tons and tons of sugar throughout the years. The very year after signing a treaty of trade reciprocity in 1875, sugar production increased to 13,000 tons, up from merely two tons in 1837, before U.S. contact. This led to the United States annexing Hawaii in 1898, before establishing the islands as a U.S. territory in 1900. The year of annexation, sugar production had increased nearly twentyfold to 225,000 tons, before reaching 1 million tons annually in 1932. The United States had realized the potential of sugar and decided to annex the Hawaiian Islands, and this potential was fulfilled, leading to a multi-million dollar market for sugar.
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Works Cited
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