WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Firstly, California’s gold rush led to a population explosion on the west coast of America. This created a whole new market for Hawaiian sugar. Production expanded rapidly, with output rising to 700 tons per year by the 1850s (Kuykendall, 1953).

Detailed explanation-2: -Sugar cane had long been an important crop planted by the Hawaiians of old. Its sweet and nourishing sap was a favorite of chiefs and commoners alike. Industrial production of sugar began at Kōloa Plantation on Kaua’i in 1840.

Detailed explanation-3: -The spread of sugarcane plantations on the islands brought immigrant labor in waves from China, Japan and the Philippines. A smaller number of people also came from Portugal, Puerto Rico, Scotland and Germany. That immigration laid the foundation for the multicultural population of today’s Hawaii.

Detailed explanation-4: -Hawaii’s Sugar Industry played a major role in Hawaii’s economy for over a century. The Industry also provided many jobs and opportunities for people overseas, dramatically changing Hawaii’s ethnic makeup.

Detailed explanation-5: -When the first small sugar cane plantations began to prosper, other businessmen became interested in sugar as an exportable product to bring in income for the Kingdom’s economy. The first recorded export of Hawaiian sugar was in 1837, when two tons were exported with a value of $200.

Detailed explanation-6: -The reciprocity treaty of 1875 between the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii gave Hawaii sugar unrestricted access to the American market in exchange for U.S. government access to Pearl Harbor. The treaty led to a rapid expansion of the already booming sugar industry across Hawaii.