Sugar plantations in Hawaii

Sugarcane was introduced to Hawaiʻi by Polynesians in approximately 600 AD and was observed by Captain Cook upon arrival in the islands in 1778. They selected varieties that grew well across the broad spectrum of habitats in Hawaiʻi. Industrial sugar production started slowly in Hawaiʻi. The first sugar mill was created on the island of Lānai in 1802 by an unidentified Chinese man who returned to China in 1803. The Old Sugar Mill, established in 1835 by Ladd & Co., is the site of the first sugar plantation. In 1836 the first 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg) of sugar and molasses was shipped to the United States. The land division law of 1848 (known as the Great Māhele) displaced Hawaiian people from their land, forming the basis for the sugarcane plantation economy. In 1850, the law was amended to allow foreign residents to buy and lease land. Market demand increased even further during the onset of the American Civil War which prevented Southern sugar from being shipped northward. The price of sugar rose 525% from 4 cents per pound in 1861 to 25 cents in 1864. This treaty also guaranteed that all of the resources including land, water, human labor power, capital, and technology would be thrown behind sugarcane cultivation. The 1890 McKinley Tariff Act, an effort by the United States government to decrease the competitive pricing of Hawaiian sugar, paid 2 cents per pound to mainland producers. After significant lobbying efforts, this act was repealed in 1894. By 1890, 75% of all Hawaiʻi privately held land was owned by foreign businessmen. == Sugar and the Big Five ==

The industry was tightly controlled by descendants of missionary families and other businessmen, concentrated in corporations known in Hawaiʻi as the "Big Five". which together eventually gained control over other aspects of the Hawaiian economy including banking, warehousing, shipping, and importing. Later the sons and grandsons of the early missionaries played central roles in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1893, creating a short-lived republic. In 1898, the Republic of Hawaiʻi was annexed by the United States and became the Territory of Hawaiʻi, aided by the lobbying of the sugar interests. == Importing labor ==

Demographics, 1959. Demographics, 2005. When Hawaiian plantations began to produce on a large scale, it became obvious that a labor force needed to be imported. The Hawaiian population was one-sixth (17%) of its pre-1778 size due to ravaging diseases brought in by foreigners. To prevent their workforce from organizing effectively against them, plantation managers diversified the ethnicities of their workforce, and in 1878 the first Japanese arrived to work on the plantations. A comparison of 1959–2005 racial categories shows the ongoing shifts. A unique operation was the Kohala Sugar Company, known as "The Missionary Plantation" since it was founded by Reverend Elias Bond in 1862 to support his church and schools. He protested the slave-like conditions, and the profits made him one of the largest benefactors to other missions. It operated for 110 years. == Environmental impact ==

Sugar plantations dramatically impacted the environment around them. In an 1821 account, prior to the entrenchment of sugarcane plantations in Aiea, the area is described as belonging to many different people and being filled with taro and banana plantations along with a fish pond. This subsistence farming would not last long. Plantations were strategically located throughout the Hawaiian Islands for reasons including: fertile soil area, level topography, sufficient water for irrigation, and a mild climate with little annual variation. These plantations transformed the land primarily to suit water needs: construction of tunnels to divert water from the mountains to the plantations, reservoir construction, and well digging. Water was always a serious concern for plantation managers and owners. In the early 20th century, it took one ton (1000 L) of water to produce one pound (500 g) of refined sugar. This inefficient use of water and the relative lack of fresh water in the island environment were fiercely compounding environmental degradation. Sugar processing places significant demands on resources including irrigation, coal, iron, wood, steam, and railroads for transportation. Early mills were extremely inefficient, producing molasses in four hours using an entire cord of wood (3.6 m3 ) to do so. This level of wood use caused dramatic deforestation. At times, ecosystems were entirely destroyed unnecessarily. One plantation drained a riparian area of to produce cane. After draining the land and forever altering the biodiversity levels, they discovered it was an ancient forest, so they harvested the trees for timber, only then to find that the land was completely unsuitable for sugarcane production. == Decline of plantations ==

was promoted to take its place. Sugar plantations suffered from many of the same afflictions that manufacturing market segments in the United States continue to feel. Labor costs increased significantly when Hawaiʻi became a state and workers were no longer effectively indentured servants. The hierarchical caste system plantation managers sought to maintain began to break down, with greater racial integration of the sugarcane plantations. Workers began to discover they had rights, and in 1920 waged the first multi-cultural strike. Sugarcane continued to be grown in Hawaii for the purpose of producing Rhum agricole. ==Planters and managers==

• Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association • John Mott-Smith (1824–1895) • Claus Spreckels (1828–1908) – while based mostly in California • George P. Trousseau (1833–1894) • Rufus A. Lyman (1842–1910) • Samuel Parker (1853–1920) • William H. Purvis (1858–1950) • David M. Forbes (1863–1937) ==List of Hawaii plantations, sugar mills & growers==

Hawaiʻi's sugar industry and related businesses were controlled by five companies referred to as the Big Five. Most were founded by missionaries, or the sons of missionaries, and into the 1930s, all had direct descendants of missionaries on their boards of directors. The companies had significant economic and political power that influenced businesses and lives in Hawaiʻi in their time and beyond. Sugar cane was first recorded as being planted in Mānoa Valley on Oʻahu in 1825. Since then, over 500 sugar plantations, sugar mills, and sugar growers have existed in the Hawaiian Islands. Many plantations were renamed when sold to or merged with another company, which can make tracing their history difficult. For example, in 1873, Nāʻālehu Sugar Plantation was renamed Hutchinson Sugar Plantation Co.; then Kaʻu Sugar Company. Honokaʻa Sugar Company became Davies Hāmākua Plantation Ltd.; then renamed Hāmākua Sugar Company. Pepeʻekeo is also known as Hilo Coast Processing Company. Honolulu Sugar Company became known as Aiea Sugar Mill. ==See also==