Hawaii Plantations

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Hawaii Plantations

• By Courtney Calicdan,
• Emilio Mendoza, Kasey Rieta,
• Kristy Tamashiro, Krystal Kahele,
• Lorene Hashida, and Tristen Inoue

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The Start of Plantations In Hawaii
The first sugar plantation in Hawaii was started
in Koloa, Kauai in 1835. The plantation provided
housing, some food, some medical, and pay. The
pay was not in money but coupons or scripts which
could be used in the plantation store. Workers
were not identified by name but by numbers that
were stamped onto identification tags. The
plantations expanded when the demand for sugar in
the United States increased. The sugar demand
increased because of the California gold rush in
1848. The Civil war in 1861 and the 1875
Reciprocity Treaty allowed Hawaii the right to
export sugar tax free.
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Importing Workers
As the sugar plantations grew, the Hawaiian
population decreased due to the diseases brought
from the foreigners, causing the plantation
owners to import workers from different
countries. As more laborers were shipped in,
different ethnic groups came. Each ethnic group
got different pay and worked under different
conditions.
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Working Conditions
The work day for plantation workers started at 5
a.m. Workers had to be out of the house by 530
a.m. or a policeman was sent to chase him out of
bed. Work began at 6 a.m. and they had to plow
the fields. A half hour break was allowed for
lunch at 1130 a.m. Work finished at 430 p.m.
and at 8 p.m. a whistle would signal lights out.
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The first immigrants to come to Hawaii were the
Chinese in 1852 and the next group to come was
the Japanese in 1868. Next, were the Portuguese
in 1878 followed by the Puerto Ricans in 1900.
The Okinawans came in the early 1900s with the
Koreans in 1903. Last were the Filipinos in
1906. With all the different ethnicities that
came and all the languages workers eventually
made their own language by mixing all the
different ones. Their combined language is
pidgin.
Ethnic Groups
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The plantations contributed to Hawaiis economy
and society, making Hawaii what it is today.
Bye Bye