Hawaii

HAWAII

Hawaii's rich history, tropical climate, and beautiful scenery have made tourism the leading source of revenue in the state. While agricultural products and military bases also contribute to the growth of Hawaii's economic base, visitors to the islands spend millions annually to enjoy the Hawaiian culture and climate.

Of the 132 Hawaiian Islands located in the northern Pacific Ocean, the eight largest are Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Niihau, and Kahoolawe. All the islands were formed by volcanic eruptions. Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii is the largest active volcano in the world. Because of volcanic eruptions, Hawaii's terrain and vegetation have changed over the years. There are only a few species of trees left that are native to the environment. Most of the unique trees and flowers were brought to the islands from other parts of the world since the 1800s. More than half of the vegetation is considered endangered and is protected by the government.

Polynesians from Southeast Asia or the Marquesa Islands in the South Pacific were the first to arrive in the Hawaiian islands, coming by canoe between 1000 and 1400 years ago. In 1778 Captain James Cook (1728–1779), an English navigator, was the first Westerner to see the Hawaiian Islands. When he saw Oahu and the surrounding islands, he named them the Sandwich Islands, after the fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu (1718–1792). The islands were ruled by chiefs under a class system called kapu. But the kapu system would eventually be destroyed as European and American influences diluted the native culture.

After Captain Cook's landing, visitors to the islands were scarce until 1786, when ships from England, France, Russia, Spain, and the United States discovered that Hawaii was a convenient stop for water and supplies on the trade route between Asia and North America. During those first years, natives were able to sell sandalwood, Hawaii's first marketable natural resource, to foreigners for money and goods. In the 1820s the demand for whale oil grew. Whaling was Hawaii's major source of income until 1860, when there were fewer whales to hunt. Petroleum and coal took the place of whale oil for fuel, and England stopped whaling during the American Civil War (1861–1865). During those years, Protestant missionaries and Roman Catholics arrived on the islands to spread Christianity and help establish public schools, a newspaper, a legislature, and the first sugar plantation.

During the 1850s, Chinese laborers were brought to the islands under five-year contracts to work on Hawaiian sugarcane plantations. Some left Hawaii after their work contracts expired, but others stayed and opened successful small businesses. More laborers were needed as the sugar industry grew, so Polynesians were brought to Hawaii in 1859. In the late 1860s Japanese laborers arrived. In the 1870s German and Portuguese immigrants worked the sugar plantations.

After the Civil War, sugar became the primary source of revenue for Hawaii. As pioneers moved westward in the United States, they provided a market for almost all the sugar produced in Hawaii. American sugar planters became powerful on the islands, exerting pressure for a trade agreement with the United States. In 1875 the United States lifted a tax on shipments of sugar to the United States. This reduced the price of sugar for Americans and solidified the market for Hawaiian-grown sugar. In return, Hawaii allowed only the United States to use its ports.

Americans enjoyed increasing power and influence in Hawaiian politics and society. In 1891, Queen Liliuokalani took the throne and made efforts to restore Hawaii to its native people. Unfortunately, visitors brought with them diseases that proved deadly to the natives, including smallpox, leprosy, cholera, and measles. In 1778 there were nearly 300,000 natives on the islands, but by the 1890s there were fewer than 60,000. And almost all the land and all the power was held and controlled by foreigners.

Two years later, a European and American led revolution overthrew Queen Liliuokalani, and a temporary government was formed, led by Sanford B. Dole. The new leaders immediately asked for annexation by the United States, but were denied by President Grover Cleveland (1885–1889, 1893–1897), an opponent of U.S. expansion. Hawaii's government then drafted its own constitution on July 4, 1894, and proclaimed the Republic of Hawaii, with Dole as president. On August 12, 1898, Hawaii was recognized as an independent territory, and Dole became Hawaii's first governor in June 1900. A few sugar plantation owners made huge fortunes during the territorial years and became the most influential powers in Hawaiian politics, society, and business circles.

In the early 1900s the pineapple industry was started by James D. Dole, Sanford Dole's cousin. The pineapple business generated revenue second only to the sugar crop. New groups of immigrants came from Puerto Rico, Korea, and the Philippines to work the plantations. During this time, the United States expanded its military presence in Hawaii. Fort Shafter was the first built and, in 1908, a naval base was built on Pearl Harbor; others soon followed. By 1990, military bases would cover 25 percent of the land.

Hawaii became more accessible to the rest of the world as communication and transportation further developed during the 1920s and 1930s. Radio stations and telephone systems were brought to the islands and airplanes could transport people and goods. Hawaii became a convenient stop between continents for air travel as well. Like on the mainland, the Great Depression (1929–1939) put many people out of work in Hawaii. People stopped buying pineapples and travelers stopped vacationing in Hawaii, which significantly affected Hawaii's economy.

In the midst of World War II (1939–1945), on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the Hawaiian port of Pearl Harbor. The United States' Pacific fleet was severely damaged, and Hawaii was placed under martial law due to distrust of Hawaiians of Japanese descent. Thousands of citizens who were of Japanese heritage living in western states such as California and Oregon were rounded up and sent to internment camps. In Hawaii, however, where 40 percent of the population was Japanese, the decision was made not to relocate the Japanese because they were integral to Hawaii's economy. Servicemen stationed in Hawaii doubled the territory's population in four years as Hawaii became the central location of the Pacific war operations.

After World War II (1939–1945) efforts resumed to secure statehood for Hawaii. President Dwight D.

Eisenhower (1953–1961) signed the bill to let Hawaii enter the Union on March 18, 1959, and Hawaii became the fiftieth state on August 21, 1959. After the war, Hawaii's tourism industry grew as additional airports, built during the war, allowed for more air traffic. Airfare was less expensive than ocean-liner fare, and enabled more people to travel. As the number of visitors grew, so, too, did the construction business as hotels and shopping centers were built.

By the 1980s, the service industry employed 80 percent of the state's workers. In 1990 tourism was the largest industry in Hawaii, with more than 100,000 visitors to the islands daily, and revenues of more than $4 billion annually. Government was the second-largest industry in Hawaii, with more than 65,000 Department of Defense employees. Of the manufactured goods that make up about 5 percent of Hawaii's gross state income, sugar production is still most important, with pineapple production second. Additional products manufactured in Hawaii are macadamia nuts, clothing, and stone, clay, and glass products.

The population of Hawaii continued to grow rapidly after it achieved statehood, primarily through migration from Asia and the U.S. mainland. Since the early 1970s, about 40,000 people have moved to Hawaii from the U.S. mainland each year. Nearly half, however, were military personnel stationed there temporarily while in the service. Between 1980 and 1990 the population of Hawaii increased 15 percent, and according to the 1990 U.S. census, nearly four-fifths of the population lived on Oahu in the metropolitan Honolulu area. Honolulu is the state capital.

While the number of inhabitants increased, annual personal income grew at a much lower rate than the national average, although the cost of living in Hawaii is much higher than on the United States mainland. Between 1995 and 1996, Hawaii saw only a 1.7 percent income increase, compared to the national average of 4.5 percent. The average personal income in Hawaii was listed as $25,159. Hawaii's personal income tax rate is one of the highest in the nation, ranging between two and ten percent. In 1995, 10.3 percent of Hawaii's residents were living below the federal poverty level.

FURTHER READING

Beckwith, Martha. Hawaiian Mythology. Honolulu: University Press, 1982.

Tabrah, Ruth. Hawaii, A Bicentennial History. New York: Norton, 1980.

Thompson, Kathleen. "Hawaii." In Portrait of America. Steck-Vaughn Publishing, 1996.

Worldmark Encyclopedia of the States. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998, s.v. "Hawaii."