Hawaii has been shaped by Europeans, Asians and Americans.
The first Hawaiian settlers were Polynesians from the South Pacific, likly from the Marquesas Islands. They arrived on the islands around 500 A.D. and remained almost completely isolated from the rest of the world for more than 1,000 years. The Tahitians found the islands in 1200 A.D. but were not able to take control of them. Beginning in the late 18th century, foreigners from Europe and then Asia came to the Hawaiian Islands and started having a major impact on the culture.
British
British Captain James Cook found Hawaii in his third voyage into the Pacific on January 18, 1778. Cook and his crew brought new European diseases, such as measles, gonorrhea and cholera, to the local Hawaiians. These diseases devastated the Hawaiian population, decreasing from several hundred thousand to only 88,000 by the year 1848.
Americans
New England whalers arrived in Hawaii in the 1840s and quickly made Lahaina and Honolulu the busiest whaling towns in the Pacific. The American and British bought up large plots of fertile land to run profitable sugarcane plantations. The landowners brought in foreigners from Japan, China, Portugal and the Philippines to compensate for major labor shortages in Hawaii. In 1893, a band of American businessmen overthrew the local Hawaiian monarchy, eventually leading to annexation by the U.S. government in 1898. Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state in 1959.
Japanese
The Japanese government began encouraging emigration to Hawaii in 1886 due to overcrowding in Japanese cities. Japanese men, coming mostly from Hiroshima, Yanaguchi and Kumamoto, came to the islands to work on the sugarcane plantations. They brought to Hawaii important elements of Japanese culture, including Shintoism and Buddhism, especially the Jodo and Shin sects that flourished in southern Japan. Some Japanese cultural traditions remain in Hawaiian society to this day, such as eating sushi and leaving shoes outside when entering the home.
Chinese
Many poor Chinese traveled to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations. After they finished their labor contracts, many Chinese set up successful businesses in Hawaii, incurring the wrath of other races who called them "coolies." In 1881, Small Pox was discovered on ships coming from China, so the United States passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; but this did not apply to Hawaii until it became an official territory of the United States in 1898. This act stopped the flow of Chinese laborers to Hawaii, further encouraging the employment of Japanese workers.
Hispanics
In 1836, the first Mexican cowboys arrived in Hawaii, beginning the state's impressive ranching industry that has continued to this day. Five thousand Puerto Ricans arrived in 1900 to work on the plantations, bringing with them lasting food traditions. For example, the "arroz con grandules" are still consumed in Hawaii under the name "grandule rice."
Tags: arrived Hawaii, foreigners from, sugarcane plantations, United States