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Colonization, Plantation Days, & Statehood

During the reign of Hawaii’s sovereigns, the influence of the missionaries grew. The American missionaries became a strong social group, influencing and reshaping social mores and behaviors of the time. Christianity was increasingly becoming an influential religion in the Hawaiian Islands. Many of the historic churches on Oahu are reminders of Christianity’s influence, such as Kawaiahao Church, which was the place of worship for Hawaiian kings and alii. At this time, the Western and European influences on the area became more and more prevalent. The area began to be a hot spot for colonization, and with it came merchants and seamen looking to make a living in a new location. This was when Hawaii began to be established as an export site of sugar and pineapples.

Also during this time, another powerful, driving force was growing and exerting increasing influence over the future of Oahu and the neighbor islands. As early as 1835 with the first sugar plantation, the Hawaiian Islands were recognized for their prime agricultural land for growing a variety of crops such as sugar cane and pineapple. As agriculture became a dominant economic force, it impacted the political and social structure of its time, changing the ethnic and cultural mix of the islands.

Pearl Harbor became famous when the nation set about to establish strategic military bases. By 1850, Kamehameha III moved his capital from Lahaina, Maui, to Oahu. Iolani Palace, built later by other members of the royal family, is still standing.

As agriculture boomed on Oahu and the neighboring islands in the late 19th century, plantation owners found themselves in the midst of a labor shortage. The first foreign workers recruited were from China. Workers from Japan, Russia, Korea, Puerto Rico, Portugal, and the Philippines in 1852 also were brought to the islands to work and live on the plantations. While plantation owners recruited primarily from Asia, they also solicited workers from Europe.

For the migrant workers, this was an opportunity to start a new life, earning high wages by their country’s standards. Most Asian workers came to Oahu as contract laborers. The contract labor system eventually ended in the early 1900s, when Hawaii became a U.S. territory. With the abolishment of the contract labor system, many laborers, especially the Chinese and Japanese, left the plantations after their contract was completed to pursue a livelihood in the islands. Some of the laborers became shopkeepers and farmers.

On the plantation, housing was provided by the plantation and grouped by ethnic group. Housing camps were provided for the workers and their families. Although there was division and sometimes friction among the different nationalities, the different races eventually put their differences aside to strike as the labor class, not just as separate nationalities. A new kinship, based upon recognition of their strength as a united labor class, brought the diverse racial groups together to demand better wages from the plantation owner.

Chinatown was established in 1880, just outside downtown Honolulu. The historic 15-block district is reportedly the oldest Chinatown in the United States.

Slowly, Oahu’s stronghold on the U.S. sugar and pineapple market dwindled. Today, only skeletons of Oahu’s glorious plantation days can be observed around the island. Visitors can step backward in time to see the camp life at Waipahu’s Plantation Village. Also, remnants of the original mills with towering smoke stacks, which were the center of the plantation, can be seen in Kahuku, Wahiawā and Waialua. The smoke stack of the old Waialua Sugar Mill can be seen as one drives toward historic Haleiwa town.

Today, many of the agricultural lands reserved for pineapple and sugar, primary agricultural products, have been reclaimed for diversified agriculture. Some of the diversified agricultural products now successfully being grown on Oahu include Waialua Coffee, tropical flowers, papayas, asparagus, as well as alfalfa hay for farm animals.

In 1901, the Moana Hotel opened on the beach in Waikiki. It’s Hawaii’s oldest hotel still in operation (as part of the Westin Moana-Surfrider). With it and the advent of the luxury oceanliner, hotels began to spring up in Waikiki. The Halekulani Hotel opened in 1917 as a cottage colony. It was rebuilt as a luxury hotel in the 1970s. The Aloha Tower opened in 1926, and was the tallest building in Hawaii for four decades. It still is a well-recognized symbol of Honolulu for visitors arriving in Honolulu Harbor by ship. In 1927 the Royal Hawaiian Hotel opened and was immediately nicknamed the “Pink Palace.” The rich and famous flocked to the shores of Waikiki.

The Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, Oahu, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The surprise attack was aimed at the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy and its defending Army Air Corps and Marine Air Forces. The attack damaged or destroyed 12 American warships, destroyed 188 aircraft and resulted in the deaths of 2,403 American servicemen and 68 civilians.

In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state.

Oahu has a very unique history and culture, immerse yourself and go to the historic museums, walk the trails and take docent-led tours through Honolulu and Waikiki.