Here’s what Hawaii’s economy looked like in 1928.
The two top industries no longer exist a century later.
And think about how, even after they’re gone, they have shaped the way we live today.
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How surprising. I need to study more on this subject.
Ian,
I suggest that you contact the University of California Press (I can’t give the web address per rules here) and talk to them about publisging it. There was also a UC group seminar on economic history composed od professors that you might contact.
There are 2 points in that brief passage. She knew Mark Twain. Second she describes the functioning of a vigilante group, i assume in 1850’s Nevada. There have been scholarly papers on the evolution of law and the justice system in California. The point being that its hard to both engage in productive activity while also fending off robbers. It was common for people to try and steak working gold claims for example. Land theft also played a role here. You can find these papers by doing a search on google scholar. And you can email me a copy.
Can you elaborate on the correlation?
I’m surprised that rice farming was not listed among the major industries. Today when we hear demands for sustainability and food self-sufficiency for Hawaii, there’s a big push for kalo, primarily because of political pressure and special rights for water to restore kalo in places where it was formerly grown; and the role of kalo as elder sibling to native Hawaiians in the Hawaiian creation legend. But rice can be grown anywhere that kalo can be grown, and our huge Asian population has a strong preference for rice over kalo..
Hi Ken, I don’t believe that Rice farming was ever a major industry in Hawaii that has shaped the way we live today.
Hi Pauly. Hawaii’s people must choose whether to focus on food self-sufficiency (not relying on shipping) vs. focus on food as vehicle for “indigenous” cultural revival or religious sacrament.
UH Hilo official website news item says
…The college began to extend its classroom teaching about the dominant and staple crop of the tropics, rice (Oryza sativa L.), to include experiential learning at the farm. “Rice research is a part of hands-on education in Principles of Horticulture HORT 262 course,” Marahatta says. “Here, at UH Hilo, HORT 262 students have been involved in rice research since fall 2018.” ACCORDING TO THE GRANT DESCRIPTION, RICE PRODUCTION WAS ESTABLISHED IN HAWAI‘I IN THE 1860S. AROUND THE 1920S, RICE WAS SECOND IN VALUE AND ACREAGE ONLY TO SUGAR (SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM L.) IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. But currently, there is no rice being grown in Hawai‘i. This situation could be reversed if high value rice varieties such as Koshikihari and Carolina Gold are successfully tested in Hawai‘i.
Ricefest.com website article “History of Rice in Hawaii” says:
“The demand for rice started with the Chinese, the first immigrant workers on the Islands. They demanded rice instead of poi. Rice at the time was imported. As the Hawaii population declined, the demand for taro also declined. Taro patches were vacant, and like rice paddies, taro patches are terraced and irrigated, thus ideal for rice. Rice production was established in the early 1860s. Rice paddies and water buffalo used to occupy the land in Waikiki where all of the hotels and skyscrapers now stand. After the tariff-free treaty was signed in the United States, rice production took off. HAWAII HAD MORE THAN 10,000 ACRES IN RICE AND MORE THAN 130 DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTAL VARIETIES. SUGAR WAS THE ONLY OTHER CROP TO SURPASS RICE AS A CROP. With the influx of Japanese immigrants, rice production declined. The Japanese preferred the short grain rice that was grown in California, not the long grain that the Chinese grew and ate. Rice was being imported from California even though Hawaii was growing more than enough rice. Furthermore, the techniques used in Hawaii by the Chinese and Japanese, hand labor, could not compete with the mechanized production technology in California. The University of Hawaii attempted to revive the rice industry in 1906 and again in 1933 and 1934. However, today the rice fields in Hawaii have left no trace of their existence.”