Chapter 10 Test Flashcards
When did the sugar industry begin?
The middle of the nineteenth century
True or False: Hawaiʻi’s climate was ideal for growing sugar
True
What were the challenges of growing sugar?
Land for growing sugarcane was limited, rain didn’t always fall when and where it was needed, diseases and pests could attack sugarcane, growing and harvesting sugar cane required roads, harbors, and machinery; and government and labor tended to create problems rather then solve them.
True or False: Sugar Plantation owners always worked together to solve sugar growing problems.
False. The owners tried to cope by themselves at first, but then got together to help each other.
What organization was formed by sugar planters and when?
the Planters’ Labor and Supply Co in 1882. Later in 1895 it reorganized as the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association (HSPA).
What did the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association do?
They started a laboratory in downtown Honolulu to design the best ways to make sugar successful and profitable. The following year it began planting sugar cane experimentally in Makiki, and in 1900, it moved the lab to Makiki too.
What was one of Hawaiʻi’s greatest assets for growing sugarcane?
Water
How did planters get water to the sugarcane when it didn’t get enough water from the rain?
They built elaborate systems of ditches and flumes (incline channels for carrying water).
When was the “golden period” of plantation development?
1872-1932
What was one pressing issue of sugar cane growth?
Limited supply of land. They concentrated on increasing the yields of what they planted.
How did HSPA improve the sugar industry?
The experimental station with staff of chemists, entomologists (insect scientists), botanists (plant scientists), and engineers improved sugar production from field to mill. They designed new machinery/equipment, developed varieties of sugar cane that were higher in sugar content and more resistant to disease, studied the sugar cane soil, and destroyed or controlled plant diseases, insects, and rodents.
How much water does each acre of sugar cane need?
5 million gallons of water during a two-year growing cycle or one ton (2,000 pounds) of water to produce one pound of sugar.
Know the growth of sugar cane in the “golden period”.
In 1867 the estimated total land area used for plantations was 10,000 acres but by 1880, the number jumped to 22,000 acres.
What was the cause of the growth of the sugar industry?
The nature of the industry itself. Complex systems of irrigation, massive machinery and equipment, and large-scale methods work better and bring bigger profits.
Why was the sugar industry not doing well after 1866?
With the end of the Civil War (1861-1865), the high demand for Hawaiʻi’s sugar ended and prices dropped. A high tariff on sugar entering the U.S. made it difficult for Hawaiʻi’s sugar barons to sell their product.
When was Hawaiʻi’s economic depression?
1866-1867
What was the sugar grower’s solution to the economic depression?
End the high tariff on sugar
What were the two solutions to end the high tariff on sugar? What was decided.
A reciprocity treaty with the U.S. that would allow sugar to be imported tariff-free or be annexed to the U.S. They settled on the reciprocity treaty.
When did the Hawaiian government start proposing the reciprocity treaty to the U.S.?
As early as 1848 and again in 1852 but the U.S. had been unresponsive.
What did American businessmen support during the time Hawaiʻi was proposing the reciprocity treaty?
Annexation. Some recognized Hawaiʻi’s strategic location could benefit the U.S. militarily and commercially. Other’s where dissatisfied with the rule of the monarchy. The most important reason was long term economic advantages annexation would bring for agriculture and commerce. Some even saw the reciprocity treaty as a transition to annexation.
What happened during Lunalilo’s reign with the treaty?
It was proposed with Pearl Harbor as incentive, but strong opposition from Native Hawaiians made him withdraw the plan.
When was the treaty successfully negotiated?
During Kalākaua’s reign in 1875.
What was the argument against ratifying the treaty?
They said that removing the tariff would result in loss of income for the government. Southern senators declared that the treaty would hurt Southern sugar and rice producers.
What was the argument of those ratifying for the treaty?
They said the strategic location of the islands would help protect the west coast of the United States military, they thought Hawaiʻi’s location would promote American commercial interests in the Pacific and Asia. Perhaps the most convincing argument was that if the U.S. rejected the treaty, Hawaiʻi, which in 1873 already exported more than a third of its sugar to Australia, New Zealand, and western Canada, would turn to British colonies for a similar treaty and become part of the British commercial system.
