Hawaii Immigration History

Sugar was beginning to take up root in Hawaii. It would inevitably change the face and fate of the Sandwich Isles, causing foreigners to invest in the industry exponentially. But it is not sugar that is as essential in holding Hawaii for now. It would be land. Land, in foreign eyes, was a pivotal element of maintaining influence there, and they needed more of it. More land to cultivate crops, more land to seemingly make the native populus more productive, more; because it was a right (Cachola). Thus, the Great Mahele was formulated, to distribute land equally in four parts among Hawaii’s inhabitants (Borreca). This land division eventually decimated native land ownership while boosting foreign land control intensely. Foreigners would be greatly benefited by the Mahele because of their right to buy land fee simple through the Resident Alien Act of 1850 and because of the “Adverse Possession” Law. …show more content…
Many foreigners exploited this law and bought off Hawaiian lands to be manipulated themselves, where they could gain opulence. What made this even more advantageous for the haole was that they already had capital prior to this act, in which they could buy off more land (Borreca). In fact, it was so simple for foreigners to acquire land, that, when auctions were conducted of Hawaiian lands, they simply bought it at cheaper prices than what was offered (Kuloku). After buying land, foreigners would make a profit by growing sugar and various other crops, where they would buy even more land and gain more affluence. It was a cycle, buffered by the loss of land from Hawaiian commoners.