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Puerto Rican migration to Hawaii began when
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
's sugar industry was devastated by two
hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depe ...
in 1899. The devastation caused a worldwide shortage in sugar and a huge demand for the product from
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
. Consequently, Hawaiian
sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stal ...
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
owners began to recruit the jobless, but experienced, laborers in Puerto Rico.


Prelude

In the 19th century, Puerto Rico depended mainly on its agricultural economy. The island together with
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbe ...
was the
Spanish Crown , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
's leading exporter of
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
,
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of t ...
,
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the c ...
and
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
. When the island was ceded to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
after the
Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clo ...
, as stipulated by the agreements of the
Treaty of Paris of 1898 The Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, commonly known as the Treaty of Paris of 1898 ( fil, Kasunduan sa Paris ng 1898; es, Tratado de París de 1898), was a treaty signed by Spain and the United Stat ...
, most of its industries were taken over by American industrialists. Labor was provided by Puerto Ricans who depended on the nation's agriculture as their only source of income. On August 8, 1899, Hurricane San Ciriaco, with winds of over 100 miles per hour, struck Puerto Rico and, on August 22, another hurricane followed. The floods, caused by 28 days of continuous rain, damaged the agricultural industry and left 3,400 dead and thousands of people without shelter, food or work. As a result, there was a shortage of sugar from the Caribbean in the world market and a huge demand for the product from Hawaii and other sugar producing countries. To meet the demand, plantation owners began a campaign to recruit the jobless laborers in Puerto Rico. By 1901, the Hawaiian sugar output was 360,000 tons of raw sugar.


First immigrants from Puerto Rico

On November 22, 1900, the first group of Puerto Ricans consisting of 56 men, began their long journey to Maui, Hawaii. The trip was long and unpleasant first sailing from San Juan harbor to
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
. Once in New Orleans, the travelers boarded a railroad train to the Port of
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the worl ...
or San Francisco. From there they set sail aboard the SS City of Rio de Janeiro to Hawaii.The Puerto Ricans
According to the "
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
" dated December 26, 1901, the Puerto Ricans were mistreated and starved by the shippers and the railroad company. They arrived in
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of H ...
, on December 23, 1900, and were sent to work in one of the different plantations owned by the "Big Five" on Hawaii's four islands. Often, groups of men, women with children would refuse to continue the journey to Hawaii. A December 15, 1900
San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...
article said that 60 Puerto Ricans were forced onto the Rio in California, but 50 "escaped". By October 17, 1901, 5,000 Puerto Rican men, women and children had made their new homes on the four islands. Records show that, in 1902, 34 plantations had 1,773 Puerto Ricans on their payrolls; 1,734 worked as field hands and another 39 were clerks or luna/overseers (foremen). People came from different places to work in the sugar plantations of Hawaii: the first were the Chinese, the second came from Portugal, the third group came from Japan, the fourth group came from Puerto Rico, the fifth came from Korea and the sixth group came from The Phillipines and all these people worked together in the plantations. This mix of people of different tongues led to the need of a common vernacular which led to Hawaiian Pidgin.


Discrimination by the "Big Five"

The "Big Five" was the name given to a group of sugarcane
corporations A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and re ...
that wielded considerable political power in the Territory of Hawai‘i and leaned heavily towards the Hawai‘i Republican Party. The "Big Five" consisted of Castle & Cooke, Alexander & Baldwin, C. Brewer & Co., Amfac and Theo H. Davies & Co. The owners of the "Big Five" were Euro-Americans who would indulge in discrimination and bigotry against ethnic groups who worked the plantations. They had an association called the "Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association" (HSPA) whose power could be considered as equivalent to an
oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, ...
. The Attorney General of Hawai‘i, referring to the Big Five, said in 1903, "There is a government in this Territory which is centralized to an extent unknown in the United States, and probably almost as centralized as it was in France under Louis XIV." Wages and living accommodations depended upon their job and race. Europeans were paid more and received better quarters. Most of the workers moved from plantation to plantation to work because they did not like the work they did and because of the racial discrimination. In 1920, Puerto Rican and Portuguese sugar plantation workers at Ewa, a district of Oahu, joined work strikes that began with the Filipino and Japanese workers, who were demanding better pay and an end to discriminatory practices.


Struggle for U.S. citizenship

According to the State of Hawaii Data Book 1982, by the year 1910, there were 4,890 Puerto Ricans living in Hawaii. Puerto Rico and Hawaii were unincorporated and incorporated territories of the United States respectively; however, the passage of the Jones–Shafroth Act of 1917, the same year that the United States entered
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fight ...
, gave American citizenship, with limitations, to the Puerto Rican resident in Puerto Rico and excluded those who resided in Hawaii. Yet, the "non-citizen" Puerto Ricans were assigned draft numbers and were expected to serve in the military.''Images and Identities'', by Asela Rodríguez-Seda de Laguna, Pgs. 101–102; Publisher: Transaction Publishers; ; The Plantation owners, like those that comprised the " Big Five", found territorial status convenient, enabling them to continue importing cheap foreign labor; such immigration was prohibited in various other states of the Union. In 1917, Puerto Ricans in the island, believing that they were entitled to the same rights that every other U.S. citizens had, tried to sign up to vote in a local Hawaiian election and were denied their rights by the county clerk who claimed that early immigrants to Hawaii were not covered by the Jones Act. Manuel Olivieri Sanchez, a court interpreter at the time, became enraged in what he viewed as a violation of the civil rights of his fellow countrymen. He encouraged his fellow Puerto Ricans to protest by telling them that "If you are not allowed to vote, don't answer the draft call". Olivieri Sanchez led a legal battle for the recognition of the Hawaiian Puerto Ricans as citizens of the United States. In the first legal battle the lower court ruled in favor of the county clerk, however Olivieri Sanchez did not give up the fight and took the case before the Territorial Supreme Court, which reversed the decision of the lower court, granting the Puerto Ricans of Hawaii their United States citizenship.


Struggle against discrimination

Olivieri Sanchez' victory was not welcomed by members of HSPA, who depended on the cheap labor non-citizens provided. In 1930, HSPA began to circulate false rumors, they made it be known that they (HSPA) were planning to recruit laborers in Puerto Rico, while at the same time they had the "Honolulu Star Bullentin" and some local newspapers they controlled run anti-Puerto Rican stories, that—for example—claimed Puerto Ricans were "unhealthy hookwormers who had bought disease to Hawaii". In December 1931, Olivieri Sanchez wrote a letter to the editor of the ''Hawaiian Advertiser'' where he stated that he saw all of the rhetoric as a tactic by HSPA to push all the different ethnic groups in the local labor force back to work on the plantations. He was right, the HSPA wanted to persuade the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...
to exempt the territory from a law, which in 1924 was requested by
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...
to prevent the migration of
Filipinos Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or oth ...
and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese nationals to the U.S. (National Origins Quota Action (Immigration Act) and Johnson Immigration Act of 1924). HSPA's secretary treasurer claimed that the association was unwilling to import Puerto Ricans to Hawaii. His defamation of Puerto Ricans condemned not only the Puerto Ricans of Hawaii, but also those on the island of Puerto Rico. Despite the efforts of Olivieri Sanchez, HSPA had their way and Hawaii was exempted from the stern anti-immigration laws of the time. The power of the plantation owners was finally broken by the activist descendants of the original immigrant laborers. Because it was recognized that they were born in an incorporated United States territory and that they were legal American citizens with full local voting rights and therefore were entitled to actively campaign for statehood recognition of the Hawaiian Islands.


Puerto Rican influence

Currently, there are over 30,000 Puerto Ricans or Hawaiian-Puerto Ricans living in Hawaii. Puerto Rican culture and traditions are very strong there. One of the traditions that is still practiced is the "
compadrazgo The compadre (, , , literally "co-father" or "co-parent") relationship between the parents and godparents of a child is an important bond that originates when a child is baptised in Iberian, Latin American, Filipino Christian and Indian Christia ...
". When a person baptizes somebody's child, he or she becomes the " padrino" (godfather) of the child and the "
compadre The compadre (, , , literally "co-father" or "co-parent") relationship between the parents and godparents of a child is an important bond that originates when a child is baptised in Iberian, Latin American, Filipino Christian and Indian Christian ...
" or "comadre" of the child's parents. There is a relationship of respect, mutual affection and obligation between the child, parents and compadres. The children ask for a blessing "La Bendición" and the padrinos respond with a "Dios te bendiga" ( God bless you).


Food

The '' platano'', a main staple of Puerto Rican cuisine was not found in Hawaii. But as in Puerto Rico, the Hawaiian-Puerto Ricans enjoy the preparation of the
pasteles ''Pasteles'' (; singular ''pastel''), also pastelles in the English-speaking Caribbean, are a traditional dish in several Latin American and Caribbean countries. In Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama, Trinidad and Tobag ...
(meat pies) during the
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
holidays. The confection of the pastel is an event where the whole family participates. Some of the members of the family cut the green bananas (in place of the plantains) and season them while others prepare the ''masa'' (dough). The is then filled with seasoned pork and other ingredients, wrapped in banana or ti plant leaves and finally tied with a string. The pastel is boiled in water until cooked.


Music

When the Puerto Ricans immigrated to Hawaii they took along with them their music and their musical instruments. Among the musical instruments introduced to Hawaii was the Puerto Rican
cuatro Cuatro is Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the number four. Cuatro may also refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see Cuatro) and the other from Venezuela (see Cuatro) ...
. The Cuatro was a four stringed guitar developed in Puerto Rico in 1875; however, it eventually evolved into a ten stringed
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
. Other musical instruments introduced were the
Maraca A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a Rattle (percussion instrument), rattle which appears in many genres of List of Caribbean music genres, Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a p ...
s, a rattle containing dried seeds and the Guiro (percussion instrument made out of a gourd and played with a scraping stick). Soon, these instruments were not only limited to playing Spanish songs but, were also absorbed by the typical songs of Hawaii. Cachi Cachi music is a style of music which began in Hawaii in the early 1900s when the Puerto Ricans immigrated to Hawaii. In 1998, Master guitarmaker William R. Cumpiano and his colleagues wrote, directed and produced ''"Un Canto en Otra Montaña: Música Puertorriqueña en Hawaii"'' (''A Song Heard in Another Mountain: Puerto Rican Music in Hawaii''), a short-feature video documentary on the music and social history of the century-old Puerto Rican Diaspora in Hawaii.


Puerto Ricans in Hawaii

The following table is in accordance to the U.S. Census 2000 Data for the State of Hawaii. Despite having left Puerto Rico long ago, and being a product of intermarriages, many still identify as Puerto Rican when some ''Puerto Rican'' heritage exists in their family history.


The Puerto Rican "coquí" in Hawaii

During the late 20th century, the " coquí", a thumbnail-sized tree frog endemic to Puerto Rico, became established in Hawaii, most likely as stowaways in shippings of potted plants. Its loud
mating call A mating call is the auditory signal used by animals to attract mates. It can occur in males or females, but literature is abundantly favored toward researching mating calls in females. In addition, mating calls are often the subject of mate choic ...
, "music to the ears" of Puerto Ricans on their native highland, is considered an annoyance in Hawaii where this
invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...
reaches much higher population densities. Unsuccessful efforts were made to exterminate the infestation.


Notable Hawaiian-Puerto Ricans

Some of the Hawaiian-Puerto Ricans who have distinguished themselves are: * Augie Colón (1928-2004) - Percussionist with Martin Denny; originator of "jungle noises" in
exotica Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Record ...
music. * Faith Evans (U.S. Marshal) - A former state legislator and the first woman in the United States to serve as a U.S. Marshal. * Felicia Garcia-Alves - In 2000, was recognized as one of the most outstanding women's basketball athletes in Hawaii, and in Puerto Rico. *
Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical s ...
(Peter Gene Hernandez), singer-songwriter; his paternal grandfather was a Puerto Rican from
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
* Rodney Morales – author of novel "''When the Shark Bites (2002)''" and the short story collection "''Speed of Darkness (1988)''". * Manuel Olivieri Sanchez - Led the battle for U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans living in Hawaii * Hilda Ortiz - In 1924, became the first Puerto Rican teacher in Hawaii * Nancy Ortiz - Host of "Alma Latina", a three-hour Sunday radio show of Latin-American music. * Alex Santiago - Former Hawaii State Representative


See also

* List of Puerto Ricans * Oahu sugar strike of 1920 * Spanish immigration to Hawaii *
Stateside Puerto Ricans Stateside Puerto Ricans ( es, link=no, Puertorriqueños de Estados Unidos), also ambiguously known as Puerto Rican Americans ( es, link=no, puertorriqueño-americanos,), or Puerto Ricans in the United States, are Puerto Ricans who are in the U ...


References


Further reading

* N. Carr,
The Puerto Ricans in Hawaii, 1900-1958
', Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 1989, Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (University of Hawaii at Manoa)., American Studies ; no. 2420.


External links


Sugar cane varieties of Hawaii


{{DEFAULTSORT:Puerto Rican Immigration To Hawaii 1900 establishments in Hawaii
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
History of immigration to Hawaii Ethnic groups in Hawaii Hispanic and Latino American culture in Hawaii
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
Hawaii people of Puerto Rican descent