The Last State, Hawaii

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Americans were not the first nation to discover the group of islands now called Hawaii. Seafaring Polynesians, people of Polynesia, landed in Hawaii. Some Polynesians sailed to New Zealand and some went as far as the well known island called Easter Island. However, the first American to set foot on Hawaii is Captain James Cook. He arrived in Hawaii on January 18, 1778. He brought many goods to trade with the Hawaiian people and the people treated him well. James named Hawaii “Sandwich Islands” in the name of Earl of Sandwich; who was the first lord of the British Admiralty. Hawaii is the only state in the United States of America that is not connected to any other American state. Hawaii is last state that joined the United States, making it the fiftieth state on Aug. 21, 1959. Hawaii consists of a chain of 132 islands, with the main islands being Hawaii (the Big Island), Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Nihau, and Kahoolawe. Hawaii’s population is over 1.392 million people. However, Hawaii’s economy and agriculture are very unique, thus making Hawaii a very diverse state.
Hawaii’s economy started with trade. The first European trading ships that stopped at Hawaii to trade was in 1786. They were believed to be bringing furs from Oregon to China. However, the economy could not flourish so well without the help of pineapples and sugarcane fields. When the number of sugarcane fields started to increase, many immigrants were attracted because of the high amount of labour required for growing sugarcane. Plantations hired large numbers of Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Koreans, and Portuguese. However, the immigrants demanded their own food to be grown as well. This allowed the Chinese to replace poi, a thick gray paste from pounding...

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