Plantation Society's Migration To Hawaii

Starting in 1878, many of those of the Portuguese culture immigrated to Hawaii to find better work in sugarcane plantations. A lot of Hawaiian history, culture, and traditions came from the base of Portuguese celebrations and they have helped form Hawaii into the island it is today. In 1876, a man named Jacinto Pereira made a suggestion to the owners of the Plantation Society, that the Azores and the Madeira Islands were a lot like that of the Hawaiian Islands. In the economy of the Azores and Madeira, sugarcane was the mainstay for almost 400 hundred years and most of the population was still involved in the sugarcane industry. The Plantation Society began to recruit Portuguese contract workers from the Madeira Islands and two years later, the Azores as well. Between 1878 and 1887, ships brought more than 3,300 portuguese men. These men then brought their wives, children, and other relatives with them, which made the population of Portuguese immigrants about 10,700. Yet, Hawaiian society viewed the Portuguese newcomers as low class and treated them as second class citizens. Portuguese immigration slowed down after 1887 and in 1911 almost 16,000 had immigrated to the Hawaiian Islands.
The Portuguese were followers of the Roman Catholic faith that were brought to the Hawaiian Islands on ships. The typical Portuguese people were short, slender, and had dark skin from working under the sun in the sugarcane fields. Some Portuguese people were so dark, they were considered black and many contributed prejudice against them. Few Portuguese immigrants could read or write, but they had strong oral traditions and culture that they brought to the island and