1) Long before any Chinese arrived in Hawaii, a Hawaiian chief visited China.
happened in 1787 when an English merchant took a Kauai chief to trade goods with the.
Chinese in Canton. A year later, they returned to Hawaii with 50 Chinese carpenters.
aboard their ship. These were the first documented Chinese people to come to the.
Hawaiian Islands. In 1789, another American trader, with a mostly Chinese crew, stopped.
in Hawaii, where a number of his crew decided to remain. From then on, the Chinese.
continued to immigrate to Hawaii in small numbers. The largest number of Chinese.
immigrants arrived in Hawaii between 1850 and the annexation of Hawaii in 1898, most of.
them after 1875. .
2) The Chinese immigrants that came to Hawaii were from all over China. The.
majority of them were from the economically depressed city of Canton in Southern China. .
Between 1852 and 1856, there were several thousand Chinese immigrants in the Islands. .
By 1884, the number had risen to around 18,500. The largest number of Chinese.
immigrants to arrive in Hawaii was 46,000. This occurred after the annexation in 1898. .
3) The majority of the Chinese that migrated to Hawaii were poor, landless male.
villagers (known as "Sojourners") in search of higher earnings. These Chinese plantation.
workers were paid extremely low wages in their homelands. Finding a well paying job.
was rare, especially in the struggling economy of Southern China. This made it very.
difficult to for Chinese males to provide their families with the essentials. Many of these.
villagers were to become plantation workers upon arrival in Hawaii. They believed the.
wages in the islands were alot higher, making it possible to provide themselves and their.
families with what they needed. They came to Hawaii thinking they would stay only long.
enough to make the fortune they wanted to take back home. However, as the years went.
by, the Chinese realized they would have to stay much longer than expected.