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The Effects of the American Civil War on Hawai’i and the Pacific World

Justin W. Vance and Anita Manning

 

Introduction

     When the first shot of the American Civil War was fired at Fort Sumter off the coast of South Carolina, nearly six thousand miles away, the Kingdom of Hawaii was a sovereign, developing nation. Hawaii's close relationship economically, diplomatically, and socially with the United States ensured that the wake of the American Civil War reached the Hawaiian Islands. Diplomatic decisions were required and domestic politics took a major turn. Hawaiian property and citizens became casualties of war, sugar began its rise as the economic king, and hundreds of people from Hawaii and elsewhere in the Pacific world served in the Armies and Navies of the Union and Confederacy.

     Although Hawaii had been visited and influenced by the British, the Russians, and the French, America's closer geographic proximity, its Protestant missions in Hawaii, and its economic relations with Hawaii made America the dominant influence in the Islands.

     American missionaries began to arrive from New England in 1820 and gained much spiritual and political influence with Hawaiian royalty. During the next few decades, Hawaiians were exposed to American-style Protestantism and many, including the royal family, were educated in mission schools. Additionally, after leaving the Mission, some missionaries became significant advisors to the Hawaiian Monarchy through the 1840s.

     By the 1840's, most foreigners living in Hawaii were Americans: missionaries, businessmen, and craftsmen. 1 Their greatest influence was not spiritual or political, but economic, predominantly through whaling. By the 1820s, over hunting in the Atlantic had made whaling unprofitable there and New England whalers turned to the Pacific. For the next fifty years the New England whaling fleet used Hawaii as its Pacific port. At the height of the whaling industry in 1846, 596 ships arrived at Honolulu, Oahu, and Lahaina, Maui, the vast majority American.2 Commerce flourished in Hawaii with the aid of American whalers.

     The California gold rush (1848) and California statehood (1850) drew Hawaii and the United States closer as regular shipping between Honolulu and San Francisco improved communication, and Hawaii exported great quantities of goods to California.

     Americans also became landowners disproportionately. In 1850, legislation allowed foreigners to purchase property in the Kingdom and Americans quickly made claims, unlike Native Hawaiians when land ownership had been opened up to them two years earlier. Historian Daws asserts "by the end of the nineteenth century white men owned four acres of land for every one owned by a native, and this included the chiefs' lands."3

     Given the depth of American involvement in Hawaii, one might assume the Civil War would have significant effects on the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Pacific World. A full exploration and analysis of those effects will aid a more complete understanding of nineteenth century Hawaiian and Pacific history. This paper examines diplomatic and economic activity during the war and analyzes the military involvement of expatriates, the Hawaii-born children of Americans, and hundreds of Pacific Islanders and Southeast Asians who swore oaths of allegiance to the United States or the Confederacy.

Diplomatic and Political Effects

     The Kingdom of Hawaii immediately felt repercussions of the Civil War in its diplomatic and political affairs. Decisions were required regarding Hawaii's status in the conflict and treaty negotiations with the United States were delayed. The Kingdom's international political affairs were influenced as Hawaii was drawn closer to the United States and its domestic politics may have been influenced as a new constitution was proclaimed in the Kingdom.


 
Figure 1
 
  Figure 1: The Hawaiian Kingdom's declaration of neutrality was published in the official Government newspaper, The Polynesian, September 14, 1861, twenty days after it was signed. No explanation was given for the delay.
The Polynesian 14 September 1861, 3.
 

     In 1861, King Kamehameha IV ruled Hawaii as a constitutional monarchy. Under the 1852 Constitution every male adult had the right to vote for representatives to the lower house of the national legislature, but much of the power lay with the King and his appointed advisors who out of necessity were mostly foreigners: American, British, and French.4 Internationally, the Kingdom's sovereignty had been recognized by these three most influential powers in the Pacific. In early 1843, United States Secretary of State Daniel Webster and President John Tyler announced that "no nation should ... tamper with the independence of the kingdom" and later in 1843, Britain and France signed a dual agreement recognizing "the Sandwich Islands an independent state."5 Throughout the thirty year reign of Kamehameha III (1825-1854) the King "generally relied on the advice and counsel of American missionaries for problems of state." When Kamehameha IV ascended the throne in 1854, however, he replaced nearly all of his advisors with men of British origin and the few Americans appointed could be considered anti-missionary.6 A variety of factors contributed to the King's pro-British and anti-American tendencies. He returned from his 1849-1850 travel to England as an admirer of English institutions, including the monarchist Church of England. When the ‘reformed Catholics' were invited to Hawaii by the King, the Protestant Mission and other American interests grew concerned by the thought of further British influence, which the King was using to broaden and increase his legitimacy.7 The King was also displeased that many Americans living in Hawaii openly desired annexation of the Islands by the United States. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, a newspaper that often voiced Island-American opinion, made frequent attacks on government policies which appeared to the King to be preparing the grounds for annexation. Also influencing the King's attitude was the controversy over slavery in America which cast discredit on the American.8 Kamehameha IV thus had reason to increase his regard for England and lessen his regard for the United States in the years immediately prior to the Civil War.


 
Figure 2
 
  Figure 2: In a town with a strong pro-Union population, proclaiming your sympathy in store advertising was good business.
Pacific Commercial Advertiser 30 April 1864, 1.
 

     When on May 9, 1861, the news of the outbreak of the American Civil War reached residents of the Hawaiian Kingdom in Pacific Commercial Advertiser news reports,9 the King and his advisors were forced to consider whether to recognize the independence of the Confederate States of America, choose sides in the conflict, or declare neutrality. R. C. Wyllie was Kamehameha IV's Minister of Foreign Affairs and David L. Gregg, who historian Ralph S. Kuykendall argues, "at this particular time appears to have been one of the king's most intimate advisors," was the Minister of Finance.10 Both men were among those who saw the outbreak of war as further evidence of the failure of American democratic experiment.11 The King had little use for that experiment. Ralph S. Kuykendall asserts that Kamehameha IV "was fully imbued with the aristocratic idea of the right and the duty of the higher class to direct and govern the lower."12 This is evidenced by the King's push to amend the Constitution to increase the power of the throne at the expense of the lower house and increase restrictions on suffrage in the 1858 and 1859 legislative sessions. Helping the King to accomplish these goals were Wyllie and Gregg.

     R.C. Wyllie, with aristocratic ties to Scotland, also worked to "reduce the power of the privy council and increase that of the cabinet ... to prescribe a property qualification for representatives and a similar but smaller property qualification for voters."13 On the eve of the Civil War he wrote that "establishing Universal Suffrage virtually hands over the power of the Kingdom to its ignorant & its poverty-a principle which, I believe will soon, unless corrected, destroy the United States' Great Confederation & will eventually destroy every Country where it becomes the fundamental law."14

     David Gregg, although American, did not agree with the Protestant New England missionaries who helped draft the democratic Constitution of 1852. He wrote in his diary "it would be greatly to the public interest if the H. of Representatives could be abolished. It is now a nuisance of the worst description ... the nation is unfit for representative government."15 It is not surprising then, that the Hawaiian Government leaders shared the views of the European establishment regarding the American Civil War. As the old European regimes had an interest in the failure of America's experiment in democracy, so too did the King of Hawaii and the political elite who served him.

     One factor that may have swayed Hawaii toward recognition of the southern states was an international trend of independence. The Confederacy was not the only political – military change underway in world affairs. Alongside reports of secession, Hawaii newspapers carried reports of Garibaldi fighting for Italian independence, the Maori struggling against the British in New Zealand, and the Czar freeing the serfs in Russia.

     As did many in Europe, Foreign Minister Wyllie believed that the Confederacy would succeed in securing its independence16 and that "belligerent rights should be accorded to the Confederacy under the rules of international law." He was wise enough, however, not to advocate "an immediate recognition of independence" and secured an opinion from the supreme court advising the King that a declaration of neutrality would be "in accordance with our rights and duties as neutrals." Despite Wyllie's advice, Kamehameha IV, with Gregg's support, hesitated to declare Hawaii's neutrality. The King's failure to act conveyed a tacit recognition of the Southern Confederacy. Pressure mounted on the King as the United States commissioner in Hawaii, Thomas Dryer, on instructions from Secretary of State William Seward, urged the foreign ministry to declare the Kingdom's position.17 News also arrived that Britain and France had issued proclamations of neutrality.

     The discussion of neutrality versus partisanship had to include the reality that the Hawaiian kingdom had no standing army, and most importantly, no navy to protect its harbors if supporting either the Union or Confederacy brought the other side's vessels to threaten the principal cities of Honolulu or Lahaina. The period of the U. S. Civil War saw a rise in volunteer military units on most islands, 18 but these units could not have repulsed a naval assault by the cannon of a Confederate or Union ship.

     Finally, on August 26, 1861, five months after the outbreak of hostilities and four months after the news of Civil War arrived in Honolulu, the King signed a neutrality proclamation. The proclamation covered many topics, but most pertinently declared all captures and seizures made within the Kingdom's jurisdiction by a belligerent unlawful and prohibited all subjects of the King and Kingdom residents from privateering against belligerents' shipping. In a final show of reluctance, the proclamation's official publication did not come until September 14.19

     In contrast to the lack of support shown for the Union by the King and his cabinet, the majority of foreigners in Hawaii were Americans from New England who supported the Union cause with great fervor: Abraham Lincoln did better in Honolulu's mock elections in 1860 and 1864 than he did in most of the United States. In that mock election, held on November 6, 1860, Lincoln received 131 out of the 294 total votes, a 45% popular vote compared with his 40% in the actual election. Stephen A. Douglas, the Northern Democratic candidate, also did better, winning 37% compared to an actual 30%. Breckinridge, the Southern Democratic candidate, only received 11% in the mock election compared to his actual 18%. The pro-Union John Bell and Edward Everett ticket ran a distant fourth.20 Combining the Republican, Northern Democratic, and Bell-Everett votes as opposition to the Southern Democrat, the mock election shows more than 86% of Americans in Honolulu voting in it were in favor of preserving the Union.

     Abolition was also exceptionally strong in the Kingdom among the transplanted New England Protestants. 21 Rev. Samuel C. Damon, editor of the Hawai’i maritime and temperance journal The Friend, was on the extreme edge in calling for full citizenship and voting rights for emancipated Negroes.22 Nevertheless, among the Kingdom's citizens, as in the northern United States, there were strong Unionists who believed the races were not equal.23

     Southern sympathizers in the Kingdom were few and did not make a public demonstration of their support. The wife of medical doctor Charles F. Guillou was said to display the secessionist flag, but only in her parlor.24 When a defender of slavery published a long letter to the editor of The Polynesian calling the South's slaves the "best cared for four millions of human beings on the face of the earth," he signed himself only as "K."25

     Despite the disagreement between the King and the Americans living in Hawaii over the value of American style democracy, everyone agreed that Hawaii's future economic prosperity lay in a treaty of reciprocity with the United States. The Civil War, however, interrupted Hawaii's diplomatic treaty negotiations. Talk of an economic reciprocity treaty that would allow Hawaii to export its products, most importantly sugar, to the United States with no tariff first began in 1848. In 1852, Minister of Foreign Affairs Wyllie discussed reciprocity with United States Commissioner Luther Severance and although Severance was cooperative, Washington was unresponsive. Then, in 1855, Chief Justice William Lee was commissioned to go to the United States and negotiate a treaty of reciprocity. A treaty was drafted on his mission and submitted to Congress in 1856 and 1857, but failed to secure approval from the U.S. Senate within the time stipulated for the exchange of ratifications. Still, Hawaii persisted on the issue of reciprocity.

     In 1861, the Hawaiian sugar industry received a boost with the start of the Civil War. "Prices in the North rose extravagantly due to cutting off of the supply of Louisiana sugars and inflation of currency" and the amount paid for exports rose from less than seven cents per pound in 1859 to over seventeen cents per pound in 186426 with total exports rising from 1,444,271 pounds in 1860 to 17,729,161 pounds in 1866.27 The prosperity from the war stimulus was welcome, but all parties knew when the war ended prices would drop and a reciprocity treaty would be more important than ever.

     In 1863, Secretary of State Seward, "in an effort to restore American political dominance and to promote American interests in Hawaii ... raised the rank of its diplomatic representative in the Islands from Commissioner to Minister Resident, an act greatly appreciated by the Hawaiian Kingdom."28 The new representative, James McBride, now held "the highest diplomatic rank of all countries having representatives in Honolulu at that time."29 He quickly saw the benefits of a reciprocity treaty between Hawaii and the United States and in December of 1863, wrote to Seward that the treaty:

Would be singularly beneficial to the States and Territories bordering on the Pacific Ocean, and would tend to secure for the United States the friendship of the Hawaiian Government and people ... would place these islands, in their social and commercial relations with the United States very much in the attitude of a State in the Union which, I presume would not be considered injurious to us.30

     Encouraged, Hawaii appointed a new diplomatic mission to Washington in March 1864, led by Chief Justice Elisha H. Allen to secure a reciprocity treaty. Allen was received by President Abraham Lincoln, had long interviews with Secretary Seward, but finally was told the U.S. "is of the opinion that the present state of civil war renders such a negotiation inconvenient and inexpedient. We hope for a change at no very distant period, and, then the subject will be resumed with pleasure."31 Thus, the United States Government postponed the negotiations until after the war and a depression fell upon Hawaii in 1866 and 1867 as sugar prices and the value of U.S. currency fell. The idea was resumed in 1867, and after several years of give and take, a reciprocity treaty was finally achieved in 1876.

     Domestic politics in Hawaii also took a major turn in the 1860s. In 1863, Kamehameha IV died and his younger brother, Lot, became King. Kamehameha V's political ideas were very similar to his predecessor's. Kamehameha V did not appoint any American to his cabinet, further disconcerting the Protestant – American Mission,32 nor did he take the oath to maintain the Constitution of 1852. In 1864, he called a Constitutional Convention of elected delegates to approve changes requiring voters and candidates to meet property requirements and greatly strengthening the power of the King and his personally appointed cabinet ministers. The Convention Secretary Albert F. Judd's diary describes days as "stormy," "warm," or exciting. August 9 former missionary and once monarchy advisor Gerrit P. Judd spoke passionately to the assembly in favor of universal suffrage. August 10 the King closed debate, adjourning the convention the next day. The adjournment continued into dissolution August 13 as A. F. Judd wrote the King "took away the Constitution of 1852"; delegates would "not pass property qualification." A week later, the King unilaterally proclaimed a new constitution including the changes he desired.33

     Though the constitutional change was not due to the Civil War, arguably the potential weakness of American democracy demonstrated by the outbreak of the Civil War and the reduced influence the United States projected in international affairs because of the war may have helped the new King in gaining acceptance for the new, less democratic constitution. Indeed, James McBride, the U.S. diplomatic representative in Honolulu when the Constitution was proclaimed "expressed the opinion that the presence in Honolulu harbor of an American warship of imposing dimensions would have prevented the moment and induced the king to take the oath to maintain the Constitution of 1852."34 In 1863 - 1864 United States warships were unavailable as its navy was fighting a war and blockading thousands of miles of southern coastline. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser reported that between 1861 and 1865 no American man-of-war made an appearance at Honolulu.35 Before the war "there was usually an American man-of-war in Honolulu or at Lahaina," but the USS Saranac was the first U.S. Naval vessel to visit Honolulu since 1861 when she dropped anchor in September 1865 enroute to the North Pacific in search of Confederate Raider CSS Shenandoah.36

     International and domestic politics in the Hawaiian Kingdom were affected indirectly by the Civil War, but in 1865 the War's impact became direct as hostilities spread to the Pacific Ocean.


 
Figure 3
 
  Figure 3: Photo # NH 85964 CSS Shenandoah hauled out for repairs at Melbourne, Australia, 1865.
Photo courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command.
 

 

CSS Shenandoah: Effects of the Fighting in the Pacific

     By November 1861, war news was reaching Hawaii in about two weeks instead of the month that the news had taken to reach Honolulu at war's commencement. This was due to the completion of the transcontinental telegraph line which placed San Francisco "in instant communication with the East."37 However, the war's disruption of passengers and goods to and from Hawaii and in the Pacific negatively effected Hawaii's economy. From the outset of the War, Hawaii, as a maritime nation, took special note of ships reported sunk by Confederate privateers. Honolulu merchant Henry Carter complained the raiders slowed goods for his Oahu business, but that was perhaps not bad as there were no buyers.38 Ships traveling between California and Hawaii suspected any unknown ship of being "One of Jeff Davis' Recruits."39 A late ship arrival or failure to receive an expected letter brought speculation that "Semmes," the Captain of the Confederate Raider Alabama, was the cause.40 In July 1863, rumors circulated that several ships carrying letters for Hawaii had been sunk by "England's Alabama."41 British-Hawaii entrepreneur Theo. H. Davies wrote Albert F. Judd in 1863 that he was advised to take a circuitous route if braving the London to Hawaii passage for fear of Confederate raiders.42 Letters giving planned voyage arrival dates for family and friends casually added "if the Pirates don't catch them."43


 
Figure 4
 
  Figure 4: In 1862, whaling and shipping dominated Hawaii’s economy, and C. Brewer & Co. targeted that market with their advertising. Offices were located in Pacific locations where ships were likely to port to pickup crews or fresh supplies, or unload goods.  

     In a foretaste of what was to come, in March 1865, Honolulu learned that the Lizzie M. Stacy had been "burnt by the rebel privateer Shenandoah, off the Cape of Good Hope ... with a cargo of goods for Honolulu ... consigned to Messrs. C. Brewer & Co."44 Brewer, like some other American ship owners had already taken steps to protect their own vessels. Hoping for protection from Confederate Raiders, many ships frequenting the Pacific changed their registry to the Kingdom of Hawaii to fly a neutral flag. The transfer of the vessel Arctic shows that for some ships the transfer was more form than substance. In mid-1863, Brewer, with offices in Honolulu and Boston approached Albert F. Judd, a Hawaii citizen then a Harvard law student. Judd related the plan to his father:

... I am to be a "ship owner." Mr. Lunt has written to know if I would not "own" the ‘Arctic' for the house of C. Brewer & Co. who are transferring all of their ships to Hawaiian owners for fear of their being taken by the J. Davis pirates. They sell me the bark, I give them my note for the amt. & charter them the bark for 20 years. ...

Judd's letter details what accountants term a ‘sale lease back.' He is the owner on paper, but invests no money. The control is returned to C. Brewer & Co. and Judd is paid $100 for his trouble, and makes a friend in the Honolulu business community where he will soon be a lawyer searching for clients.45 Brewer filed the paperwork with the Hawaiian Consul in Boston and the bark was registered No. 50, new series. 46 After the signing in September 1863, Judd began to take an interest in his ‘acquisition,' chatting with the sailors in Hawaiian as the vessel loaded, shadowing in a chase boat as the Arctic left Boston

... with her Hawaiian colors floating at the Mast Head ... May favorable winds waft her speedily to her destined Haven & no pirate dare lay hands upon her. A great deal is being said as to whether Semmes would respect the Haw'n flag. I say he will ... if he touches any ship but an American, he at once changes his character from that of a regular belligerent to that of a pirate ... His character has too much of uncertainty about it now, to allow him to take such a questionable step as the seizure of the Arctic, though he be satisfied that her legal owner is an Hawaiian but her beneficial owner an American.47

For the Arctic, carrying general merchandise, the Hawaiian flag provided protection; for the vessel Harvest, carrying whale oil, it would not.

     All previous sinkings had been at a distance until the CSS Shenandoah entered the Pacific in the spring of 1865. This Confederate States Ship built by England (hence the title "England's Ship') and launched in 1863 under the name of Sea King. In late 1864, it set out on its "mission to disrupt the Yankee whaling fleet in the Pacific and decrease the flow of whale oil to the North." On January 25, 1865 the Shenandoah reached Melbourne, Australia, by way of the Cape of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean where it was refitted and enlisted additional crew leaving to pursue whalers February 18.48


 
Figure 5
 
  Figure 5: The financial business of Hawaii depended on whale ships in 1862. Notice that "sale of whalemen's bills" was a featured service along with "suppying whaleships." In the days when each letter of type was hand set and represented great effort, whole pages of advertising didn’t change month to month. This 'typo' for supplying remained for many months.  

     The CSS Shenandoah was 230 feet long, had a thirty-two foot beam, carried three rigged masts and was equipped with steam power. Sleek and swift, she could make sixteen knots under sail and nine knots with her 150-horsepower engines.49 Armaments included two 32-pound and two 12-pound cannon, both rifled for accuracy, deadly against virtually unarmed whalers. Her Captain was James I. Waddell, formerly a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy with over twenty years experience. Waddell's exact orders were:

Sir: You are about to proceed upon a cruise in the far-distant Pacific, into the seas and among the islands frequented by the great American whaling fleet, a source of abundant wealth to our enemies and a nursery for their seamen. It is hoped that you may be able to greatly damage and disperse that fleet, even if you do not succeed in utterly destroying it.

- Detailed Instructions from Commander Bulloch, C.S. Navy, to Lieutenant J.I. Waddell, C.S. Navy, October 5, 1864.50

     On March 30, 1865, the Shenandoah came across the Hawaiian-based trading schooner Pfiel on the open seas and learned of the presence of American whalers at Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands, known then as Ascension.51 Under full sail and steam, CSS Shenandoah raced to the Pohnpei island and on April 1, 1865, caught four whalers in port at Pohnahtik, Madolenihmw.52 "As the Shenandoah slid into the harbor, the whalers raised their flags in her honor." The raider flew no flag so they had no idea of her disposition until it was too late. The Edward Carey of San Francisco, the Pearl of New London, and the Hector of New Bedford raised American flags. The Harvest of Oahu raised a Hawaiian flag. Shenandoah's Captain Waddell sent prize crews to board the four ships and secure their papers, which included the ships' whaling charts. Waddell now had the key to finding the entire New England whaling fleet. All four ships were stripped of value and burned including the Harvest.53 Among the booty from the Harvest were 300 barrels of whale oil from its recent Western Pacific cruise.54 Harvest flew a Hawaiian flag, was owned by the Honolulu firm H. Hackfield & Co., and was manned by Hawaiian seamen. 55 Some of Waddell's officers thought Harvest's claim legitimate, but "Waddell, noticing some technical irregularities in the transfer, declared the Harvest forfeit."56 In his journal Waddell justifies the taking of the Harvest by claiming "she bore the name Harvest of New Bedford, carried an American register, was in charge of the same master who had commanded her on former whaling voyages, and her mates were American."57 1860s records show part of this statement to be false. The masters of the Harvest before and after its 1862 sale and re-registry as Hawaiian are completely different. 58 When news of the stranded sailors reached Hawaii, the bark Kamehameha V was sent to Pohnpei to rescue the Americans and Hawaiians. November 18 nearly 100 seamen arrived safely in Honolulu.59

     Next, Waddell pursued the New England whaling fleet into the Arctic Ocean where he captured twenty-three additional whalers during June—two months after the Civil War ended. All but four were burned. The remaining four were placed in bond with the idea of collecting ransom, loaded with prisoners, and directed to San Francisco. Waddell had received news of General Lee's April 9 surrender to General Grant at Appomattox from the clipper bark Victoria of Honolulu on May 10,60 but had also seen in captured newspapers the Danville proclamation in which Confederate President Jefferson Davis urged continued resistance just days before he was captured.61 Waddell finally accepted that war was over August 2, 1865, after being so informed by a British ship's captain. He surrendered his ship to British forces in Liverpool, England on November 6. In all, the Shenandoah captured thirty-eight vessels in 1864 and 1865.62

     Although the whalers captured and burned in the Arctic were American vessels, there were immediate sharp impacts felt in Hawaii. By late 1864, all-American whaling crews were rare as the war claimed citizens' enlistment or labor, with whaling crews were noted as being "largely made up of Hawaiians and other Polynesians . . ."63 Additionally, it was reported that a number of native Hawaiians shipped onboard the Shenandoah, Captain Waddell being reported to be "rather partial to Hawaiians."64

     The whalers that the Shenandoah sank translated into fewer ships to do business at their Pacific ports in Honolulu or Lahaina. There were fewer purchasers for supplies, hundreds fewer sailors to spend their wages, and a reduction in the commissions for Honolulu businessmen in the transshipment of oil. Honolulu merchants were unable to move goods on their shelves and shipments were delayed as the city's business climate darkened. 65 The island economy was flooded with out-of-work sailors from the sunken ships. 66 Hawaiians stranded by the bonded vessels in San Francisco and without support also were a concern to the community and government.67

     Long-term consequences of the sinking of the New England whaling fleet by the CSS Shenandoah also were experienced. The blow to the whaling industry both in New England and Hawaii helped contribute to the economic transition that was occurring in the Kingdom of Hawaii as its main industry shifted from whaling trade to sugar plantations.

From Whaling to Sugar Plantations: Economic Effects

     The Civil War's economic impact on the Hawaiian Kingdom forever changed the course of Hawaiian History. In 1860, whaling and servicing whalers was Hawaii's predominant industry. By 1866, sugar cultivation was the undisputed economic king and laborers came from many parts of the Pacific and Asia to work on sugar plantations. Many historians have briefly credited the Civil War with the decline of whaling and rise of the sugar industry, but only superficially analyzed.


 
Figure 6
 
  Figure 6: By 1866, C. Brewer & Co. was including sugar plantations as customers illustrating the shift in Hawaii's economy from whaling to sugar.
The Friend 23, no.1 (January 1866), 7. Image courtesy Hawaiian Mission Children's Library.
 

     New England whalers first voyaged to the Pacific in the 1820s as Atlantic whales became scarce and continued until the 1870s. Pacific whaling moved from the Equator, to the western Pacific and Sea of Japan, then further and further north in the Pacific as hunting grounds were exhausted until the 1850s left only the Arctic Ocean. Kuykendall reports that "the number of American vessels engaged in the business" and "the quantity of whale products brought into American ports" was greatest in the 1840's (736 ships in 1846 and 16,000,000 gallons in 1845) "but the total value of such products was greater in the 1850s ($10,800,000 in 1854) because the prices of whale oil and whalebone were higher."68

     At this time, Hawaii's economy was based on whaling as almost every Pacific whaling vessel (around 500 ships per year in the 1840s and 1850s) restocked and refitted twice a year in Hawaiian ports. Honolulu and Lahaina were the main ports with fewer ships stopping at Hilo and Kealakekua, Hawaii Island, and Waimea and Koloa, Kauai. Historian Gavin Daws writes:

It became commonplace to say that no one could do business in the islands without the whalers. The wages of native seamen, profits on the sale of supplies, commissions on the transshipment of oil and bone from the islands to the United States, speculation in bills of exchange, and returns on all sorts of services from ship chandlering to boardinghouse keeping made whaling indispensable.

     Daws also asserts that native constables received a percentage of police court fines.69 Supplies included harpoons, rope, barrels, sails, and fresh fruits and vegetables, and beef and pork.70 Bills of exchange, or "whalers bills," were documents received by Honolulu merchants from shipmasters in exchange for the cash needed to pay sailors and purchase supplies. The bills were then remitted to the United States or Europe for a "handsome profit."71

     These refitting visits became more profitable to Hawaii as whales became harder to find, thus requiring longer voyages. A one or two year voyage became a four year voyage.72 Whalers were forced stop repeatedly in the islands. Eventually, lower profit margins for New England businesses led to a decline in the number of whale ships in the late 1850s.

     At least three different factors led to the decline of whaling: the 1859 birth of the petroleum industry, the progressive scarcity and shyness of whales, and the American Civil War. Edwin L. Drake drilled the first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859. As whaling declined concurrently with the first oil well, it is tempting to conclude that petroleum replaced whale oil in lamps and machine lubrication. A closer look, however, shows that this may not have been the case. Theodore Morgan argues "the only direct effect of petroleum [on the whaling industry] was upon price; and the price [of whale oil] continued its upward trend until the end of the Civil War" and prices continued to rise through 1880 and held steady through 1890. Further, he evidences that "the price of whale bone free from the depressing effect of petroleum competition, soared to unheard-of heights-$4 and $5 a pound-by the end of the century."73 Kuykendall also concedes that the "development of the petroleum industry ... was second" and not the most potent cause of decline, but disagrees with Morgan asserting that it "marked the beginning of ... the oil industry whose products were to be deadly competitors of the products (except whalebone) of the whale fishery."74 Therefore, the development of the petroleum industry was not the immediate cause of the decline of whaling.

     The increased scarcity and shyness of whales, long a concern, is cited by Morgan and Kuykendall as the preeminent contributing factor to the decline of whaling. By the late 1850s, increasing voyage length and pursuing new hunting grounds no longer answered the problem.75 Longer voyages for an equal or lesser amount of oil made whaling less profitable despite a high price for oil making fewer investors willing to outfit voyages.

     Nevertheless, several-hundred whale ships continued into the 1860s when whaling received a more abrupt blow from the Civil War. "A 60 per cent drop in numbers of whale ships afloat occurred between 1860 and 1866."76 As discussed earlier, Confederate raiding took a heavy toll on the industry. Around fifty whale ships were captured, mostly by the Shenandoah and Alabama. The raiding also led to the sale of many more whalers to foreign owners for fear that they would be captured flying under American flags.77

     Additionally, at the outset of the war, forty-five ships from the American whaling fleet were purchased by the United States Government for war use. All but five were sunk at the entrance to Charleston Harbor in an effort to block the port. Sixteen are recorded as sunk in the main channel and twenty in Maffitt's Channel.78 "Holes were drilled, then plugged, in the vessels' hulls, and their holds filled with New England granite." They were then sailed to the harbor's mouth and the plugs were pulled scuttling the vessels.79 By all accounts, this "Stone Fleet" was ineffectual as a blockade, but devastated for whaling. The Civil War thus played a significant role in the demise of whaling, bringing a sharp, and what proved to be a irreversible depression to an industry that had begun a slow decline but otherwise may have endured decades longer.

     While the Civil War sped the decline of the United States whaling industry in Hawaii, it helped make sugar the Kingdom's number one export. When Europeans arrived, a variety of sugar already grew in Hawaii, but was not ‘refined' or ‘boiled.' Sugar cultivation using a variety meant to produce granular sugar was pioneered seriously in the 1830s and 40s. By the 1850s, advanced technology and growing methods made sugar production profitable, but the American Civil War accelerated sugar production as Hawaii's main industry.

     Kuykendall states that "the greater part of the expansion [of the sugar industry] occurred in the six years 1861-1866, reflecting the influence of the American Civil War upon Hawaii's economy."80 Carol Wilcox concurs in discussing the use of water for sugar production: "sugar fortunes started to rise-due mainly to the emerging market of the West Coast as a result of the Civil War, when the Northern states boycotted Southern sugar producers and looked abroad for new sources."81 Gavin Daws proclaims, "the Civil War, which crippled whaling in the Pacific, made the Hawaiian Sugar industry."82 The authors of The Hawaiian Monarchy write regarding the Civil War, "the sugar industry boomed because of heavy demands and higher prices."83 Morgan, commenting on the sugar industry, notes "the Civil War had furnished the major stimulus."84 William Dorrance and Francis Morgan, in their history of island sugar write that "the U.S. Civil War of 1861 to 1865 created a strong new market ... when the northern states were cut off from Louisiana-grown sugar."85

     These many historians agree, because the reasons for the sugar industry's growth in Hawaii during the war are well documented. The war created high market prices, as Southern grown sugar was no longer available to the markets of the Northern states. Morgan reports "Prices in the North rose extravagantly due to cutting off of the supply of Louisiana sugars and inflation of currency" and the amount paid for exports rose from less than seven cents per pound in 1859 to over seventeen cents per pound in 1864.86 It should be conceded, however, that "the high prices were partially offset by higher tariff rates imposed [by the U.S.] to meet war costs."87 Nevertheless, the industry enjoyed rapid expansion through 1866.

     Total amount of sugar produced increased from 277 tons in 1856 to 12,115 tons in 1867.88 Proportionally, total sugar exports rose from 1,444,271 pounds (722 tons) in 1860 to 17,729,161 pounds (8,864.5 tons) in 186689 —an average growth rate of total exports of 175.36% per year between those years! The number of sugar plantations operating increased as well as new plantations appeared on all four of Hawaii's main islands. "By 1866 there were thirty-two plantations and mill companies compared with twelve in 1860."90 Additionally, acres of sugarcane being cultivated in Hawaii increased from 2,150 in 1856 to 10,006 in 1867 and tons produced per acre increased from .20 to 1.21 during those same years.91 Not only did the quantity of Hawaii sugar produced and exported grow during the Civil War, so did the quality. For 1860-62 nearly all the Hawaii sugar imported into the United States was low grade, but for 1863-66 more than half was above No. 12 grades and went directly into consumption without further refining.92


 
Figure 7
 

 
Figure 8
 

 
Figure 9
 

 
Figure 10
 

 
Figure 11
 

     The Hawaiian sugar industry was born out of the American Civil War. One plantation made the connection between Hawaiian sugar and the war clear in their name "Union Plantation" and logo, the American Eagle clutching olive branch and arrows.93 After General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox and war's end, however, the American market temporarily contracted. Prices dropped and war-driven U.S. currency inflation ended. The Hawaiian Kingdom economy became depressed during late 1866 and 1867. By 1872, at least seven plantations "had gone out of business."94 Prices remained near ten cents a pound,95 however, and although renewed reciprocity treaty negotiations failed, many growers struck a working agreement with San Francisco refineries allowing the sugar industry continued slow but steady growth.96 Hawaii's new industry was profitable, but it made increasingly attractive the idea of a reciprocity treaty with the United States allowing importation of Hawaii products to the United States tariff-free. When a treaty was reached in 1876, many sugar producers "gained an immediate 50-percent increase in sales proceeds" on exports to the United States.97 By the turn of the century, Hawaii was exporting 500 million pounds of sugar annually.

     A profitable sugar industry required a plantation organization with a large number of laborers. The importation of contract labor from China, Japan, and Portugal to work the plantations was driven by the sugar industry. By the 1880s more foreigners would live in Hawaii than Hawaiians whose population steadily declined until circa 1890. The labor imported from all over the world to work the plantations is seen today in Hawaii's diverse population.

     Another economic war casualty, which had been a rising business, was seasonal guano mining for fertilizer from remote Pacific islands. A formal survey was made in the summer of 1861 for Pacific islands and atolls to increase the sources for mining. 98 The war, however, made available ships scarce as military and higher value cargos took precedence.99 Important delivery contracts were with Savannah, Georgia, cane growers in the now blockaded South.100 By summer 1861, the trade was quiet.

     Hawaii also experimented with other blockaded agricultural crops including tobacco, cotton, coffee, and rice. The U. S. government unofficially provided technical advice and seed to encourage replacements for the Southern crops. 101 Cotton production rose from 600 pounds exported in 1862 to an 1866 peak of 22,289 pounds. Profits fell off quickly after the war, however, and by 1875 none was exported.102 Rice production initially benefited from the war as Southern production dropped, but the 1860s low export price in San Francisco turned agricultural interests to sugar. 103 Rice production later benefited from Chinese laborers brought to the islands as sugar plantation workers and so continued to increase after the war.104

     The Civil War brought an abrupt decline to the whaling industry in Hawaii and gave an immediate boost to the sugar industry. The transition in Hawaii's economy was a sharp immediate impact, but also one that left a lasting legacy. Sugar would be Hawaii's main industry until tourism superseded it in the latter half of the twentieth century.

Hawaiians and others from the Pacific/East Asia in the Civil War

     Hawaiians and others from the Pacific and East Asia served directly in the Armies and Navies of the Union and the Confederacy. The Hawaii Sons of the Civil War Committee researchers found that 114 individuals born in Hawaii served in the war.105 Some were missionary descendants with strong New England ties, such as missionary sons David B. Lyman, who served in the U.S. Sanitary Commission medical corps, 106 and Dr. Henry M. Lyman, who served as an Army surgeon.107 The majority, however, were Native Hawaiian. There are another 32 Civil War Veterans of color who listed their home as elsewhere in the Pacific or East Asia.108

     Twenty-one of the 114 individuals had attended Punahou School.109 Punahou School, set up by the missionaries for their children, was and is known as one of the finest schools in the world. Two of the twenty-one died in the war: Eli Samuel Ruggles110 and Joseph C. Forbes.111

     The most famous "Punahou boy" who served was Samuel Chapman Armstrong (1839-1893), son of the missionaries Rev. and Mrs. Richard Armstrong who arrived in Hawaii in 1832.112 After graduating from Punahou, he attended Williams College, Massachusetts, graduating in 1862. Later that year he received a commission as a Captain in the 125th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment and served in many important engagements including the Battle of Gettysburg. In December 1863, Armstrong accepted command of the Ninth and later the Eight Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops. He reached the rank of Brevet Brigadier General before war's end. Armstrong's most lasting legacy, however, may be his work during Reconstruction in the Freedman's Bureau (1866-1872) and later founding Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, now Hampton University. He modeled the institute on the Hilo Boarding School for Hawaiian students.113

     The majority of those Hawaii born who served, however, were Native Hawaiian and served in the Union Navy. Hawaiians were superior sailors and sought out as crew. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, served as sailors on whaling and other New England vessels whose Pacific homeport was Honolulu or Lahaina. When the war broke out the Union Navy had to increase the size of its fleet quickly, not only to fight the Navy the Confederacy was building, but also to blockade the immense Southern coastline. When the Union bought up merchant ships to use in its Navy, many Hawaiians who were aboard and needed a job enlisted.

     The Hawaiian James Wood Bush, Honolulu- born in 1845, well represents the average Civil War veteran from Hawaii. He enlisted as an "Ordinary Seaman" in Portsmouth, NH, September 27, 1864. No doubt, he arrived in New England from Hawaii while serving on a whaling or other merchant ship. He served on the USS Vandalia briefly (a sloop of war serving as a receiving and guard ship)and then for many months on the USS Beauregard(a captured Confederate Schooner)chasing blockade runners off West Florida. During that grueling duty, he developed chronic laryngitis and spinal injuries. He was discharged from the US Navy in September 1865 at Brooklyn Naval Hospital. After the war, he lived in New Bedford, San Francisco, and Tahiti as he made his way back to Hawaii arriving in 1877, over ten years later, epic travels worthy of the name odyssey. Due to his injuries and military service, in 1905 he was awarded a US Government pension, credited from 1897 until his death in 1906.114


 
Figure 12
 
  Figure 12: Gerrit P. Judd, his son-in-law (Wilder), and a son were partners in an early sugar plantation. The staunchly pro-Union Judd chose to make a political statement when naming the plantation.
Pacific Commercial Advertiser 18 June 1864, 1.
 

     Hawaiians also served in direct combat. Four were reported among those who volunteered to storm Fort Fisher, Wilmington, North Carolina, in January 1865 under Captain Oliver S. Glisson of the USS Santiago de Cuba.115 In the US Army, generally, they mustered into colored regiments: at least 12 are confirmed to have served in Colored Infantry or Cavalry.116 At least one, Henry Hoolulu (Timothy) Pitman, served in a white unit, Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, Company H.117 He was fair skinned, as his father was white, so unit assignment may have depended on how dark Hawaiians appeared. Interestingly, in World War I, the US government made a conscience decision to place Hawaiians in white units.118 Pitman died at the Camp Parole, Annapolis, Maryland, February 27, 1863.119 General Armstrong met Native Hawaiians serving in Colored regiments in the field:

Yesterday [1864], as my orderly was holding my horse, I asked him where he was from in Hawaii. He proved to be a full-blooded kanaka, by the name of Kealoha, who came from the Islands last year. There is also another, by the name of Kaiwi, who lived near Judge Smith's, who left the Islands last July. I enjoyed seeing them very much and we had a good jabber in kanaka. Kealoha is a private in the 41st Regiment US Colored Troops, and Kaiwi is a Private in the 28th Colored Troops. Both are good men and seemed glad to see me."120

     In July 1861, Thomas Spencer, an American expatriate living in Hilo, Hawaii Island, raised and drilled a company of Infantry composed mostly of Native Hawaiians. The self-described "Spencer's Invincibles" offered their services to President Lincoln, 121 creating international publicity,122 and a diplomatic controversy for Minister Wyllie. In defense of the Kingdom's neutrality, Wyllie officially denied permission for the men to go as a unit.123

     Hawaiians also served the Confederacy. Eleven were crewmembers of the CSS Shenandoah.124 The Shenandoah was short on crew from the beginning of its cruise so when it captured ships, their crews faced the option of being marooned, put in the brig, crammed on a bonded ship, or joining the Shenandoah crew. The more pleasant nature of the latter option combined with the promise of adventure and possibly loot, attracted some to join. One of the eleven died in service, William Bill.125 Those that joined took the oath of allegiance to the Confederate States of America:

We, the undersigned seaman, and others, do this day in the year 1864 & 1865 of our own free will and accord, covenant and agree to enter and enlist in the Naval Service of the Confederate States of America and we do severally covenant and agree to enlist especially for service in the – CSS Shenandoah – under the command of Lieut. Comdg. James I. Waddell. We do furthermore solemnly swear to bear true and faithful allegiance to the Confederate States of America, and to serve them faithfully and truly against all their enemies, and to obey the orders of the President of the Confederate States, of the Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate States, and of Lieut. Comdg. James I. Waddell, or his successor in command and of all officers of the Confederate States Navy, who may be appointed over us. And we do furthermore covenant and agree to serve on board the – CSS Shenandoah – or such other ship as we may be ordered to join in the Confederate Service for the period of the cruise, unless sooner discharged, and in the capacities and for the monthly wages, set opposite our names. This covenant of allegiance and service to the Confederate States to expire with the termination of our present enlistment.126

     Likely there were dozens more Native Hawaiians who served, but it may be impossible to identify them because often names simplified or invented , such as "John Boy" or "Joseph Kanaka" [Hawaiian for ‘man'], were used on official enlistment papers.127 As a result, it becomes very difficult to track them later in life or find descendants who might have information about them.

     People from other parts of the Pacific and East Asia also volunteered to serve. At a minimum, thirty-two veterans of color from the Pacific and East Asia are known to have served in the Union Navy, and likely there were more in the Union Army and possibly the forces of the Confederacy:128

  Philippines: 10 China: 3
  Borneo: 1 South Pacific/Pacific: 2
  Australia: 3 New Zealand: 5
  Tonga: 1 Tahiti: 1
  Guam: 3 Singapore: 1
  Jakarta: 1 East Indies: 1

     The reasons people from the Pacific decided to take part in the American Civil War are likely as varied as the reasons American citizens were enlisting. During any war, people join the military from many motives. In most cases, their service was probably the result of Hawaiians being away from home, in need of work, and the best choice before them was to enlist. Although gainful employment and adventure played a part, ideological reasons also were a motive. Hawaii missionary descendants mention their interests in preserving the Union and in abolition,129 but Native Hawaiians who were educated largely in a New England model, may have had similar interests. Others in the Pacific too may have had reasons related to democracy, liberty, or equality. Hawaiians and others from the Pacific World have a tradition of helping to uphold these ideals during wartime. Indeed, Pacific Islanders also have documented service for America in the War of 1812 and in the Spanish American War.130 In World War I, Hawaiian merchant marines were among the first Americans to die in the Atlantic,131 while a Fijian unit passed through Hawaii en route to France.132 The service of Hawaiians and people from all over the Pacific and Asia in WWII and the rest of the 20th century is documented many times over so service during the American Civil War should not be surprising.

Conclusion

     The wake of the American Civil War reached and changed the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Pacific. It influenced the diplomatic decisions and interrupted treaty pursuits. It acted to decrease the United States' influence and prestige perhaps clearing the way in 1864 for King Kamehameha V to proclaim a new Constitution strengthening the monarchy. It also reached Hawaii as its citizens expressed partisan support in mock elections. It reached again when its citizens and their property became casualties of war, victim to Confederate raiders. Furthermore, the Civil War forever changed the course of Hawaiian history by abruptly devastating the whaling industry and creating the sugar industry eventually bringing workers from all over the world to create Hawaii's modern, diverse population. Finally, Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and Asians served dutifully in the Armies and Navies of the Union and Confederacy.

Dr. Justin W. Vance is Assistant Professor of History and Assistant Dean (Academics) for Hawaii Pacific University's Military Campus Programs. He edited Centennial of Strength, Spirit, and Technology: Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard andis the author ofarticles and presentations on the Civil War and WW II in the Pacific.Dr. Vance is currently serving as President of the Hawaii Civil War Round Table. He may be contacted at jvance@hpu.edu.

Anita Manning is an Associate in Cultural Studies, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, who has assisted students and teachers with a History Day research guide and has judged for more than years. She is the author of several publications on the history of science in Hawaii and articles on the history of Honolulu Elks Lodge 616. She may be contacted at manninga001@hawaii.rr.com.


 
Notes

1 "Register of Foreigners Residing in Honolulu," The Friend V no.2 (15 January 1847), 10-11.

2 Maxine Mrantz, Whaling Days in Old Hawaii, (Honolulu: Aloha Graphics and Sales, 1976), 9.

3 Gavin Daws, Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands, (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1974), 128.

4 Daws, Shoal of Time, 106-109.

5 Daws, Shoal of Time, 118-119.

6 Merze Tate, Hawaii: Reciprocity or Annexation, (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1968), 13.

7 Gerrit P. Judd to Albert F. Judd, 15 February [1863], Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 27.7.9, Bishop Museum Archives.

8 Ralph S. Kuykendall, The Hawaiian Kingdom, vol. II, 1854-1874: Twenty Critical Years, (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1953), 35.

9 "Commencement of Civil War!," Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 9 May 1861, 3.

10 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 65.

11 Merze Tate, The United States and the Hawaiian Kingdom: A Political History, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965), 19.

12 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 34.

13 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 123.

14 Daws, Shoal of Time, 184.

15 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 120.

16 See Lynn Case and Warren Spencer, The United States and France: Civil War Diplomacy, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1970) for French attitudes toward the Confederacy and Howard Jones, Union in Peril: the Crisis over British Intervention in the Civil War, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992) for British attitudes toward the CSA.

17 Thomas Dryer to W. H. Seward, 5 September 1861, in "Dispatches from U. S. Ministers in Hawaii 1843-1900," Microfilm 10: 30 Mar 1861-31 Dec 1863, Hawaii Public Library.

18 "Volunteer Companies," The Polynesian, 28 June 1862, 2.

19 "Proclamation," The Polynesian, 14 September 1861, 3. As the paper was a weekly and came out on Saturday, this represents two missed opportunities to print the Proclamation.

20 "A Mock Election for the Presidency of the United States," Polynesian, 10 November 1860, 2

21 A minority believed saving ‘heathens' more important than abolition. See Char Miller, Selected Writings of Hiram Bingham 1814-1869 (Lewiston: Edwin Meilen Press, 1988), 447-454.

22 "Negro Suffrage," The Friend 22 no.8 (August 1865), 61.

23 Daws, Shoal of Time, 183-184.

24 Gerrit P. Judd to Albert F. Judd, 15 July 1861, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 27.7.14, Bishop Museum Archives.

25 "Correspondence," The Polynesian, 7 March 1863, 3.

26 Theodore Morgan, Hawaii: A Century of Economic Change, 1778-1876, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1948), 180.

27 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 141; The Friend 24, no.3 (March 1867), 24.

28 Tate, Hawaii: Reciprocity or Annexation, 46.

29 Norris Potter, Lawrence Kasdon, and Ann Rayson, The Hawaiian Monarchy, (Honolulu: The Bess Press Inc., 1983), 177.

30 Tate, Hawaii: Reciprocity or Annexation, 46.

31 Tate, Hawaii: Reciprocity or Annexation, 47-49.

32 Albert F. Judd to Gerrit P. Judd, 26 March 1864, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 16.6.13B, Bishop Museum Archives.

33 Albert F. Judd, 7 July-20August [1864] diary, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 43.7, Bishop Museum Archives.

34 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 200-201.

35 "The Burning of the Hawaiian Whaling Fleet," The Sunday Advertiser, 27August 1911, Feature 1, 5.

36 H.G. Purcell, "Hawaii and the Pacific Fleet," Nautical Research Journal 7 no. 1-2. (1955), 4.

37 "Completion of the Telegraph," The Polynesian, 16 November 1861, 2.

38 H. A. P. Carter to Albert F. Judd, 11 March 1861, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 46.21.7, Bishop Museum Archives.

39 Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 4 July 1861, 2.

40 Charlotte Dole to Sanford Dole, 24 March 1864, Dole Papers 1840-1926, Charlotte Close Knapp Dole to Sanford 1864-1868, Hawaiian Mission Children's Society Library..

41 Lucille H. Bates to Albert F. Judd, 21 July 1863, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 45.18.1, Bishop Museum Archives.

42 Theo H. Davies to Albert Francis Judd, 15 February 1863, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 49.9.9, Bishop Museum Archives.

43 Laura F. Judd to Albert F. Judd, 16 April 1863, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 27.6.21, Bishop Museum Archives.

44 "Burnt," Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 25 March 1865, 2.

45 Albert F. Judd to Gerrit P. Judd, 25 August 1863, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 27.7.31, Bishop Museum Archives.

46 "Owners and crew of the Hawaiian Bark Arctic," Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the 53rd Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894), Report 430, 4-5.

47 Albert F. Judd to Lizzie [Elizabeth Judd Wilder], 18 October 1863, MS Group 70 Box 71.3.18, Bishop Museum Archives.

48 Tom Chaffin, Sea of Gray (New York: Hill and Wang, 2006): 139, 166.

49 Murray Morgan, Confederate Raider in the North Pacific: The Saga of the C.S.S. Shenandoah, 1864-1865, (Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1995), 15.

50 U.S. Naval War Records Office, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series I vol. 3: The Operation of the Cruisers, 1 April 1864- 30 December 1865, (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1896), 749.

51 "A Suspicious Vessel," Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 24 June 1865, 2.

52 Madolenihmw is a land division giving its name to a large offshore area. Pohnahtik is the name for the smaller bay area where the burning took place. See Suzanne Finney and Michael Graves, Site Identification and Documentation of a Civil War Shipwreck Thought to be Sunk by the C.S.S. Shenandoah in April 1865, (Washington, DC, American Battlefield Protection Program, National Park Service, 2002), 5-6, 15,18-19.

53 Morgan, Confederate Raider, 168-169.

54 "The Raid of the Shenandoah, Hawaiian Gazette, 12 August 1865, 69.

55 See Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, "Letters and Documents Relating to the Claim of the Owners, Officers, and crew of the Ship Harvest captured by the Shenandoah, 1 August 1894" for witness affidavits. 1894 testimony indicated it sometimes flew an American flag when convenient.

56 Morgan, Confederate Raider, 170.

57 James Waddell, C.S.S. Shenandoah: The Memoirs of Lieutenant Commanding James I. Waddell, (New York: Crown Publishers, 1960), 148.

58 "The Northern Whaling Fleet," Polynesian 6 Dec 1862, 3; "Marine Journal," "Arrivals," "Departures" The Friend, 1860-1865.

59 "Report of Bark Kamehameha Fifth," The Friend 23 no. 12 (December 1865), 96.

60 "The Burning of the Hawaiian Whaling Fleet," Feature 1, 5.

61 Morgan, Confederate Raider, 223.

62 Chester G. Hearn, Gray Raiders of the Sea: How Eight Confederate Warships Destroyed the Union's High Seas Commerce, (Camden: International Marine Publishing, 1992), 271.

63 "Our Harbor Now Resembles the ‘Olden times'," The Friend 21 no.11 (4 November 1864), 81.

64 "Later," Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 12 August 1865, 2.

65 C. Brewer & Co., Honolulu, to Charles Brewer & Co. Boston, 11and 15 August 1865, C. Brewer Manuscript Collection, Box 2, folder 1, Hawaiian Historical Society Library.

66 Charles Alfred Castle to Ed[ward G. Hitchcock], 14 August 1865, Charles Alfred Castle Correspondence, MS Group 308 Box 13.7, Bishop Museum Archives; "The Latest from the Whaling Fleet," and "Returned Hawaiians," Hawaiian Gazette, 12 August 1865, 65.

67 Editorial, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 26, August 1865, 3.

68 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 135.

69 Daws, Shoal of Time, 169.

70 MacKinnon Simpson and Robert B. Goodman, Whale Song: The Story of Hawaii and the Whales, (Honolulu: Beyond Words Publishing Co., 1989), 102.

71 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 138-139.

72 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 136.

73 Morgan, Hawaii: Century of Economic Change, 143.

74 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 137.

75 Morgan, Hawaii: Century of Economic Change, 145.

76 Morgan, Hawaii: Century of Economic Change, 143.

77 Morgan, Confederate Raider, 212.

78 Sidney Withington, The Sinking of the Two "Stone Fleets" During the Civil War, Marine Historical Association Publication no. 34, (Mystic, CT: Marine Historical Association, 1958), 62.

79 Simpson and Goodman, Whale Song, 107.

80 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 140.

81 Carol Wilcox, Sugar Water: Hawaii's Plantation Ditches, (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996), 2,5.

82 Daws, Shoal of Time, 174.

83 Potter, Kasdon, and Rayson, Hawaiian Monarchy, 168.

84 Morgan, Hawaii: Century of Economic Change, 180.

85 William Dorrance and Francis Morgan, Sugar Islands: The 165-Year Story of Sugar in Hawaii, (Honolulu: Mutual Publishing, 2000), 12.

86 Morgan, Hawaii: Century of Economic Change, 180.

87 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 142.

88 Dorrance and Morgan, Sugar Islands, 6.

89 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 141.

90 Daws, Shoal of Time, 175.

91 Dorrance and Morgan, Sugar Islands, 6.

92 Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 143.

93 "Union Plantation" advertisement, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 18 June 1864, 1.

94 Dorrance and Morgan, Sugar Islands, 6.

95 Morgan, Hawaii: Century of Economic Change, 181.

96 Daws, Shoal of Time, 176-177.

97 Dorrance and Morgan, Sugar Islands, 21.

98 "On Wednesday," The Polynesian, 14 September 1861, 2

99 John B. Tardy , ag[en]t Wm. H. Webb to Gerrit P. Judd, 19 August 1861, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 15.9.28, Bishop Museum Archives.

100 R. B. Swain & Co. to Capt. Thomas Wade, Silver Star, 19 September 1860, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 15.9.24, Bishop Museum Archives.

101 James S. Grinnell, Chief Bureau of Statistics, [U.S.] Department of Agriculture to Albert F. Judd, 24 November 1862, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 25.9.20, Bishop Museum Archives.

102 Morgan, Hawaii: Century of Economic Change, 160.

103 Gerrit P. Judd to Albert F. Judd, 13 Oct 1862, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 27.7.22B, Bishop Museum Archives.

104 Morgan, Hawaii: Century of Economic Change, 164-168.

105 Hawaii Sons of the Civil War Memorial Plaque Dedication Program, 26 Aug 2010; Nanette Napoleon, "Hawaii Sons of the Civil War Roster, Unpublished," e-mail to authors, 15 Mar 2012.

106 David B. Lyman to Albert F. Judd, 30 January 1865, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 55.10.20, Bishop Museum Archives.

107 Eleventh Annual Report of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society (Honolulu: Henry M. Whitney, 1863), 11.

108 "Union African American Sailor Index," Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, National Park Service, accessed 2009-2011, http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/sailors_index.html.

109 Napoleon, e-mail.

110 "Died," The Friend 19, no. 6 (1 June 1862), 48.

111 "Hawaiian Mission Children's Society," The Friend 22, no. 8 (1 August 1865), 60-61.

112 Missionary Album (Honolulu: Hawaiian Mission Children's Society 1969), 30-31.

113 Nathaniel B. Emerson, "Armstrong in College and in the Civil War," 20-27, and C. A. Cottrill, "Armstrong and Hampton," in Dedication of the Samuel Chapman Armstrong Memorial (Honolulu: 1913); Edith A. Talbot, Samuel Chapman Armstrong: A Biographical Study (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1904).

114 James Wood Bush. Certificate Number 36 305. Civil War Pension File. National Archives, Washington D.C.

115 "Press Despatches," New York Herald, 18 January 1865, 5.

116 "Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System," National Park Service, accessed 2009-2011, http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/soldiers.cfm; Olaf Oswald, "Whither Hawaii?," Paradise of the Pacific 45 no.8 (August 1932), 5-8, 21-22; United Veterans' Service Council, "Record of Deceased Veterans," Card file M 477, Hawaii State Archives.

117 "Union Massachusetts Volunteers, 22nd Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry," National Park Service, accessed 10 February 2012, http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/soldiers.cfm.

118 "Hawaiian is White Man, Official Ruling at Washington," Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 2 Oct 1918, Second 1.

119 Eleventh Annual Report of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society, 15.

120 "Extract of a Letter from Col. Armstrong," The Friend, 22 no. 4 (1 April 1865), 30.

121 "Byron's Bay Wide Awake! The Fourth of July in Hilo," Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 25 July 1861, 1,2; "Na Koa Maoli of Hilo," Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, 1 November 1861, 3.

122 "Various Matters," Boston Daily Advertiser, 21 September 1861, 1.

123 Exchange of letters R. C. Wyllie, Minister Foreign Affairs and Thomas Spencer , Hilo 30 November 1861 to 27 December 1861, 3 February 1862. Foreign Office & Executive, Series 410, Vol. 37, Misc. Internal Correspondence, Hawaii State Archives; Thomas Dryer, U.S. Legation, Honolulu, to Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, DC, 8 February 1862, Despatches from U. S. Ministers in Hawaii 1843-1900, microfilm 10, Hawaii State Library.

124 "Shipping Articles of the CSS Shenandoah," Transcribed, with additional data added, Terry Foenander, last modified May 2008, accessed January 2009-September 2011, http://www.tfoenander.com/shenandoahshippingarticles.htm.

125 Tom Chaffin. Sea of Gray: The around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah (New York Hill and Wang, 2006), 340-41.

126 Shipping Articles of the CSS Shenandoah.

127 "Asians in the Civil War," Terry Foenander, last modified June 2003, accessed January 2009-September 2011, http://www.tfoenander.com/asians.html.

128 "Union African American Sailor Index," Soldiers and Sailors System, National Park Service, accessed 17 January 2010, http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/sailors_index.html.

129 William F. Snow to Albert F. Judd, 9 February 1863, Judd Collection, MS Group 70 Box 61.17.15, Bishop Museum Archives.

130 Oswald, "Whither Hawaii?," 5-8, 21-22.

131 "Hawaiians Victims of Pirates, First Islanders Killed in War with Germans," Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 3 April 1917, 1.

132 "Unique Band of Warriors Entertained by Honolulu," Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 26 May 1917, 7.

 


 
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