Ralph S. Kuykendall

Early Hawaiian Commercial Development

Up to 1830 and this date is selected, not because it is a sharp dividing point, but because it is a convenient stopping place and lies in a transition period commercial enterprise at the Hawaiian Islands depended mainly upon three commodities: furs, sandalwood, and whale oil. Of these commodities, only one, sandalwood, was produced in Hawaii; the other two were important because they brought traders and trading ships to the islands. In the interest of simplification there is a temptation to treat each one of these branches of trade separately; but that method will not give a true picture. The fur trade is the first and for a time the only branch of trade affecting the islands; but during at least fifteen years prior to 1820, furs divide the field with sandalwood in varying proportions; and in that year (1i820) whaling ships enter the picture; thereafter, for a time, all three branches of trade are carried on simultaneously. These three major interests, however, do not give the whole story, since there is some general trade that must be taken into account. Finally, the commerce of Hawaii must be considered, not as a thing apart, but in relation to the trade of the whole Pacific region, for it is only a segment of that larger trade.