Scandinavian migration to the Hawaiian Kingdom
Updated: 12/11/2025, 5:41:05 PM Wikipedia source
Scandinavian migration to the Hawaiian Kingdom occurred in the late 19th century when poor economic conditions in Northern Europe led to successive waves of Nordic immigration to North America. Hundreds of thousands of people left their home countries for better opportunities in the United States. At the same time, in 1875, the governments of the United States and the Kingdom of Hawai'i negotiated and ratified a reciprocity treaty, leading to major investment in the sugar plantations in Hawaii, which required an increase in the labor supply to grow. Planters continued bringing in large numbers of foreign laborers from Asian countries, but now also began to bring in smaller numbers of workers from Europe. In 1880, acting on behalf of the Kingdom and the planters, Christian L'Orange recruited workers in Drammen, Norway. Newspaper ads promised three-year contracts on sugar plantations for those willing to make the journey. More than 600 signed up for the trip to Hawaii, including single men and entire families with children. The group traveled on board two main ships, with a third ship carrying a smaller number of the group along with mostly German passengers. The ships—the Beta, the Musca, and the Cedar—encountered a rough and dangerous voyage lasting four to six months. Some passengers and crew died during the voyage, mostly children, due to malnourishment along the way. Upon arrival in Hawaii, which was then known as the Sandwich Islands in Europe, the authorities determined that some of the migrants were suffering from starvation. After an initially difficult voyage, things did not seem to improve for many of them after landfall on Maui and the island of Hawai'i, although some fared better on O'ahu and elsewhere. Some of the migrants believed they were treated unfairly and that their original contract had been changed. Multiple investigations into their alleged mistreatment were made by local authorities, but it was not until the San Francisco Chronicle published their stories of slave-like conditions to the wider world, that an international investigation occurred. The Scandinavian immigrants participated in three of the most significant labor strikes on sugar plantations in Hawaii before annexation, with most, but not all, leaving the islands for California or returning to Europe.
Tables
| Place of origin | Number |
| Japan | 140,457 |
| China | 45,064 |
| Portugal | 14,670 |
| Korea | 6,925 |
| Puerto Rico | 5,200 |
| South Sea Islanders | 2,450 |
| Spain | 2,299 |
| Germany | 1,279 |
| Norway | 615 |
| Austria | 372 |
| United States (Black Americans) | 200 |
| Russia | 110 |
| United States (White Americans) | 100 |
| Italy | 84 |
| Year | Plantation | Island | Ethnic group | Issue | Outcome |
| 1841 | Ladd & Company, Kōloa | Kauaʻi | Native Hawaiian | Wages | No compromise, returned to work |
| 1881 | Alexander & Baldwin | Maui | Norwegian | Food quality | Jailed, returned to work |
| 1881 | Bond, Kohala | Hawai'i | Norwegian | Food quality | Workers won court case, returned to work |
| 1881 | Hitchcock, Pāpa'ikou | Hawai'i | Norwegian | Food quality, labor contract, working conditions | Workers lost court case, returned to work |
| 1891 | Kohala | Hawai'i | Chinese | Contract labor dispute | Police attacked, jailed 55 workers |
| 1894 | Kahuku | O'ahu | Japanese | Contract labor dispute | Workers arrested, fined |
References
- Carol A. MacLennan: "Cane sugar production was probably the first true industry of the modern era, due to the biochemica
- Carol A. MacLennan: "Estimated human population at the time of Cook's arrival varies—ranging from 279,000 by demographer
- See the table Hawai'i Sugar Plantation Labor Strikes, Before 1898.
- See the table Contract Labor Immigrants to Hawai'i, 1852–1905.
- The timeline of the Scandinavian migration to the Kingdom of Hawai'i was quickly followed by radical changes in the regi
- Knut Vollebæk, former Norwegian ambassador to the United States (2001–2007): "More than 800,000 Norwegians left Norway d
- L'Orange's original ad: "To the Emigrants for the Sandwich Islands" "Contracts with those who will go to the Sandwich I
- Kuykendall corrects the arrival date from May 14 to May 13, finding that the May 14 date was likely erroneously duplicat
- Grip's original report was titled Der Verhältnisse I der I Schwedischen und Norwegischen Arbeiter I auf den I Hawaiische
- A small number of Norwegians played a role in early California history, particularly in the California gold rush (1848–1
- Kuykendell believes the commonly cited number of 615 (which represents only the number of Scandinavian contract laborers
- MacLennan 2014, p. 9.
- Coman 1903, pp. 5–8.
- MacLennan 2014, p. 22.
- MacLennan 2014, p. 22; Coman 1903, pp. 6-11.
- Valentine 2014, p. 98.
- Davis 1962, pp. 3–4.
- Hawai'i State Archives 2025.
- Davis 1962, pp. 2–3; Menton 1989, p. 34-35.
- Beechert 1985, pp. 85-87.
- Williams 1919, p. 576.
- Menton 1989, p. 34-35; Jones & Osgood 2015, pp. 37-40.
- Bowman 1980.
- Greipsland 2004, pp. 9, 103.
- Davis 1963, p. 28.
- Takaki 1985, pp. 32-42.
- Satrum 2011, p. 8.
- Rio 2015, p. 253.
- Davis 1962, p. 1.
- Davis 1963, p. 29.
- Barton 1982, p. 68.
- Satrum 2011, pp. 9-10; Bark Cedar. Bremen, Germany to Honolulu, Hawaii 18 June 1881. Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guildhttps://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1800v4/cedar18810618.html
- Joesting 1984, pp. 223-227.
- Satrum 2011, p. 11.
- Davis 1962, pp. 8-9.
- San Francisco Chronicle 1881, "The Beta, Sandwich Islands", p. 3.
- Davis 1962, p. 11.
- Greipsland 2004 pp. 24-26.
- Kuykendell 1967, p. 673, note 66.
- Merry 2000, p. 215; Bark Musca. Drammen, Norway to Honolulu, Hawaii 14 May 1881. Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISThttps://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1800v4/musca18810514.html
- Joesting 1984, pp. 179, 224-229.
- Letter of Martin Blackstad. To his grand daughters, Anna Jean Blackstad and Marian Blackstad in 1931.https://www.next1000.com/family/GRUBB/kauai.blackstad.html
- Davis 1963, p. 30.
- Takaki 1985, p. 146.
- Greipsland 2004, pp. 28-29.
- Merry 2000, p. 215.
- Davis 1978, pp. 226-228.
- Beechert 1993, p. 50; Coman 1903, pp. 34.
- San Francisco Chronicle 1882, "Confirming the Charge". p. 2.
- San Francisco Chronicle 1882, "The Hawaiian Hades". p. 1.
- Forbes 2003, pp. 73-74; Grip 1884, pp. 41-51.
- Kuykendall 1967, p. 673, note 67.
- Grip 1884, p. 42.
- Nordyke 1989, p. 47.
- Thrum 1909, p. 19.
- Norlie 1925, pp. 177-178, 235-236.
- Bjork 1958, pp. 629-630.
- Beechert 1985, pp. 80–81.
- Kvistad 2006.
- Hale 1986, p. 135.
- Davis 1962, pp. 1–39; Davis 1963, pp. 28–35.
- Ekstrand 1980, p. 142; Clairmont 1980.
- Wilson 2006.
- Hale 1986, p. x.
- Rio 2015, p. 264.
- Kjerland 2015, p. xvii.
- Ivers 1909, as cited in Nordyke 1989, p. 249.
- Takaki 1983, as cited in Jones & Osgood 2015, p. 45; Greipsland 2004, pp. 27-31.