The Kamehameha Dynasty When Cook visited, there were about 300,000 Hawaiians, divided into several competing political units. Kamehameha's success was largely due to the use of firearms obtained from white merchants. The outside traders brought with them several infectious diseases that killed many Hawaiians, resulting in a steep population decline by the mid-1800s. The leading contributors to personal income in Hawaii are government spending and tourism. These industries have eclipsed sugarcane and pineapple production and processing, the mainstays of the islands' economy from about 1900 until the post-World War II period.
Most government spending is by the U.S. armed forces, which maintain several large bases in Hawaii.
Agriculture Hawaii's agricultural sector is relatively small and is dominated by sugarcane and pineapple production. Hawaii is the United States' leading producer of sugarcane, and about 10 million tons are harvested yearly. Most sugarcane is produced on large, highly mechanized plantations located on Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, and Kauai islands. Hawaii is also the nation's leading producer of pineapples, grown on immense plantations covering most of Lanai and parts of Oahu and Maui. Please click to visit our site.