White people in Hawaii, also known as Haole , are White people of predominantly European descent. They form 22.9% of the population according to the 2020 United States Census. There are around 294,102 White people in Hawaii. Including people with two or more races, the number of people with some European ancestry is 476,162 (39.3%), meaning that around 14.6% of the population is mixed race. ^[5] European ancestry, the majority are of Portuguese and British descent, with a small number of European immigrants of French, German, and Spanish descent.

Contents

• History
• Demographics
• Ancestries
• Notable people
• See also
• References

History

Prior to European colonization and the arrival of white people, around the 7th century, Polynesians from Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands were the first individuals to inhabit Hawaii. They established a distinctive culture to thrive on these remote islands. The original Native Hawaiian society was structured around a caste system. Individuals were born into and remained within specific social classes, which included royal and priestly castes as well as a slave caste. Additionally, the islands developed a land tenure system that bore similarities to European feudalism. The populace was governed by kapu, or religious prohibitions that stemmed from the Hawaiian veneration of deities. Each island cultivated its own particular trade; for instance, Oahu became known for cloth production, while artisans in Maui focused on canoe crafting. Ultimately, four distinct chiefdoms emerged: Hawaiʻi, Maui, Oʻahu, and Kaua’i. In the year 1778, James Cook arrived on Kauai and explored the nearby islands, which he referred to as the “Sandwich Islands,” a term later adopted by colonizers. Native Hawaiians perceived Cook as the Hawaiian god Lono, as the mast of his ship resembled Lono’s symbol used in religious ceremonies. Cook met his demise in a conflict between Native Hawaiians and his crew, who had accused the locals of boat theft. His remains were cremated and interred in a sacred location. In 1819, Queen Ka‘ahumanu welcomed the first Protestant missionaries. The Reverend Hiram Bingham and his fellow missionaries reached Kailua in 1820. Over the subsequent 40 years, they established churches and congregations across the Hawaiian Islands. European and American whalers also arrived in the 1820s, leading to a transformation of Hawaii from a trading economy to a cash-based one. This decade also marked the onset of a transition to an agricultural economy centered on crops, particularly sugar and coffee, managed by the white American planter class. The state was officially annexed to the United States in 1898 to serve as a military base for operations against the Spanish in Guam and the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. ^[6]

British explorer James Cook was the first European to land in the islands of present-day Hawaii on January 20, 1778. On a subsequent visit, he was killed by Native Hawaiians in Kealakekua during his attempt to kidnap and hold the king of the Island of Hawai'i Chief Kalaniʻōpuʻu in exchange for a stolen longboat. ^[7] An obelisk memorializing Cook's death can be seen from all points in Kealakekua Bay, on a plot of land deeded in perpetuity by the Kingdom of Hawaii to the United Kingdom. ^[8] The arrival of European missionaries resulted in conversion of Hawaii to Christianity. ^[9] Europeans brought diseases such smallpox, tuberculosis, measles and syphilis to Hawaii, which decimated the Native Hawaiian population. ^{[10] [11]} James Cook and his crew also introduced sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis and gonorrhea. ^[12] When Cook arrived, there were approximately 300,000 Native Hawaiians. However, by 1853, their population had decreased to 70,000 because of the impact of white settlers. In 1893, American colonists who dominated Hawaii’s sugar industry quickly toppled the kingdom and created the Republic of Hawaii. With the support of the predominantly American elite, the United States annexed Hawaii as a territory in 1898. ^[13]

Demographics

Ancestries

Ancestry by origin [14]	Number	% (do not add to 100)
German	75,586
English	70,976
Irish	66,195
Portuguese	38,091
Italian	32,370
French	18,510
Total

Notable people

• Neil Abercrombie, the seventh Governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014. ^[15]
• Linda Lingle, the sixth Governor of Hawaii from 2002 until 2010. ^[16]

See also

• Kill Haole Day
• Europeans in Oceania
• Greeks in Hawaii
• Portuguese immigration to Hawaii
• Spanish immigration to Hawaii
• White Americans in California
• White Americans in Maryland
• Puerto Rican immigration to Hawaii

References