1. The port of Honolulu in Hawaii was used by the United States to trade with China and India. 2. Initially, sandalwood, Hawaii’s naturally most abundant resource, became the backbone of the economy. However, after Great Mahele that established land and private property rights, sugarcane, in the second half of the nineteenth century, became the backbone of the Hawaiian economy. 3. The Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 signed between Hawaii and the United States boosted Hawaiian exports of sugar and rice. Hawaiian sugar exports to the United States increased almost 1,000% in 15 years from 21 million pounds in 1876 to 224.5 million pounds in 1890. This Reciprocity Treaty was renewed in 1887.
