Big Five (Hawaii)

Big Five (Hawaii) The Big Five were a group of five dominant business conglomerates that controlled large segments of Hawaii's sugarcane plantation, shipping and banking sectors during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Formed in the context of Kingdom of Hawaii politics, Republic of Hawaii, and the Territory of Hawaii, they intersected with actors such as Sanford B. Dole, Lorrin A. Thurston, William Matson, Alexander & Baldwin, and institutions including First Hawaiian Bank and Matson, Inc.. Their influence touched Honolulu Hale, Territorial Legislature of Hawaii, United States Congress, and international markets in Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

History

The formation of the Big Five followed the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the establishment of the Republic of Hawaii where businessmen like Lorrin A. Thurston, Sanford B. Dole, and investors linked to Alexander & Baldwin and C. Brewer & Co. consolidated land, capital, and labor. During the late 19th century planters allied with Matson Navigation Company and Castle & Cooke to control sugarcane production, negotiate Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 terms, and expand export ties to San Francisco, London, and Shanghai. In the early 20th century, interactions with the United States Department of War, Pearl Harbor naval expansion, and labor migrations involving Japanese people in Hawaii, Filipino Americans, Korean Americans, and Chinese Americans reshaped plantation hierarchies. Wartime mobilization during World War II and postwar shifts toward statehood for Hawaii altered capital flows and legal structures, prompting corporate diversification into tourism, real estate, and retailing.

Member Companies

The canonical five firms typically named are Alexander & Baldwin, C. Brewer & Co., Amfac (American Factors), Castle & Cooke, and Theo H. Davies & Co.. Each traced roots to earlier merchant houses and partnership networks tied to William G. Irwin, Samuel M. Damon, John A. Cartwright, Henry Baldwin, and shipping interests like Matson, Inc. and Hawaiian Steamship Company. Subsidiaries and affiliates connected these firms to Alexander & Baldwin Sugar, Hawaiian Pineapple Company (Dole Food Company), Honolulu Sugar Company, W. R. Grace and Company, and regional banks including First Hawaiian Bank and Bank of Hawaii. Corporate boards often featured members from prominent families such as Baldwin family (Hawaii), Cooke family (Hawaii), Cooke & Company, and business leaders who sat on civic institutions like Hawaii Trust Company and charitable foundations tied to Bishop Museum and Iolani School.

Economic and Political Influence

The Big Five directed commodity flows of sugarcane and pineapple to markets in San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, London, and Yokohama, coordinating shipping via firms such as Matson, Inc. and influencing tariff debates in the United States Congress and diplomatic discussions with the United Kingdom and Japan. Politically they exerted power through alliances with territorial governors including George R. Carter and legislative leaders in the Territory of Hawaii, shaping land policy, water rights adjudicated in courts like the Supreme Court of Hawaii and municipal decisions in Honolulu. Their networks intersected with federal agencies such as the United States Department of Justice and labor law developments influenced by rulings from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Through philanthropy and patronage they impacted cultural institutions including Bishop Museum, Hawaii State Archives, and Honolulu Advertiser media interests.

Labor Relations and Social Impact

Labor recruitment for plantations drew extensively from Japan–United States relations and migration flows including Japanese people in Hawaii, Filipino Americans, Korean Americans, Portuguese people in Hawaii, and Chinese Americans, mediated by labor contractors and shipping lines. The Big Five’s control of housing, store credit, and company stores influenced daily life in plantation camps and settlements such as Waipahu, Lihue, Hilo, and Kahului. Labor movements and strikes involving organizations like the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and local unions led to conflicts with companies and interventions by territorial authorities; key episodes included strikes in the 1920s and the 1946 Hawaii Ilocano and multiethnic labor actions that pressured firms to negotiate with unions and prompted federal attention from entities such as the National Labor Relations Board. Social consequences included shifts in class structure, rise of multiethnic cultural identities, and the growth of civic organizations like Hawaii YMCA and religious institutions including Kawaiahaʻo Church and St. Andrew's Cathedral.

Decline and Legacy

Postwar economic diversification, Hawaii statehood, changes in global sugar tariffs, mechanization of agriculture, and competition from producers in Brazil, Cuba, and Thailand eroded the plantations’ profitability, prompting sales, mergers, and rebranding; examples include corporate transformations of Amfac and asset sales by Castle & Cooke. Legal reforms, antitrust scrutiny by the United States Department of Justice, and labor victories reduced concentrated control, while former Big Five companies redirected capital into tourism ventures, real estate development in Waikiki, and retail chains. The legacy persists in Honolulu’s built environment, philanthropic endowments, archival collections at Bishop Museum and Hawaii State Archives, and scholarly studies by historians referencing archives of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and publications in journals such as the Pacific Historical Review. The Big Five remain central to understanding the economic, political, and social transformation of modern Hawaii.

Category:History of Hawaii