<P> By the 1840s , sugarcane plantations gained a foothold in Hawaiian agriculture . Steamships provided rapid and reliable transportation to the islands , and demand increased during the California Gold Rush . The land division law of 1848 ( known as The Great Mahele ) displaced Hawaiian people from their land , forming the basis for the sugarcane plantation economy . In 1850 , the law was amended to allow foreign residents to buy and lease land . In 1850 , when California became a state , profits declined and the number of plantations decreased to five due to the import tariff that was created . Market demand increased even further during the onset of the American Civil War which prevented Southern sugar from being shipped northward . The price of sugar rose 525 % from 4 cents per pound in 1861 to 25 cents in 1864 . The Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 allowed Hawaii to sell sugar to the United States without paying duties or taxes , greatly increasing plantation profits . This treaty also guaranteed that all of the resources including land , water , human labor power , capital , and technology would be thrown behind sugarcane cultivation . The 1890 McKinley Tariff Act , an effort by the United States government to decrease the competitive pricing of Hawaiian sugar , paid 2 cents per pound to mainland producers . After significant lobbying efforts , this act was repealed in 1894 . By 1890 , 75 % of all privately held land was owned by foreign businessmen . The plantation owners wanted the United States to annex Hawaii so that Hawaiian sugar would never again be subject to tariffs . They also wanted the United States to annex Hawaii so there could be a U.S military base on the island ( Pearl Harbor ) . </P>
what happened in 1875 that helped the hawaiian sugar industry grow
The Reciprocity Treaty of 1875