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Child Workers on Hawaiian Plantations
by Melody Lassalle
Not many know that children were a vital part of the sugar plantation work force. They were employed to do many jobs the adult workers did as well as many jobs they didn't do. The Portuguese played an important part in providing a child labor force. Unlike Asians who migrated as individuals, the Portuguese migrated as families. Plantation owners were not blind to this. In fact, the owners were well aware of the potential future work force. The Portuguese played into their hands by willingly migrating in family groups. In the end, the cost of uprooting entire families proved too costly. But, for about 30 years it was the accepted practice.
The children who came to Hawaii had many opportunities for education and employment that they never would have seen back home. They could go to school and perhaps college. They might find work within or without the plantation system. Being poor was no longer a barrier to education and future employment.
The reality for many families was that they had too many mouths to feed and not enough money. Many families were large and in some cases one parent or both were unable to work. Or, a widow headed the family. In either case, there was a gap in the family budget. Children worked so the family could survive. All of their wages went to their parents. Boys and girls both worked in many capacities.
When children worked, they could still continue with their education most of the time. The amount of schooling a child received might have depended on the flexibility of the plantation and how much money the family needed. Some had to rely on night school to get their education because they were needed in the fields all day. Since child labor laws were non-existent, the plantations were able to manipulate the school structure to their advantage. In 1895, there was an agreement between the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association and the Hawaii Board of Education. This agreement provided for school to be schedules around work. School might start in the afternoon or only go up to noon. There were no laws as to how much work a child could do and many plantations employed children full time. For example, on Grove Farm in 1919, children worked along side adults during vacation and non-school days. They worked the same shift, 6am to 4:30pm.
What work did they do? Depending on many factors such as age, children would do a variety of jobs. Some of those jobs were the same as adults such as cane cutter, cane carrier, cane loader, field hand, hoeing, planting, etc. Other tasks included:
Blacksmith Helper
Camp Cleaner
Carrying lunch boxes to workers in the fields
Catching rodents (pay was per rodent turned in)
Hospital Servant
Mill Laborer
Servant for the Plantation Owner's family
Sewing sugar cane bags
Store Clerk
Water Boy
It's hard to say just how many children were working and at what age. Many of school age were not noted as working in U.S. Census records. Perhaps their employment was not seen as comparable to that of adults. One study was done in 1920 and it stated that 3% of the workforce was children.
© 2002 Melody Lassalle
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