The Mahele of 1848 was a great land division into four categories which were land belonging to the king, land belonging to the chiefs, land that could be purchased by foreigners who lived in Hawaii, and land worked by the commoners. The foreigners had interest in the land and wanted to gain control of it for power. They also wanted the land for sugar plantations and their businesses because sugar was a popular thing during that time and they could gain profit. Also because in western cultures, owning the land one lived on was a right and the foreigners thought they should also have this right in Hawaii (Cachola). Some foreigners also believed that owning one's land would benefit the natives land as well because their western way of thinking made them believe if Hawaiians owned their own land they could become more productive citizens and improve their standard of living as well. The Mahele was beneficial to the foreigners because the foreigners became wealthier and people had to pay taxes in money. …show more content…
The foreigners had more land than the Hawaiians because of this and that means they gained lots of power. They gained power because the foreigners way of thinking was that land meant power. The foreigners ended up with the most land because they were the wealthiest and they also had an advantage because they understood the new ways better than the Hawaiians. Due to the foreigners having land, they used the land for sugar plantations and for their businesses to thrive. The reason the foreigners wanted the land was to live on it, make sugar plantations, and to start their businesses (Cachola).When the foreigners used the land, they became wealthier because their businesses grew and because sugar was popular, they sold lots of sugar in the