Claus Spreckels

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As one of the few white men supportive of Hawaii’s monarchy, Claus Spreckels set a great example for others. His life started in Germany and took him to all over the United States. He formed many businesses and helped try to keep Hawaii a monarchy. He was close friends with King Kalakaua and Queen Liliuokalani and fought for them to remain Hawaii’s leaders. His legacy and influence live on to this day, yet most people don’t even know his name.

Born Adolf Claus Spreckels on July 9th, 1828 in Hanover, Germany, Adolf always wanted to leave home for America. In 1846, Claus finally left for New York to start a new life. There, he met up with is high school sweetheart Anna Mangels, who had moved a few years prior. They first moved to South Carolina where they owned a humble grocery store. They had their first of their 13 children there, but only 5 ended up living past childhood and into adulthood. They later moved to San Fransisco together and Spreckels started a brewery that soon became a sugar refinery. The sugar refinery grew and harvested sugar beets and quickly became quite successful. Many of his workers weren’t happy with him though and decided to start their own sugar empire. Spreckels dismissed them and returned to his work, not worried about the new competitor. Little did he know that years later, the “small” company the workers started would become the well known C&H, California and Hawaii Sugar Company, with most of their land spread out across the islands. But, for the time being, Claus was still on top. During this time, he also invested in the, then small, Santa Cruz Railroad. With things going so well with his businesses, he decided to move him and his family to Hawaii to manage his operations and get a better look a...

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...sses. His second son Adolph was given control of the Spreckels enterprise . There are many buildings, streets, and even towns in his honor and his legacy lives on to this day.
Claus Spreckels may not be a household name, but he did his best to fight for what he believed in and support the monarchy of Hawaii. He came from very humble beginnings, but he had the American dream. He made a name for himself in the sugar business as well as countless other investments. He knew what was right and he was one of the few white men to believe in the monarchical future of the islands. He was a good influence on other European men to support Queen Liliuokalani and King Kalakaua. Although he felt he had failed, the Hawaiians appreciated him so much they named a town on Maui after him, Spreckelsville. So when you think about Hawaiian history, remember, not all white men were bad.

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