The Outlook
The Quarterly Newsletter of the USC Center for Economic Development
Volume 9, Issue 2, Spring 2005, Article 5

Early Chinese Immigration
by Monica Jain and Aaron Ledet
Edited by Julayne Austin
USC Center for Economic Development
Published 2005

While various ethnic groups both native and foreign to America’s Western Frontier attempted to establish themselves in the mid-nineteenth century, few experienced the success of Chinese settlers. Their cultural and business practices, although varied amongst themselves, became the greatest assets of the community organizations that formed to protect them in light of legislative and social discrimination in a foreign land. The first in a series of similar case studies, the authors view the economic practices of the early Chinese immigrants in contrast to other immigrant groups, including those from Japan and Mexico. The nineteenth century’s Chinese immigrants were successful due to a social nexus focused on preserving culture, maintaining a rigorous work ethic and cultivating the entrepreneurial spirit.

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