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Americans in the China Market: Economic Opportunities and Economic Nationalism, 1890s-1931*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2012

Michael H. Hunt
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of History, Yale University

Abstract

Historians of various “schools” have seen quite different things in the United States’ long years of business activity in China. The “realists” as Professor Hunt calls them, deny that significant business opportunities existed for Americans and point to obstacles that the Chinese put in the way of trade; the “Wisconsin school,” he says, emphasizes the public rhetoric of officials and businessmen who saw China as an outlet for capitalist surpluses. Citing three case histories — kerosene, cigarettes, and textiles — Professor Hunt shows that generalization is dangerous; that success depended more on businessmen's own skill, resources, and control of their domestic industry than on help derived from an imperialistically minded government.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1977

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