The first large groups of Asian immigrants reaching Hawaii — a U.S. territory — and the United States in the late 19th century faced racial prejudice. Restrictive laws in Hawaii and the U.S. specifically limited the rights of Asian immigrants to own property and to become citizens. Before 1907, most Japanese immigrants to the U.S. settled on the West Coast and excelled in the cultivation of marginal lands. As successful farmers, fruit growers, fishermen, and small businessmen, their ability to do well with little and to overcome great odds made them objects of envy by some members of the white community. Set apart by their physical appearance, they became further isolated from the white mainstream as envy fed racial hostility.