In many aspects, the motivations for the Chinese to come to the United States are similar to those of most immigrants. Some came to “The Gold Mountain,” and others came to the United States to seek better economic opportunity. Yet there were others that were compelled to leave China either as contract laborers or refugees. The Chinese brought with them their language, culture, social institutions, and customs. Over time they made lasting contributions to their adopted country and became a vital part of the United States population (Immigration Station).
Upon hearing the word of gold in California, thousands of Chinese, mostly young male peasants, left their villages in the rural countries to become rich in the American West. Few actually were able to strike it rich, and laws were put on immigrants who tried to strike it rich. The law was a high tax, $10, on miners who were immigrants to discourage them from venturing into the mines. When their pursuit at wealth through the gold mines failed, they then decided to become laborers.
They were recruited to extract metals and minerals, construct a vast railroad network, reclaim swamplands, build irrigation systems, work as migrant agricultural laborers, develop the fishing industry, and operate highly-competitive manufacturing industries. During this time, 1890, the Chinese population in the United States was about 110,000. During this great flood of immigrants into the United States, anti-immigrant attitudes and stereotypes began to form (A Brief History). Angel Island
Most immigrants entering the country came through New York, and passed through Ellis Island, the famous immigrant station located in New York harbor. It was necessary to build a new station on the west coast. The new station was to be located 1 mile east of Ayala Cove, in California. This place was called Angel Island, or the aGuardian of the Western Gate. a This set of buildings was primarily set up to control the number of Chinese that entered the United States. It was primarily a detention center, because Chinese were not allowed into the United States, due to the Exclusion Act of 1882 (Immigration Station 1)
Figure 1. Shows why it was easier to go to California, rather than to take a longer trip. If going to New York, they might even have to sail around the edge of South America (Gillaspie 1). The Chinese Exclusion Act Throughout most of 1880s to the 1960s, only Chinese diplomats, merchants, and students and their wives or husbands were allowed to travel to the United States. Others such as peasants and workers were not allowed to enter due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This Act set a precedent by being the first law to ban a specific group from the country.
It included many rules and regulations, including a ban on Chinese laborers entering the country, and punishment for anyone who tried to sneak or transport Chinese into the country. It was impossible to absolutely prevent Chinese immigration from occurring, but America tried its best to limit the number that entered. The shared opinion of many in the United States during this time felt that the Chinese were inferior, for they did not realize the bigger picture and the actual effect that Chinese would have on the United States.
The American and the Chinese governments agreed that the immigrants were endangering the government and economy of China. This led them to limit, regulate, or suspend the residency of Chinese in the United States (Archives 2). The only people they could not keep out were the Chinese who already had family in the United States. Many believed the reason the American government decided to adopt this act in the first place, was due to hatred towards Chinese.
Governor Greg Bilger of California wrote,aWe donat like these contract acooliea laborers, avaricious, ignorant of moral obligations, incapable of being assimilated, and dangerous to the public welfare living in the same area as usa (Norton 3). He used this to help his political campaign, because he was not the only one who did not like the Chinese. Many workers did not like the Chinese, while they left their jobs to search the mines for their riches of gold; the Chinese filled their spots, with cheaper, more efficient labor. Paper Sons and Paper Daughters
Chinese who desired to enter the country but were without true fathers in the United States became “paper sons” or “paper daughters. ” They bought papers which identified them as children of American citizens. Because official records were often non-existent, an interrogation process was created to determine if the immigrants were related as they claimed. The papers the immigrants bought included detailed family information which they studied in order to pass their interrogations. Questions could include details of the immigrant’s home and village as well as specific knowledge of his or her ancestors.
Interrogations could take a long time to complete, especially if witnesses for the immigrants lived in the eastern United States. They might study for hours on end because one slip of the wrong information, maybe accidentally stating personal information, might cause the interrogator to get suspicious causing them to be sent back to China, with their hard work and extensive time being lost (Immigration Station 3). Social and Political Bondage Because the Chinese Americans were deprived of their democratic rights, they made extensive use of the courts and diplomatic channels to defend themselves.
The Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, particularly the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 brought in a new period in Chinese American immigration. Now Chinese Americans were liberated from a structure of racial repression. The Civil Rights Act restored many of the basic rights that were earlier denied to Chinese Americans. Under these new laws, thousands of Chinese people came to the United States each year to reunite with their families. Young Chinese-Americans joined together to demand racial equality and social justice.
Figure 2. Chinese Immigration to the United States (Luu 4) Between the years of 1880-1960, immigration was low, but once the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed, immigration skyrocketed. Equally significant are two types of Chinese immigrants that have been entering the United States since the 1970s. The first type consists of highly select and well-educated Chinese. The second type is made up of thousands of Chinese immigrants who have entered the United States to escape either political instability or repression throughout East and Southeast Asia.
Others are ethnic Chinese from Vietnam and Cambodia who became poverty-stricken refugees. They have run away from such threats as “ethnic cleansing. ” Economic development and racial exclusion defined the patterns of settlement for the Chinese Americans. Before the Chinese Exclusion Act, the patterns of settlement followed the patterns of economic development in the western states. Since mining and railway construction dominated the western economy, Chinese immigrants settled mostly in California and states west of the Rocky Mountains.
As these industries declined and anti-Chinese feelings intensified, the Chinese fled into small import-export businesses and service manufacturing industries in such cities as San Francisco, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle. By the early 20th century, approximately 80% of the Chinese population was found in Chinatowns in major cities in the United States. Assimilation was never a viable choice for Chinese Americans, who were excluded and denied citizenship because they could not be easily absorbed into the white mainstream.
By congressional and judicial decisions, the Chinese immigrants were made ineligible for naturalization, which made them politically disenfranchised in a “so-called democracy” and exposed them to violations of their Constitutional rights. Legally discriminated against and politically disenfranchised, Chinese Americans established their roots in Chinatowns, fought racism through aggressive litigation and participated actively in economic development projects and political movements to modernize China (Anderson 28). Assimilation was seen as being impossible.
In the nineteenth century, most Chinese immigrants saw no future in the United States for themselves. With this mentality, they developed a high degree of tolerance for hardship and racial discrimination and maintained an efficient Chinese lifestyle. This included living modestly, observing Chinese customs and festivals through family associations, and sending consistent remittance to parents, wives, and children. Parents tried to drill Chinese language and culture into their children, send them to Chinese schools in the community or in China, motivate them to excel in American education, and above all arrange marriages.
The Chinese also joined social organizations and family associations that represented the collective interests and the well-being of persons with the same family names. These organizations acted to arbitrate disputes, help find jobs and housing, establish schools and temples, and sponsor social and cultural events. Their activities brought mixed blessings to the community. At times, these organizations became too powerful and oppressive, and they also obstructed social and political progress.
Protestant and Catholic missionaries came into the unique Chinese American ghettos, established churches and schools and tried to convert and assimilate the Chinese, as well as recruit Chinese-Americans to support and work for their causes. These Chinese-Americans who were exposed to a segregated but American education very quickly became aware of their inferior status. Many became ashamed of their appearance, status, and culture. Self-hatred and the need to be accepted by white society became their primary obsession.
This meant that they had to reject their cultural and heritage and pursue “Americanizationa. This included adoption of American values, personality traits, social behaviors, and conversion to Christianity. Between efforts of the missionaries and political reformers, they established many churches and political parties and found sectarian schools and newspapers. Schools and newspapers became some of the most influential and enduring institutions in Chinese-America and also played an important role in introducing ideas of modernity and nationalism to Chinese culture and the Chinese (A Brief History).
Smuggling a” Present Day The final way, the illegal, dangerous, and often deadly way, Chinese resorted to get to America was through smuggling. The process consisted of being shipped to one of the Nationsa borders, usually Canada, and then sneaking across somehow. This was a common way for people to get to America, and was quite a big business for those who did the smuggling. A smuggler made up to $600 million dollars a year. That number is just from smuggling people alone, not counting all the money they made from drug traffic and other things being done.
A Chinaman may have paid up to $35,000 for the trip to America, and once they reached their destination, the one smuggled in must call back to China to have their family pay off the smugglers, snakeheads. If they did not pay, rape, floggings or death could occur (Swerdlow 73). Chinatown During the time of exclusion, Chinese Americans were confined to segregated ghettos, called Chinatowns, in major cities and isolated regions in rural areas across the country. These Chinatowns consisted of restaurants, markets, and tenements, with terrible living conditions.
As many as 100 people would live in one tenement, sharing the same toilets and sinks. With the exception of tour buses, these Chinatowns consist and consisted of those who speak primarily Chinese. Chinatowns also exist today, and still contain these tenements with cramped lodging. Paying up to $150 a month, was what it took to live in one of these cockroach-infested rooms, because this is all they could afford. Many who had been there for quite a while still lived in these tenements. Today they are normally full of single males who work in the districts of Chinatown in restaurants and other shops trying to make a living.
Up to five or six people can fit into one small room of the tenement. If they are rich enough, they might have one television between all of them. Before China began to ease emigration restrictions, most Chinatowns covered only about a dozen blocks in the larger cities. It was not until the time of World War II, when we had to drop our anti-Chinese laws, due to China being our ally in the war. Chinatown now, is a growing part of many large cities and the number of emigrants is almost unlimited. They will keep coming as long as the most common jobs in Chinatown require neither proof of legal status nor being able to speak English.
The key to newcomers from China, who want to rise above poverty, is to first learn English. Today, many Chinatowns can take up four times as many blocks as they used to, and although their living conditions may be slovenly, the Chinese in Chinatown, still see America as aThe Golden Mountaina, a place where they can become rich and their dreams may come true (Swerdlow 62). Lasting Contributions Many types of food and items related to Chinese food have been introduced to the American society and are still popular today.
Chinese tea was a popular beverage in eighteenth and nineteenth century America. Since the 1960s, Chinese cuisine has been an integral part of the American diet as well. Chinese restaurants are found in small towns and large cities across the United States. Key ingredients for preparing Chinese food are now found in all chain supermarkets, and lessons in Chinese cooking are regular features of national television. Chinese take-outs, catering, and chain restaurants are commonplace in many cities. American households now routinely use Chinese ingredients such as soy sauce and ginger.
They employ cooking techniques, such as stir frying and own Chinese utensils such as the wok and the cleaver. Although the Chinese immigrants in the late nineteenth century faced many hardships, they had a profound effect on America. Primarily, the Chinese supplied the labor for America’s growing industry. Chinese factory workers were important in California especially during the Civil War. They worked in wool mills, and in the cigar, shoe, and garment industries; twenty-five occupations in all. Chinese entrepreneurs started their own factories, competing with the white people.
The Chinese provided a quarter of California’s labor force. Chinese labor was also sought elsewhere in America, on the east coast and in the south to substitute for the now freed slaves. Chinese labor was desired mainly because it was cheap. The worldwide effort to abolish slavery was aided by the Chinese cheap labor. The Chinese were also the first to stake claims in California gold fields prompting many to relocate to the west. With the gold rush, the Chinese began to exploit other western state resources, providing many products of use to American society.
The Chinese began the era of railroad building by being the main work force driving the project along. The Central Pacific Railroad Company employed about 15,000 Chinese to construct the Transcontinental Railroad. The numerous railroads the Chinese built in America helped open rich resources in many of the states. The Chinese converted much of the land they settled into rich farm land. Chinese cultivating, planting, and harvesting in vineyards, orchards, and ranches were useful by supplying great numbers of fruits and vegetables. Their skills were recognized and imitated on other farms.
The west, no longer dependent on the east for products, could now produce their own products with the help of the Chinese (A Brief History of Chinese Immigration to America 3). Writer Mark Twain put it best when he stated his idea about the Chinese immigrants in his book Roughing It: Of course there was a large Chinese population in California–it is the case with every town and city on the Pacific coast. They are a harmless race when white men either let them alone or treat them no worse than dogs; in fact they are almost entirely harmless anyhow, for they seldom think of resenting the vilest insults or the cruelest injuries.
They are quiet, peaceable, tractable, free from drunkenness, and they are as industrious as the day is long. A disorderly Chinaman is rare, and a lazy one does not exist. So long as a Chinaman has strength to use his hands he needs no support from anybody; white men often complain of want of work, but a Chinaman offers no such complaint; he always manages to find something to do. He is a great convenience to everybody–even to the worst class of white men, for he bears the most of their sins, suffering fines for their petty thefts, imprisonment for their robberies, and death for their murders.
Any white man can swear a Chinaman’s life away in the courts, but no Chinaman can testify against a white man. Ours is the “land of the free”–nobody denies that–nobody challenges it. [Maybe it is because we won’t let other people testify. ] As I write, news comes that in broad daylight in San Francisco, some boys have stoned an inoffensive Chinaman to death, and that although a large crowd witnessed the shameful deed, no one interfered (Twain 1).
After observing the struggles and hardships that the Chinese immigrating to America faced and encountered, one may realize that to move from one’s homeland and slowly assimilate into a new culture while holding on to traditional customs, ethnicity, and culture is not an easy task. This task involved persistence, patience, and perseverance. Most importantly, the Chinese contributed themselves and their heritage to this ethically diverse collection of cultures known as United States of America (A Brief History of Chinese Immigration to America 3).