Chinese Immigrants In Australia In The 19th Century

The Chinese people that came to Australia were typically men brining there family over with them to work for an income that would be big enough to support them. The wife however was left at home to forfill the role of looking after her in-laws in this time. The family would have to work for them aswell, and send a percentage of there profit over.

In the early 1880’s immigrants started to come over to the United States. Immigrants came into the United States for job opportunities, and a better life for there families. Immigrants come from all over the world, such as chinese, Italian, and Russian immigrants. The experiences of Chinese immigrants differed from immigrants from Italy, and Russia. Their experiences differed, because of how they came over to America, where they lived, and jobs.

As a result of Britain’s presence in India, Britain “introduced Western education. This has brought an ancient and civilized nation in touch with modern thought, modern sciences, and modern life. [Britain] built an administration that is strong and efficient. [Britain] framed wise laws and have established courts of justice.” (Doc 12) Although India experienced many improvements in education and technology, China was left in a poor state. Doc 14 states that “[A chinese woman’s] husband sold everything [they] had.”, and this was the case for many Chinese people. Since many citizens were addicts, they were willing to sell everything they owned for money. As a result of opium, China had a growing poor rural population. There was also inflation and heavy taxes which didn’t help

Australia in the early 1900s has developed a reputation as a ‘working man’s paradise’ for its greater opportunity to success and an egalitarian society. However not all workers proved this to be true. In order to determine this statement, Issues to be discussed include firstly the hours of work for different genders, secondly the working conditions and finally the dispute for the right to fair treatment to women and Aboriginal natives throughout the 19th century.

From 1850 to 1900 it is estimated that 90,000 Chinese, 62,000 South Pacific Islanders, 3,000 Japanese and 2,000 Afghans immigrated to Australia. 3,000 Chinese people went to New South Wales where most got jobs as ‘coolies ,which was basically semi-slavery, they were given barely enough pay to live off of and working conditions worse than the ones of free workers. Even worse the worker was bound to their employer a few years at a time by contract so they could not even leave if they wanted to. 2,000 Chinese people went to Victoria for the gold rush where they were treated horribly, they were abused, given bad rumours such as diseased and had to deal with race riots where their tents were burned and they were dragged through the dirt. In the end they started to restrict Chinese immigration around Australia, however the people that did make it through got enough wealth to settle in Australia. Pacific Islanders and Japanese people were treated the same, lied to for their skills in harsh environments, which sometimes ended in deaths. Afghans were probably given the most recognition for their work, exploring Australia and helping build a rail named ‘the Ghan’, though the conditions were the same trekking through the harsh

The rate of Chinese migration alarmed Victorian government officials. According to the 1853 census, there were 2000 Chinese in the colony. At the beginning of 1855, there were 10,000 on the goldfields. During March 1854, four ships arrived bringing 1,400 Chinese. By June, the numbers had increased to 17,000.

When two terrible accidents happened in Nanaimo and Wellington, the white miners blamed the accident on Chinese workers only because they couldn’t speak English

There were several reasons, that led Chinese people migrate to Australia and those reasons are largely different from those of Afro-American slaves. Between 1839 and 1842, Britain and China had Opium War concerning disagreement of their trading. Ryan (1995, p.15) argues that after the war, Hong Kong was dominated by Britain and people,

But before this, the British began migrating to Australia in 1788 on the first fleet. The Chinese took more than 20% of the population for mining in Victoria and NSW. (Ryebuck Media, 2005) By the time of 1851, NSW had a population total of 200,000. Over the next 20 years, 40,000 Chinese men and over 9,000 women immigrated to the goldfields seeking to find fortune.

Introduction In the mid 1800’s, my ancestor, Abraham Bristow traveled across the ocean to find himself on the shore of Australia. Reasons why he left are still unknown, but I believe that I have four solid reasons as to why he may have left. The push factors being Great Britain declaring war against Burma or the fact that Australia was known to be a giant prison at that time, therefore leading me to the possible conclusion that Abraham Bristow may have committed a petty crime causing his life to turn ‘upside down’. Reasons for Abraham to want to leave England and migrate to Australia include many opportunities to better his life for him and his family through employment or the fact that there was a gold rush in Western Australia in 1851.

There’s a chance that the first people came to Australia were from Asia. They were the Aborigines,who lived by hunting. In 1600, Dutch explorers sailed around Australia, but did not stay. James Cook landed Botany Bay in 1770 and claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain. Britain wanted to send prisoners there. In 1788 in Sydney Harbor convict ships arrived. The continent was divided into 6 states and 2 territories. Gold was discovered Europe came in

Chinese workers were known for being hard working and peaceful, however they had to deal with racism and discriminatory politics. They had to pay taxes that no other people had to pay simply because they were Chinese. The Chinese had to pay a poll tax on arrival of £10, which would be approximately $10,000 by modern standards. Because of the unreasonable taxes, many Chinese would land outside of Victoria and walk to the goldfield. They were also required to pay an additional £1 because they lived under the protectorate system.They were forced to live in assigned camps and their business dealings and practices were carefully observed. The Chinese did not even get paid as much as the European diggers.

The Aboriginals of Australia, the San/Ju’/Hoansi and the people of China’s “Urban Villages” have all undergone similar forces that have shaped the outcome of these specific culture’s progress into modern times. Wither it be the shifting government polices around these cultures, the changing economic developments influenced by these polices or the patterns of migration and relocation that are both effecting and being effected by both of these elements, the development of a culture is ongoing and involves a comprehensive look into all influences to determine what has occurred, why has it occurred and what will these changes effect. This paper will examine the flow from changing government polices effecting economic development and it’s flow

I am now searching how the student visa program after 1925 influenced the pattern of human recruit and rejuvenation of Chinese Australian enterprises. In the last several months with support by my ARC DECRA grant (DE150101523-- history of enterprising Chinese Australians) I had collected records in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne on Chinese students who became merchants after their education in Australia. The outstanding cases of Chinese merchants who transformed from students demonstrate how Australia’s student visa program facilitated bilateral trade in the interwar period. The outbreak of Sino-Japan War in 1937 affected decreasing number of students granted visa to entry Australia.

There were many problems with the system of trade in China; even before opium trading began. China, believing herself to be the most civilized and advanced country, did not feel the need to satisfy Britain, a “barbarian” country’s request for freer trade and were concerned the British wanted land. Britain however,