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Chinese Immigrants In California Essay

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Chinese Immigrants in California In the 1850’s, the Gold Rush in California lead the Chinese to immigrate to California. They were welcomed with harsh treatments and little payment for jobs. Still, they stayed because of the many job opportunities that could provide them with money for their families back in China. On January 24, 1848, the gold rush began. News of the gold found in California spread across the country. In the spring and summertime of that year, trading vessels carried the news further to a British colony in Hong Kong. Soon, many Chinese began immigrating to California. By 1851, about 25,000 Chinese had already left their homes, most of them coming from the Guangdong or Canton region. They were all trying to escape war, famine, …show more content…

Others, who were not as successful, packed whatever earnings they saved up and left to go back to their country. Those who had gold disguised the gold by melting it into utensils and then leaving the country with it.
Later, when the gold began to run out, the Chinese were faced with much racial discrimination. This was because they were viewed as competition in the gold mines. Some accused of the Chinese immigrants of stealing jobs and lowering wages. They were eventually forced to live in the inner city ghettos. This was how “Chinatown” was founded. During this time, many Anti-Chinese riots occurred in Chinese areas. According to an issue of the Alta California, 200 hundred Chinese miners were robbed and four were murdered in an area of California called Rich Gulch.
There are many interesting facts about the Chinese immigrants in California. Many immigrants arriving in the 19th century were mostly males. The population of Chinese Americans decreased after the Chinese Exclusion Act until 1920. Only the privileged merchant class was allowed to bring their families to the United States from China. More than 100,000 Chinese immigrants immigrated to California to find better jobs from 1849 to 1882. The Chinese were the first Asians to arrive in a large

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