Introduction
After the United States’ withdrawal from Viet Nam War and the fall of the Saigon to Communist in April, 1975, millions of people fled the country, for their lives and freedom. Many of them immigrated to the U.S. in two different waves. The first wave started in 1975, comprising people who associated with the Americans. The second wave included people who wanted to escape the Communist government’s control. The factors that pushed these two waves of immigration out of Viet Nam, and their efforts to be assimilated into the U.S. society are now parts of American history.
The First Wave
American involvement in the Vietnam War ended in April 1975 following by an evacuation of U.S. citizens, Vietnamese who worked for the U.S.
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and eastern U.S., and to mine gold in California. Once the railroad was finished, the government wanted to stop them from immigrating to the U.S., so it issued “Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882,” which was designed to “effectively halted Chinese immigrations for ten years and prohibited Chinese from becoming U.S. citizens.” After the 1882, most Chinese people were deported before they could immigrate to the U.S. Only a small number of Elite Chinese were exempted from exclusion laws.
It seems ironic that most white Americans who were against Vietnamese immigrating to the U.S. were European descendants. Obviously, most Americans had never seen themselves as immigrants, but native people, and the U.S. was the country for Western European immigrants who definitely were not indigenous people. It seems ironic that “America … sen[t] half a million men to a small nation; … bombing and burning and battle, shattering the economy and the social order, and then balk[ed] at accepting in return 150,000 peaceful refugees into a society of 210 million.” However, most Americans were afraid that those desperate refugees would inevitably become a new burden on the country. In fact, 150,000 refugees was nothing compared to more than 8 million unemployed Americans. Even if none of the Vietnamese refugees worked, there would have been little effect on the U.S economy. In a news article published by The Evening Times on May 01, 1975, “New Jersey had a desperate
During this time the Chinese Exclusion Act was in place, forbidding the entrance of Chinese immigrants into the United States.
The following paper will discuss Vietnamese Americans and their journey to America. I will talk about how these incredible and resilient people fought to succeed it a world that seemed to hold the odds against them. The culture, beliefs, and challenges of Vietnamese people are a precise paradigm of their strength and perseverance.
Throughout America’s history, few things have left the nation in such controversial turmoil as the Vietnam War. With an American death toll of almost 60,000 troops, the Vietnam War has gone down in infamy as one of the most tremendous struggles Americans have faced both overseas and on the home front. Because of the tumultuous controversies caused by the war, Americans split into two social factions – those against the war and those who supported it. During the years of 1961-1975 - the era in which the war had its greatest effect on Americans - the population of citizens from 18-35 years old and the Presidency were both affected irreversibly.
According to Povell, the US airlifted - or otherwise transported - 125,000 Vietnamese during the Spring of 1975, as part of “Operation New Life.” The Vietnamese immigrants were brought to US government bases
In 1882, Congress made considerably stronger move in the Chinese Exclusion Act, the country's first supremacist, prohibitive movement law. The Act suspended all movement of Chinese workers for ten years and precluded any court to concede Chinese individuals for citizenship. What brought the Chinese to America in any case? Likewise with numerous migrant gatherings, it was a combo of "push" and "draw" components. Numerous meant to escape destitution and oppression in China and would have liked to make a fortune in America, particularly after John A. Sutter uncovered gold in California in 1849, starting the Gold Rush. Maybe nothing better exhibits the gigantic trusts that the Chinese had for their lives in America than the way that they
“No event in the past half-century of American history has commanded a morep rominent place in the public consciousness than the Vietnam War” (Hall xi), a rightfully said statement. Lasting from 1960-1975, it is America’s longest war and changed the United States politically, socially, and culturally during that period. In the early 1970s, the voting age was lowered to 18, largely because of the war. Also, Vietnam was one of the first wars in which African Americans largely participated. Lastly, Vietnam changed America culturally by causing mistrust in government. In the 1960s through early ‘70s, the Vietnam War changed America in ways that nothing had ever done before.
The Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 is a Congressional Act passed by congress and signed by President Chester A. Author prohibiting Chinese laborers (skilled and unskilled) from coming to the United States for ten years. If Chinamen did not have proper identification then they would face deportation, this caused the Chinese population to drop drastically. This act was created due to racism and white racial superiority, negative stigmas of Chinese people, low job availability and the envy of Chinese labor.
Ever since the end of the Vietnam War; Vietnamese immigrants have become the sixth largest immigrant group coming into the United States. Due to factors such as persecution, and government upheaval during the mid-1970’s to the late 1990’s. With three major waves of refugees or immigrants comprise the majority of those coming into the country. With a small, steady flow between each major wave. Even though the first group did have advantages that other immigrant group would not have, they would still struggle to be accepted within the United States. The second group would face an even more difficult time assimilating into the United States. They would consist of refugees that had very little resources compared to the first wave. They did not have access to the same levels of education, or were capable of speaking English like the first wave of immigrants. The third wave would still face difficulties, but had more resources when they arrived in the United States. Many of the immigrants of the third wave consisted of family members of people already here in the United States. They had access to a support system, unlike those that were part of the second wave. Even though they have become part of society, they still face adversity like many other immigrant groups.
Despite their hard work, the Chinese still encountered discrimination for generations after the completion of the railroad. California laws restricted them from being admitted as witnesses in court, voting, and becoming naturalized citizens. Chinese schoolchildren were also exposed to segregation. On May 6, 1882, the federal government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This act forbid new Chinese workers from entering the U.S, and prevented Chinese immigrants who were already in the U.S from becoming citizens. This law remained in effect until
1. STATEMENT OF RESEARCH QUESTION Throughout the years, the Vietnam War has lived up its name as “one of the most obscure episodes and, at the same time, one of the most serious conflicts not only of the Cold war period but also of the whole modern history” (Hodboďová, 2008). It was apparently the most long-lasting conflict in American history and most disfavored war that broke out after World War II and ended in 1975. The peculiarity of this war lies not only in its prolonged duration but also in an overriding number of war casualties, or in other words, the death and destruction to the country’s people. Averagely in the struggle, more than one million Vietnamese soldiers and over 58,000 Americans were killed, not to mention the massacre
In order to validate the statement, “The years from 1952 to 1975 in U.S. history were marked by tremendous political and social turmoil that led to major changes in American society,” one would have to evaluate the role played by the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War in bringing about and contributing to those changes. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate whether or not the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement indeed contributed to the social and political turmoil during the time period of 1952-1975 that changes American society in a major way.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, was the first significant law that restricted immigration into the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Act was signed in by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882. This new law was only supposed to be in effect for ten years but instead was renewed every ten years until 1943 (WWII).
The Vietnam War greatly changed America forever. It was the longest war fought in America’s history, lasting from 1955 to 1973.The war had two major effects on American people. First, the Vietnam War tarnished America’s self image by becoming the first time in history the United States failed to accomplish its stated war aims, to preserve a separate, independent, noncommunist government. It was the first war ever broadcast on television. The public was able to see what happened on the battlefield. Second, one of the chief effects of the war was the division it caused among the people. Not since the Civil War had America been so divided. This war would have lasting affects on the United States. To better understand the horrors of the war, I will narrate the story from the perspective of my grandfather with a few personal opinions injected in between my grandfather 's thoughts.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first United States federal law that forbid the entry of an ethnic group, in this case the Chinese, on the belief that they endangered the good order of certain localities and states. This act was successfully passed after California adopted a new constitution in 1879 which authorized the state government to determine whom was able to reside in the state. This act was signed by President Chester A. Arthur in 1882 and provided a 10-year ban on Chinese laborers from entering the United States. The exclusion act expired in 1892 but was extended by Congress for another 10 years in the form of the Geary Act which was later made permanent in 1902. In 1943, all the exclusion acts were repealed by Congress, allowed a yearly limit of 105 Chinese migrants and gave foreign born Chinese the right to seek naturalization.
While America’s government felt that aiding the Vietnamese refugees was the best solution, many Americans held negative judgments toward them, causing a division between American citizens and Vietnamese refugees. Prior to America granting refugees permission to enter, Americans struggled with the education system in cities and economically. When the government began to use “two thirds of the taxes for the war” (Chisholm), rather than for issues happening at home, people started to grow angry. The government uses taxes to help supply different divisions with money to help American citizens, however if majority of this money goes to aiding outside sources, then Americans are left to suffer. By using American money to support the Vietnamese, resentment