Racial Discrimination Among Chinese Immigrants

The main reason Chinese immigrants came to America after Civil War was for work. As a

In 1848, California struck gold at Sutter's Mill, California. Chinese immigrants now had yet another incentive to go west in search of their fortune. For the most part, these immigrants were young male peasants who came in

Millions of immigrants over the previous centuries have shaped the United States of America into what it is today. America is known as a “melting pot”, a multicultural country that welcomes and is home to an array of every ethnic and cultural background imaginable. We are a place of opportunity, offering homes and jobs and new economic gains to anyone who should want it. However, America was not always such a “come one, come all” kind of country. The large numbers of immigrants that came during the nineteenth century angered many of the American natives and lead to them to blame the lack of jobs and low wages on the immigrants, especially the Asian communities. This resentment lead to the discrimination and legal exclusion of immigrants,

When they arrived in America most of the Chinese immigrants moved west. Most of the Chinese immigrants moved west because they wanted to get jobs in rural areas and build homes for their families. A lot of Chinese immigrants got jobs working on building railroads. The Chinese immigrants were very good at this job, because they got paid very low wages, and that affected the pay rates of white Americans, European immigrants, and Russian immigrants. In the 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This act stated that Chinese laborers could not enter the country, because chinese immigrants accepted low wages, and also affected the pay rates of others. However Immigrants from Italy and Russia did not have to go through this. They also had an easier time getting jobs because of

Before World-War II, the Chinese immigrants to the U.S had many characteristics. First, the Chinese immigrants mainly came from mainland China, such as the Guangdong province. The Chinese immigrants mainly came from the Guangdong province of China because of the location of Guangdong province. The Guangdong province was close to coastal areas where Guangong people could take the boasts and migrate to America. Also, Guangdong people was far away from the Chinese government's control. Therefore, Chinese immigrants could easily migrated from the Guangdong province of China to America. Second, most of the Chinese immigrants were poor and came from rural areas in China. They migrated to America because they suffered from poor harvests and

The California gold rush began when a gold nugget was uncovered in the American River during 1848. Not only did this discovery entice Americans from all over the United States to travel to California in hopes of making their own profit, but it also brought a torrent of Chinese immigrants to the United States between 1849 and 1882. At the time of the gold rush, China's economy was very weak. There were wars and famines occurring. When news of the gold rush reached China, many Chinese men set out to America with hopes of gaining wealth and returning back to their homes. “After the gold rush, Chinese immigrants worked as agricultural laborers, on railroad construction crews throughout the West, and in low-paying industrial jobs” (Chinese Immigration to the United States - For Teachers). Some even opened their own businesses.

“Push factors like Chinese facing military and political chaos, harsh economic conditions, collapsing of the feudal system, a lack of business spirit due to the ineffectiveness of trade regulations, high taxes, lack of private investments and the dream of prosperity in America lcontributed to Chinese immigration. From 1840-1900, a significant influx of Chinese immigrants came to Hawaii and United States. However, they immigrated to other countries, including Australia, Canada, Africa, South

It is crucial to recognize the huge toll the Chinese Exclusion Act took on Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans, and the negative influence of racialization it had on immigration policy of other countries. In this paper, I will discuss the consequences of the Chinese Exclusion Act on Chinese culture and society in the United States, regarding to the isolation of Chinese society in U.S., paper identities and lives of illegal Chinese immigrants and how this Act guided the establishment

After the first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived in the United States in the early 1840s during the California Gold Rush, many Chinese people continued to travel across the Pacific, escaping poor conditions in China with hopes and ambitions for a better life in America. Many more Chinese immigrants began arriving into the 1860s on the Pacific coast for work in other areas such as the railroad industry. The immigrants noticed an increasing demand for their labor because of their readiness to work for low wages. Many of those who arrived did not plan to stay long, and therefore there was no push for their naturalization. The immigrants left a country with thousands of years of a “decaying feudal system,” corruption, a growing

The first and numerous Chinese immigration to North America began with the California Gold Rush that was around 1848-1855

When the California Gold Rush started in 1848, a wave of Chinese men immigrated to the United States to take up mining on their own or to seek employment with the mining companies. Then another wave of Chinese immigrants seeking employment occurred again during the building of the Intercontinental railroad between the years of 1863-1869. These Chinese immigrants worked at lower wages than other workers often in dangerous working conditions. However, their contributions played an important role in the building of the railroad.

During the early stages of the California gold rush many Chinese immigrants migrated to the United States to work in the mines. In the beginning of the rush, people tolerated the Chinese migrants. However, as competition

To begin, the reason why they decided to live in California was because of the Gold Rush that was happening there. Many of them needed money for their families, so they decided to mine for gold. In the article,”The Chinese Experience in 19th Century America,” by the University of Illinois, the authors states,” Chinese immigrants had come to San Francisco as early as 1838, but large numbers of Chinese only began to come in 1850 for the same reason many Americans were flocking to California - the 1849 Gold Rush”(Chinese 4). They were so desperate to work in the mines that they accepted any pay. In the article,” The History of Chinese Immigration to the U.S,” by Yvonne Liang, the author states,” They were forced to work from sun up to sun down and sleep in tents in the middle of winter.

When thousands of Chinese migrated to California after the gold rush the presence caused concern and debate from other Californians. This discussion, popularly called the “Chinese Question,” featured in many of the contemporary accounts of the time. In the American Memory Project’s “California: As I Saw It” online collection, which preserves books written in California from 1849-1900, this topic is debated, especially in conjunction with the Chinese Exclusion Act. The nine authors selected offer varying analyses on Chinese discrimination and this culminating act. Some give racist explanations, but the majority point towards the perceived economic competition between

China is one of the oldest countries in the world. Most of the Chinese immigrants were motivated to come to America due to the California gold rush .They sold many of items in order to afford a ticket to the New World, this included livestock, and property. The immigrants started arriving around 1850. Many of the Chinese did not have intentions of staying in America, those people were called sojourners (Huot 221). The Chinese were not accepted throughout the nation. One of the most popular reasons for rejection was because