3 paragraph Journal on History
HRW33
WK4Chinesech8.pptxCHINESE IMMIGRANTS
LATE 1800’S TO 1900’S
Reasons for migration
To flee the consequences of the British Opium Wars and British Imperialism
Fleeing the peasant rebellion
Protesting against excessive taxes
Farmers were removed from their lands
Heard about the Gold Rush in America and chose to take a chance at a new life.
The passage
Some voluntarily immigrated by paying their own way.
They were the first non-white immigrants to arrive in masses on their own free will.
Some borrowed the money for a Credit-Ticket and paid it back with free labor once in the U.S.
Paid off Broker out of their earnings
Or through indentured servitude
Some chose to pay off their debt through servitude
Others (women) were deceived into prostitution
Chinese population
Constituted a sizeable portion of the population
29% of the total population in Idaho
10 % of the total population in Montana
9 % of the population in California (it only grew)
By 1930 about 40,000 Chinese had immigrated to the U.S.
“Legal” Discrimination
1852 - Foreign Miners Tax- Was Imposed on all Chinese mining for Gold.
1790 – Federal Immigration Law determined that non-white immigrants were ineligible to apply for Naturalized Citizenship.
1875 – Page Act Prohibited the entry of prostitutes.
It applied to all Chinese women, even wives and siblings. This kept Chinese men from having families and thus had no incentive for from settling in the U.S.
Ant-miscegenation laws – illegal for “ Negro, Mullato, or Mongolian” to marry Whites. This made it event more difficult for Chinese men to find wives.
“Legal” discrimination
1882- Chinese Exclusion Act
Made it illegal for any Chinese persons to enter the country for 10 years. It was extended after 10 years by the Geary Act. …20+ years later it was repealed.
Denied access to the judicial system. CA Statute Prohibiting – Black, Mulatto or Indian from testifying in a court of law (against a white person)
Put all Chinese in to the Indian classification for purpose of exclusion from legal recourse.
Labor contributions
As a result of the Miners Tax, Chinese contributed to almost 50% of the state’s tax revenue !
They were instrumental in building Railroads
They were prominent in the manufacturing of shoes, woolens, cigars and clothing.
Taught Farmers how to cultivate fruit orchards
Transformed California farms from wheat fields to fruit orchards. The new crops and the railroads increased California’s export revenues.
Labor contributions
Introduced new irrigation systems in farming
Which caused property values to increase
When they were excluded from Mining, Agriculture and Manufacturing they turned to self- employment.
Retail and Restaurants – They excelled as Chinatown business owners.
Chinese Laundry – Was a uniquely American birthed trade created out of necessity. With little to no money needed for capital, Chinese men started laundry businesses out of their apartments.
Cheap labor force
They were considered the“Yellow Proletariat in America”
Def: the class of wage earners, especially those who earn their living by manual labor or who are dependent for support on daily or casual employment; the working class
Industrial Reserve Army
They were not expected to stay or assimilate
Fill- in jobs that whites did not want to do
or as scabs during labor strikes
Business owners believed that having this labor under-class would upgrade whites to managerial positions.
Justification
Same old hat…In order to justify exploitation:
“What enabled businessmen to degrade the Chinese into a subservient laboring caste was a dominant ideology that defined America as a racially homogeneous society and Americans as white. The status of racial inferiority assigned to the Chinese had been prefigured in the black and Indian past. “ - Takaki
