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Chinese
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Introduction
Immigration policies in the United States have varied a great
deal over different and specific time periods.
During the mid to late nineteenth century the United States
maintained a policy of free immigration.
In fact, immigration to the United States was encouraged.
Immigrants
appeared to be an ideal form of manpower to aid Americans in reaping the
country’s benefits. People
from all over the world began arriving by the boatload, and the United
States was pleased with the labor force it gathered.
However, to be accepted by American society one needed to be
white or at least of European background.
The thousands of Chinese who flocked to the United States during
the nineteenth century, while immigration was being encouraged, were not
received as pleasantly as their European counterparts.
Chinese immigrants were persecuted while European immigrants were
readily accepted.
The first Chinese
immigrants arrived in the United Stated around the time of the
California Gold Rush in the late 1840s.
The number of Chinese arriving at this time was generally small,
and it was not until the time period between 1868 and 1882 that Chinese
immigration began to flourish.[1]
The Chinese wished to be part of the American labor force
mentioned above, in agriculture, factories, and mines.[2]
Before the Chinese arrived, immigration to the United States was
primarily European with Blacks entering the country on a regular basis
because of the slave trade. Americans
did have an open immigration policy, but anyone who differed from the
culture and religion put forth by the Anglo-American model was usually
subjected to nativism. Immigrant
Jews and Chinese were usually the targets of such discrimination.[3]
The United States always wanted an economic relationship with
China because the country was full of rare commodities not found in the
United States. The rarity
of these goods would allow them to be sold for a decent price and help
the adventurous businessman’s pockets expand.
However, traders and merchants in the United States were only
thinking about tapping into China.
The idea of Chinese coming to America was never anticipated.
People in the United States never intended for the Chinese to
settle and become part of American society.[4]
California was the home of the first Chinese immigrants and the
state where Chinese made their largest contributions, but it is also
where anti-Chinese sentiment blossomed.[5]
Due to anti-Chinese sentiment the question of Chinese immigration
to the United States would occupy American politics, primarily for the
twelve years between 1870 and 1882.[6]
This would be one of the most complex social, political, and
economic problems the United States would face.[7] [1] Shih-Shah Henry Tsai, The Chinese Experience in America (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), 24. [2] Lucy E. Salyer, Laws Harsh as Tigers: Chinese Immigrants and the Shaping of Modern Immigration Law (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1995), 2. [3] Ibid, 3. [4] Philip Choy, Lorraine Dong, and Marlon K. Horn, eds., The Coming Man: 19th Century American Perceptions of Chinese (Seattle: University of Washington Press: Seattle, 1994), 64. [5] Tsai, The Chinese in America, 56. [6] Andrew Gyory, Closing the Gate: Race, Politics, and the Chinese Exclusion Act, (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998), 6. [7] Robert Seager, “Some Denominational Reactions to Chinese Immigration to California, 1856-1892,” Pacific Historical Review 1959, 28(1): 49. [8] Han-Sheng Lin, “Chinese Immigrants in the United States: Achievements and Problems,” Peace and Change 1975, 3(2/3): 53. [9] Salyer, Laws Harsh as Tigers, 7.
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Created by Jaime Boyle Last Updated 12/06/03 |
