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The relationship between China and America
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The United States is, for the most part, known for its numerous opportunities for natives and foreigners with few exceptions. Media does tend to make wars seem like an excuse to why certain people aren’t allowed into the States. In this case, a very large group of people was left out and unwelcome. These people were the Chinese and they were looking for any kind of labor, they saw America as a haven of opportunity. However, this quickly changed for various reasons such as for pride, irritation, likableness and others which will all be discussed. In the 1850s the gold rush had hit California. People in search of income over in China had caught word and quickly flooded America. Initially they were treated well by mining corporations, but as more mining went on, mines became more exhausted of their gold. The end result was violent toward the Chinese, miners accused the Chinese of “stealing jobs and driving down wages” as stated by The California Gold Rush. Eventually leading to vast alterations against orientals. Immigrants had already been accepting low wages from the jobs they took in America. These jobs enjoyed the Chinese doing so and was part of the reason for their warm welcome in the …show more content…
In instances, interviewers have attempted to try to get the interviewees to doubt the certainty of claims. This was to prevent approval of birth applications for Chinese people born in America. One such case with Dr. Mae Cardwell, who was asked to verify births of two children. In this interview, the interviewer had asked Cardwell if they’re certain that they know who the children were multiple times and left Cardwell with doubt to change her firm yes to “pretty sure” which caused the birth approval to be denied. This case shows that even the trustworthiness of the Chinese were low and caused even approval of Chinese births to be approved through
Many came for gold and job opportunities, believing that their stay would be temporary but it became permanent. The Chinese were originally welcomed to California being thought of as exclaimed by Leland Stanford, president of Central Pacific Railroad, “quiet, peaceable, industrious, economical-ready and apt to learn all the different kinds of work” (Takaki 181). It did not take long for nativism and white resentment to settle in though. The Chinese, who started as miners, were taxed heavily; and as profits declined, went to work the railroad under dangerous conditions; and then when that was done, work as farm laborers at low wages, open as laundry as it took little capital and little English, to self-employment. Something to note is that the “Chinese laundryman” was an American phenomenon as laundry work was a women’s occupation in China and one of few occupations open to the Chinese (Takaki 185). Chinese immigrants were barred from naturalized citizenship, put under a status of racial inferiority like blacks and Indians as with “Like blacks, Chinese men were viewed as threats to white racial purity” (188). Then in 1882, due to economic contraction and racism Chinese were banned from entering the U.S. through the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese were targets of racial attacks, even with the enactment of the 1870 Civil Rights Act meaning equal protection under federal law thanks to Chinese merchants lobbying Congress. Chinese tradition and culture as well as U.S. condition and laws limited the migration of women. Due to all of this, Chinese found strength in ethnic solidarity as through the Chinese Six Companies, which is considered a racial project. Thanks to the earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco, the Chinese fought the discriminatory laws by claiming citizenship by birth since the fires
John Augustus Sutter was born in Baden, Switzerland on the 15th of February in 1803. Sutter is the reason for the California Gold Rush that began in 1848. Sutter had a fort called “New Helvetia” beginning in 1842 that ended quickly in 1844. A man named James Wilson Marshall was planning to build John Sutter a water-powered sawmill, when he came across flakes of gold in the American River near Coloma, California in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This Discovery happened on January 24th in 1848 causing the town to have no till afterwards. Once the discovery got out it was soon the center for merchants and miners. In John Sutter’s earlier years, he claimed to have had a military background being a captain in the Royal Swiss Guard to the French King.
One particular ethnic group that suffered severe discrimination was the Chinese people. They first came to America for several reasons. One of them was the gold rush in California in 1849, in which they were included in a group of immigrants called the “Forty-Niners” (179). From gold mining, they switched to other jobs with resulted in the rise of anti-Chinese sentiments. People felt that Chinese people were taking the jobs away from them, because Chinese people worked for much smaller salaries that businesses preferred. This mindset gave way to the creation of The Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882, which prohibits more Chinese immigrants from coming to America. In addition, the act states “no State or court of the United States shall admit Chinese to citizenship”. Like the Naturalization Act, the Chinese Exclusion Act was created to hinder Chinese people from becoming citizens so that America could remain homogenously white (186). It also aimed to stop Chinese people from establishing a bigger community in the country in hopes of eliminating the threat of competition to their white counterparts (186). Like African-Americans, Chinese people were considered racially inferior and have struggled to prove that they were worthy to be called true Americans, rather than
When the word “gold” is thrown around such news travels far and fast. This caused people from all areas of the world to flock thousands of miles during the Westward Expansion period in efforts of going from “rags to riches” to obtain the American dream. One particular group of laborers the Chinese went to pursue a dream in the west by working on the transcontinental railroad system. This paper will reveal experiences and discriminationsthat Chinese laborers faced while working on railroads during the Westward Expansion era in hopes of overcoming poverty.
The California Gold Rush in 1849 was the catalyst event for the state that earned them a spot in the U.S. union in 1850. This was not the first gold rush in North America; however, it was one of the most important gold rush events. The story of how the gold was discovered and the stories of the 49ers are well known. Men leaving their families in the East and heading West in hopes of striking it rich are the stories that most of us heard about when we learn about the California Gold Rush. Professors and scholars over the last two decades from various fields of study have taken a deeper look into the Gold Rush phenomena. When California joined the Union in 1850 it helped the U.S. expand westward just as most Americans had intended to do. The event of the Gold Rush can be viewed as important because it led to a national railroad. It also provided the correct circumstances for successful entrepreneurship, capitalism, and the development modern industrialization. The event also had a major influence on agriculture, economics, and politics.
American objections to Chinese immigration took many forms, and generally stemmed from economic and cultural tensions, as well as ethnic discrimination. Most Chinese laborers who came to the United States did so in order to send money back to China to support their families there. At the same time, they also had to repay loans to the Chinese merchants who paid their passage to America. These financial pressures left them little choice but to work for whatever wages they could.
What do you think of when you hear the term “Gold Rush”? The 1849 gold rush in California?
It should be noted that only a very small number of Chinese immigrants came to the United States prior to 1850. This number began to increase dramatically between the year 1850 and 1882, when the news of the discovery of gold mines in California reached China. At that period of time, western invasions and civil unrest had led to inflation, starvation and loss of land in southern China. Therefore, many young men sailed for the "Gold Mountain" ...
According to Lee, Erika, and Reason (2016), “The Chinese Exclusion Act ...barred Chinese laborers for a period of 10 years and allowed entry only to certain exempt classes (students, teachers, travelers, merchants, and diplomats” (p. 4). The Chinese immigrants were excluded from certain rules and laws like Blacks and other minority groups. Also, they were not permitted to request citizenship or settle in the United States. For decades, the Chinese laborers did not have legal rights to enter into the United States until the decision was overturned. Lee, Erika, and Reason noted, “Chinese activist turned their attention to opening up additional immigration categories within the confines of the restrictions…some 300,000 Chinese were admitted into the United States as returning residents and citizens” (p. 4). The activists fought for the rights of the Chinese people to overturn the decision for leaving and entering as pleased to the United
During the Gold Rush of 1848-1849, California began to experience a large wave of Chinese immigration to the United States. Stories of the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill drew thousands of Chinese immigrants into North America from various parts of Asia. These immigrants, who were primarily poor peasants, flooded the “Golden Hills” we know as California in pursuit of better economic opportunity. To fill in the needs of the increasingly widespread mining communities in the West, many Chinese immigrants ultimately became merchants, railroad workers, agricultural laborers, mining laborers, and factory workers. Throughout the Gold Rush, members of the Chinese labor force played significant roles in both the social and economic development of the American West, particularly with regards to the construction of the transcontinental railroad.
California was becoming known for its entrepreneurial opportunities; soon many were coming to California, not to work in the mining filed, rather to set up business and cater to the mining communities. Soon there were saloons, hotels, and red light districts spread throughout San Francisco and outer mining communities. Women who were forced to rely on men to support them back home, came to California and were able to work and support themselves in these towns.
California, the place to turn cant’s into cans and dreams into plans. The same situation and scenarios apply to today and even over one hundred and sixty five years ago. Then and now are not so different, people are thriving or failing from the land of plenty, supplying themselves with knowledge, wealth, or skill to either spread their wings and take flight or crash and burn. Each state in the United States of America has a correlating nickname to either why it’s famous or an explanation of its history. California’s state name is The Golden State, and going all the way back to 1849 is why this was such an influential time for California and all of America. This is the period of the Gold Rush. Reasons why this event was so impeccable, to the development of California, are the years leading up to the discovery, the first findings, the journey, and so much more.
The Chinese were hated to the point where they were not allowed to be in any photograph. Railroad worker often worked in harsh and dangerous condition. Railroad worker worked with their lives in their hands, lots of worker die working on the Railroads. Chinese were immigrants they immigrated from China to the West so make they were treated abominably. They had no respect at all, even though the other immigrants from Ireland had some. There were 15,000 Chinese immigrants employed with the Central Pacific Railroad company. Chinese technically began building the Transcontinental Railroad. In my perspective Chines were one step ahead of being treated like African Americans. After the Chinese help build the Railroad they were placed on a bus which took them back to China. I believe that that was the worst possible thing to happening to Chinese because most Chinese moved to the west looking for better life. Most Chinese moved to the West looking for an easy way to make money. Railroad worker often worked in harsh and dangerous
The earliest form of racial discrimination against Asian Americans was encountered during the California Gold Rush. The Gold Rush attracted Chinese immigrants who came to California to fill the high demand for laborers. However, as more and more Chinese immigrated to California and the lower-paying labor jobs were filled, the Chinese began filling higher-paying positions typically held by Whites. As a result, an anti-Chinese Movement was formed followed by the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which prevented any additional Chinese immigration into the United States. Essentially, Chinese were discriminated against by the Whites due to fear of the Chinese taking over their jobs. After World War II, the federal government ended the 1882 ban on Chinese immigration and gave citizenship to Chinese Americans born abroad (Charles and Guryan 507).
...xperienced harsh discrimination and even legal exclusion from our country. They were blamed for the lack of job opportunities and low pay of jobs and received extremely unfair treatment that labeled them as an inferior race. However, the inter-ethnic tension blinded us from seeing how the immigrants were contributing to our country in positive ways. They not only created economic and social gains for us, but also opened our minds to a whole new way of life and prepared us for the multicultural years to come. With all of the help and modernization that they contributed to our country, the racism and discrimination that the Chinese immigrants received day-in and day-out was not rightly justified or deserved.