Chinese Immigration Dbq

With the establishment of the Burlingame-Seward Treaty in 1868, friendly relations between America and China were initiated and immigration to America was highly encouraged. In spite of the fact that their cheap labor was initially welcomed, they were soon seen as job stealers. Countless were able to make the journey by borrowing money so once they arrived, they had to work to pay off their creditors. Their low pay made them desirable to employers and caused tension with the White laborers. The Anti-Coolie Act of 1862 was eventually passed in hopes of less Chinese being able to pay the special tax so that more of the work could go to White workers. The Chinese coolies in document 3 are all seen wearing traditional hats to protect themselves

from the sun. There is not a single White worker in the painting and that clearly emphasizes the imbalance of workers in the fields, further demonstrating why White workers were so hostile to the Chinese.
In regards to the Chinese community in America, the Chinese were not able to reproduce and expand their population as much as the Japanese because many of the workers who arrived were men who left their families behind in China.

Nearly most of the wives stayed behind due to lack of work for women in America and because of the tradition that the men should be the breadwinner. It is possible that having bounded feet also limited their ability to relocate. The men did not marry White women for anti-miscegenation laws made interracial marriage a crime. The Chinese Exclusion Act that was later passed made it impossible for anymore Chinese person to legally immigrate to America. America has decided that it needed to protect the jobs of American citizens so this led to the closing of American borders for the Chinese. In spite of this act, there were still people who found ways to illegally immigrate. They were known as Paper Sons and Daughters who bought counterfeit paperwork claiming that they were the blood-related children of the Chinese already in America. America allowed reunification of close family members during this

time.
It is already evidential that the Chinese were not treated fairly in America but there have been even more unjust events that occurred. The California Workingmen’s Party was a labor organization that openly called for the removal of Chinese laborers in a racist manner. The WASP magazine was another establishment that proudly announced their hatred for the Chinese by portraying them in a beastly light in its political cartoons. One of the most horrific ways Americans demonstrated their detestation for the Chinese was through attacks such as the Los Angeles Massacre. This massacre of 1871 in Los Angeles consisted of roughly 500 white rioters entering Chinatown with intentions to kill. About 17 to 20 Chinese people were hanged and the attack went down in history as the largest mass lynching in America. Another attack was the Denver Riot of 1880 during which over a three thousand rioters arrived to try and drive the Chinese out of town. What made this riot different from previous events was quite a few of the White citizens stood up and protected the Chinese from the White attackers.
Out of the heinous events that were targeted towards the Chinese, there were two that were noticeably based on money.

In the Rock Springs Massacre of Wyoming, the tensions heightened when more Chinese laborers were hired over Whites due to the pay difference. At least 28 Chinese miners had died from the attacks and the federal troops intervened. They brought the Chinese miners who escaped back to Rock Springs a few days after the massacre only for them to see everything they’ve worked so hard for burned to the ground along with their dead friends splayed across the land. The Chinese miners could be seen trying to run away from the attacks in document 4 as the riot continued behind them. The other massacre was the Hells Canyon Massacre in Oregon where thirty-four Chinese goldminers were murdered by white horse gang members who stole their gold after killing them. It is critical to note that every act of violent hatred mentioned above had witnesses and some even went to trial but no justice nor jail time was ever

served.
Another wave of immigration that few see the connection of between it and China was the Filipino immigration. Before the Filipinos began to immigrate to America, they had been under the control of the Spanish until the Americans came in the late 1800s to help the Filipinos get their independence. This was know as the Spanish-American War that ended with victory for the Americans. One national hero that the Filipinos admired under the Spanish colonial system was Jose Rizal, an advocate for freedom of speech and equal rights. Despite never calling for independence for the Philippines, the Spanish still saw him as dangerous and exiled him. The Filipinos still remembered his words about freedom so when the Americans arrived in the Philippines, they were welcomed. The American citizens back home did not want America to be part of the war but when the battleship U.S.S. Maine exploded in the Havana Harbor and the Spanish were accused of the destruction, the outrage of the Americans contributed to the start of the war. Before the war ended, the Teller Amendment was signed in which America promised to help Cuba gain independence and then withdraw all troops. Cuba was also part of the Spanish empire and once the war ended, the Philippines also received similar promises in the Treaty of Paris.
As the Spanish-American War came to an end, the people of the Philippine islands were eager for Emilio Aguinaldo, a prominent revolutionary and military leader to declare the Philippines independent of Spain. After he issued the Declaration of Independence and became president, the Filipinos continued to express gratitude towards America for their help in the war only to be taken aback when they realized that American military troops were still in the Philippines long after the war had ended. America quickly launched a surprise attack on Manila in 1898 and created the United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands. This seizure led to the Philippines-American War of which the Filipinos struggled to win back their independence from foreign powers. In comparison to the Chinese, both the Filipinos and the Chinese were invaded by foreign forces, that being the United States and Britain. What made them different from one another was Britain used opium to get the Chinese people so hooked on it that they could not live without it. Britain used opium as leverage on the people and their government while the U.S. had entered the Philippines under the pretense of friendship. American troops were initially seen as righteous heroes that wanted to help the Philippines gain freedom from colonization so they were welcomed into the Philippines with open arms. The situation swiftly turned sour once the Battle of Manila started.