Heritage Fair Project: Chinatown Riots, Vancouver 1907

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Alec Markarian
03/26/2014
Heritage Fair Research Paper

Heritage Fair Project: Chinatown Riots, Vancouver 1907
For many decades, Chinese individuals immigrated to Canada until the 1870s, however the explanation for the arrival of Chinese immigrants was the desire to immigrate to Vancouver due to the promise of labor on the continental railway that brought the Chinese to Canada in massive numbers. The general mood of Vancouverites at the time was against the immigration of Asians. This led the the formation of a group called the Asiatic Exclusion League (AEL) which was first formed in san francisco, but the assembly had picked up prominence in Vancouver and was formally structured there in 1907. This group was responsible for the riots that happened in Vancouver, 1907. Railway homeowners argued that they must hire Asian railway employees because nobody else should do the harmful and tough work of railroad building. This left many non- Asians unemployed, which led to anger within this group. However, other British Canadians had other reasons behind hiring asian labourers, and a certain attitude towards this group resulted in a tension which led to this historical event in this province. The Vancouver Chinatown Riots, in 1907.

Background/ Reasoning for the riot:
British Canadians felt that it was best to hire Chinese labourers to work on the continental railways due to working conditions, however, other British Canadians felt that it had been the low wages that Chinese individuals charged that created them enticing alternatives to higher paid non-Asians. Employment on the railways crammed a range of jobs in a rural and concrete environment. In 1885, the Canadian government, after being pressured from Canadian provinces, passed l...

... middle of paper ...

...sequence of limitations for Asians, Asian settlers were constrained into work that was frequently dangerous and were paid cheaply. Canada's refusal to stretch out a welcome to these settlers reflected Canada's racist mentality of the period, and the way the Canadian government reacted to the racism against the Asian immigrants was quite explanatory to this mentality they had. Instead of doing something about the racism, the government take action by limiting the maximum number of Asians allowed to immigrate to Canada in a period of a year. However, these racist times in our society positively helped the making of a nation that pointed for an "equality" in the population. In the long term, the effects of these racist events in Canada shaped it into today’s fair society, where no matter what colour you are, what ethnicity or race you originate from, everyone is equal.

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