The Motivations of the 19th Century American Anti-chinese Movement

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In the late 19th century, a national wide anti-Chinese movement took place in the United States of America. The Chinese immigrants were excluded by the Native Americans. Their stores were stolen; their houses were burned down and even worse, many of them were killed. However, if we refer back the history of America, we will find that the early Chinese immigrants were accepted by Americans and were not the immediate targets of hostility or violence. In addition, the prosperity of America, especially the southern part of it own a lot to the efforts Chinese men had made. Then why was there so significant a change of the Americans' sentiment towards the Chinese people in the late 19th century? I would like to analyze this issue in the following paper.

A review of the history

The United States of America has long been a fantastic dream for most people in the world. They believe that streets in that mysterious land are paved with gold and one can make a really big fortune the moment he steps onto the land. In a word, America is hyped up in many countries as "Land of Opportunity." For this beautiful dream, many of them risked their lives, left their hometown and set out for this treasure land at the other side of the world. Around 200 years later, the Chinese people began to follow suit.

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" ...

... middle of paper ...

...#20986;版社，南

京，1999年。Duanmu yiwan，Perspectives of the American Society and Culture, Nanjing University Press, Nanjing，1999

李小兵、孙漪、李晓晓，《

654;国华人：从历史到现实》，

四川人民出版社，四川，2003年

。Li Xiaobing, Sun Yi, Li Xiaoxiao, Chinese in America: from History to Present, Sichuan People's Press, Sichuan, 2003

http://www.acwang.com/dragon/drxuhao/drch7s1.htm

http://www.acwang.com/dragon/drzqs/zqsphwd/phwdidx.htm

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