Chinese Immigration into America
Surprisingly, Asian Americans have been in America for over 150 years. They are as diverse as the immigrants from Europe, ranging from China, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Korea, Philippines, India, Vietnam, and Laos. (Takaki, page 8) When many people think of American Immigrants, Asians are on the last of their lists. In The Uprooted, Harvard historian, Oscar Handlin, prize winning book with the subtitle 'the Epic Story of the Great Migrations that Made the American People,' completely left out the 'uprooted' from the lands across the Pacific Ocean. (Takaki, page 10) This paper will give some information pertaining to the Chinese immigration into America.
China is one of the world's oldest civilizations. It influence have reverberated throughout Asia. It's presence is felt in many of the surrounding cultures. The Chinese people have tried to keep their society pure from outside sources. When foreigners entered their homeland and poisoned the population with drugs, the culture could not stop the imminent alteration of their ways.
Rare Golden Chinese Coins
Chinese Brush for Writing Calligraphy
Flickr Chinese Dragon Year StatueChina was weakened severely and was taken advantage of by many countries.
Chinese came to America for a myriad of reasons. The main reason was because of the myth of the Gam Saan ('Golden Mountain.') Other reasons were due to overpopulation, poverty, hunger, flooding, high taxes, bad economy, collapsing government, and crop failure. (Takaki, page 38) James Marshall discovery of gold in California in 1848 prompted many Chinese to take a sojourn into America to get rich quick. A young man in Canton wrote to his brother in Boston saying, 'good many Americans speak of California, Oh! Very rich country! O hear good many Americans and Europeans go there very much. I think I shall go to California next summer.' Stories like these built up this dream of the 'Golden Mountain.' The plan for...