Early chinese immigrant
Early chinese immigrantSurprisingly, Asian Americans have been in America for over 150 years. They are as diverse as the immigrants from Europe, ranging from China, Japan, Cambodia, Korea, Philippines, India, Vietnam, and Laos are. When many people think of American Immigrants, Asians are on the last of their lists. From all of these countries, China is well known front runner of American immigrants. China is one of the world's oldest civilizations. It influence have reverberated throughout Asia. Its 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. China 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. When gold was found in California and short on hand of workers, many Chinese travel 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." (From Gold Rush) Stories like these built up this dream of the "Golden Mountain". The plan for most Chinese was to make their fortune, and return home to their family. The dream of getting rich quick has been around for ages. Due to this, a trickle of immigrants turned into a deluge. The whole thing began in 1835. William Hooper, a young man from Boston, visited a sugar mill in Hawaii. He became determined to start the first sugar plantation in Hawaii. Without a large supply of laborers, Hooper hired "China men" to aid in the success of the plantation. From this humble beginning, sugar grew into a large industry that would need a steady supply of laborers. In 1848, after a war with Mexico, the United States obtained a region known as California. Finding California to be a commercial and agricultural center, it became America's gateway to Asia. (From Gold Rush) With the large fertile lands of California, workers were needed to help reap the profits that would flow in.
In 1833, the British Empire abolished the practice of slavery. Plantation owners desperate for field labor made use of coolies. Coolies were basically Chinese that signed labor contracts and were held in virtual slavery. They were ensnared by brokers into this system by debts, clan war prisoners, or kidnapping. (From Gold Rush) Like the African slave trade, this method flourished over Asia and had high mortality rates due to cramped quarters and malnourishment. It was referred to as the "buying and selling of pigs."...
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