Asians in the U.S. History
According to http://www.asian-nation.org/first.shtml website, Asians began their journey to America in the 1830s; The Chinese were the first Asians to arrive in large numbers because of the Gold rush which attracted thousands of Chinese miners and contract laborers. Lured by tales and dreams of making it rich on "Gold Mountain" (which became the Chinese nickname for California), The Gold Rush led many Chinese to come to the U.S. to find their fortune and return home rich and wealthy. Most of these early Chinese workers were from the Guangdong (also called Canton) province in China. Most of them left China because economic hardship due to the growing British dominance over China, after Britain defeated China in the Opium War of 1839-1842.
In addition to prospecting for gold in California, many Chinese also came as contract laborers to Hawai'i to work in sugarcane plantations. While in California, Chinese miners experienced their first taste of discrimination in the form of the Foreign Miner Tax. This was supposed to be collected from every foreign miner but in reality, it was only collected from the Chinese, despite the multitude of miners from European countries there as well. When some Chinese miners objected and refused to pay the unfair tax, they were physically attacked and even murdered. Eventually, the Chinese tried to go to court to demand justice and equal treatment but at the time, California's laws prevented Chinese immigrants from testifying against Whites in court. As a result, many murders went unsolved as many murderers went free.
Chinese also worked as small time merchants, gardeners, domestics, laundry workers, farmers, and as railroad workers on the famous Transcontinental Railroad project which started in 1865. The project pitted the Union Pacific (working westward from Nebraska) and the Central Pacific (working eastward from Sacramento) against each other for each mile of railroad track laid. At its peak, 9,000 to 12,000 Chinese worked for the Central Pacific in some of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs. Many sources claim that up to 1,000 Chinese died during the project as a result of avalanches and explosive accidents as they carved their way through the Sierra Mountains. Even though the Chinese workers performed virtually all of the hardest, dirtiest, and most dangerous jobs, they were only paid 60% of what European immigrant workers got paid. The Chinese workers actually went on strike for a few days and demanded that they get paid the same amount as the other ethnic groups. Officials of the Central Pacific were able to end the strike and force the Chinese workers back to work by cutting off their food supply and starving them into submission. The project was completed on May 10, 1869 but the Chinese immigrants were never praised for their contribution in helping to build the railroad.
After they returned to California, the Chinese increasingly became the targets of racial attacks and discriminatory legislation because their labor was no longer needed and Whites began seeing them as an economic threat. This anti-Chinese movement, which was accompanied by numerous anti-Chinese riots, lynching’s, and murders culminated with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This act barred virtually all immigration from China and prevented all Chinese already in the U.S. from becoming U.S. citizens, even their American-born children. For the first time in U.S. history, a specific ethnic group was singled out and forbidden to enter the U.S. Because they were forbidden from owning land, intermarrying with Whites, owning homes, working in many occupations, getting an education, and living in certain parts of the city or entire cities, the Chinese basically had to retreat into their own isolated communities as a matter of survival. These first Chinatowns at least allowed them to make a living among themselves. This is where the stereotypical image of Chinese restaurants and laundry shops, Japanese gardeners and produce stands, and Korean grocery stores began.
Starting in the 1970s, many Chinatowns around the country began to flourish and expand (most notably in New York City and San Francisco) as large numbers of Chinese immigrants began arriving as a result of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. As more Chinese immigrants moved in and ethnic businesses opened up, these Chinatowns almost single-handedly revitalized many largely abandoned urban downtown areas.
Asian immigration continued to increase steadily with the Japanese following the Chinese. According to the website http://www.infoplease.com/spot/immigration1.html, the Japanese move to Hawaii and California to work in agriculture. They initially came to Hawai'i as cheaper replacements for Chinese workers beginning around 1890. But unlike workers from China, Japanese workers were actively recruited to work in Hawai'i and the U.S. and were initially closely supervised by the Japanese government to insure that they were doing well. Also unlike the Chinese, Japanese workers were mainly concentrated in agricultural jobs. However, once again, the Japanese eventually received the same type of discriminatory treatment the Chinese had received earlier, which culminated in 1907 Gentlemen's Agreement. Japan agreed to stop issuing passports for Japanese workers to go to the U.S., even though this did not seriously reduce the amount of Japanese immigrants coming into the U.S.
Eventually, other Asian groups followed the Chinese and Japanese into the U.S., such as the Koreans and Filipinos. Only about 7,000 Koreans came to the U.S. before 1951, and they also mainly worked in the sugarcane plantations of Hawai'i. Also, approximately 130,000 Filipinos came to the U.S. before 1935. They were helped by the legal status as U.S. territory residents and yes, they too worked mainly in agriculture. The Filipinos had an easier time in America then any other Asian group because they arrived with English skill since the Philippines was under U.S. Control.
The South Asians as mentioned by http://www.asian-nation.org/bangladeshi-pakistani.shtml website which included Indians, Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis began arriving on the West Coast of the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. They worked in the developing West, building railroads, clearing and cultivating the rich agricultural lands of California, reclaiming the desert in the Southwest, and working in the lumber industry in Oregon and Washington.
During this period, the first individuals from present-day Sri Lanka and Bangladesh arrived in very small numbers. Yamau Kira, a native of Ceylon, came to the United States in 1913. He opened one of first South Asian restaurants in New York City, the Ceylon-India Inn. By the 1940s, merchant seamen from what is now Bangladesh began settling in the states of New York and New Jersey. They established the first Pakistani American Association in New York in 1947. Immigration records show 11,884 South Asians entered the U.S. in 1970 and by 1980 they reached 27,912. The South Asian population in the United States has grown substantially during the last three decades. When counted "alone or in combination with other races," Pakistani Americans numbers grew by 151.1 percent, Sri Lankans by 124.1 percent, and Bangladeshis by 385 percent. By comparison, the overall "alone or in combination" APA population increased 72.2 percent.
In 1979, the United States and China resumed diplomatic relations, making immigration easier for Chinese. But, new arrivals came from other Asian countries as well, including India and Pakistan. And in 1975 following the Vietnam War, more than 130,000 refugees fleeing from the Communist governments of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos arrived on U.S. shores. Million of Asians arrived in subsequent years. In 1980, more than 2.5 million Asian immigrants entered the U.S., up from under 500,000 in 1960. The Immigration Act of 1990 increased the numbers of Asians coming to the U.S. by raising the total quota and reorganizing system of preferences to favor certain professional groups. This allowed Asians with training in medicine, high technology, and other specialties to enter more easily. In 1990, over five million Asian immigrants were reported, and in 2000 the figure was over seven million.
The Asian community is one to take notice of since they have fought for their rights in this country; it is time we realize that they are here to stay just like any other group of people in this country.
Bibliography
Avakian, Monique. 2002. Atlas of Asian-American History. Checkmark Books.
http://www.asian-nation.org/first.shtml
http://www.asian-nation.org/headlines/2007/07/the-future-of-chinatowns/
Asian-American History — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/immigration1.html#ixzz1sTKTaMZq