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| 1 | The Chinese who immigrated to America between the years 1870 and 1900 faced economic and racial inequality. They were condemned because of their private culture and inability to access the English language. When the economic benefits of immigration dwindled, the Chinese were blamed, and singled out with anti-immigration laws written especially to restrict those Chinese wishing to come to America. |
| 2 | In the last half of the 19th century the prospect of economic prosperity was discovered in western soil, primarily in the territory of California. The influx of profit seekers resulted in the establishment of businesses and the development of urban communities. With these new developments came the demand for cheap labor to support the growth of the economy. At the same time, overpopulation in China was causing a high rate of unemployment and poverty. These two factors, combined with the invention of cheaper transoceanic transportation, brought the Chinese to the shores of the Californian coast. |
| 3 | The Chinese provided labor that was seen as an economic "necessity" for American businessmen. Sent for by the businessmen in America, the Chinese men were easily persuaded to make the journey across the sea to America. They had dreams of coming to America, prospering under the vast economic potential, and returning to their families and homes in China. This system worked for many early Chinese immigrants, but by 1880 Chinese immigration was becoming resented. |
| 4 | Social cohesiveness and acculturation was strained for the Chinese in inner-culture relations. Factors such as: the discrepancy between the Chinese male and female populations, an inability to learn the English language primarily caused by the lack of available educational resources, and a strong community life that was not accepting of outsiders, all contributed to minimize the opportunity of social and economic integration for the Chinese immigrant. The Chinese culture became expendable in American society. They became the focal point of the growing discontent over immigration for America. Americans' resentment of the Chinese immigrant eventually turned to violence, and anti-immigration laws were passed specifically aimed at the Chinese (Tung 14). Americans used a variety of reasons for halting immigration of the Chinese. Some of the reasons contained elements of concern for the welfare of the Chinese immigrant. Tbere was concern that the Chinese were becoming what the black slave had represented in the very recent past (Miller 150). |
| 5 | The working life of Chinese living in the cities of America was varied. Chinese vocations consisted of laundries, prostitution, cigar making, grocery stores, dining houses, drug stores, barber shops, fruit stands, butcher shops, and shoe manufacturing (Weiss 50). Amongst this variety of vocations, the Chinese immigrant was most prominently known for his laundry business. The laundries were spread throughout the city, but ultimately controlled by a central headquarters located in Chinatown (Weiss 51). The Chinese dominance of the laundry business was often connected to their "transcendental" cleanliness. Jacob Riis labeled the cleanliness of the Chinese as a predominant feature of their culture by saying, "One thing about them was conspicuous: their scrupulous neatness. It is the distinguishing mark of Chinatown, outwardly and physically" (Riis 123). He also added, "Mott Street is clean to distraction: the laundry stamp is on it" [Riis 120], referring to a section of New York dominated by the Chinese. |
| 6 | In rural settings, predominantly in the West, the Chinese immigrant worked in physically demanding labor such as the construction of the railroad, mining, and farming. Fifteen thousand Chinese immigrants were involved in the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad (Weiss 50). Chinese immigrants accepted "remedial" work, seeing it as an acceptable means for capital gain. The initial feeling amongst Americans was that, "...the Chinese had taken the jobs no one else wanted, and it seemed their own business if they accepted miserably low pay" (Handlin 157). The majority of the restrictions placed upon the Chinese immigrant came when the rural work, the construction of the railroad and mining jobs, started to decline. Americans began to worry about the wage standards when competition for jobs intensified (Handlin 157). |
| 7 | Chinese immigrants, in their effort to gain economic and social independence, were hindered by state and federal governments. Many laws were passed with the intent of restricting the Chinese immigrants, inclusive in the laws was the prohibition of further immigration of Chinese laborers, their removal outside the limits of certain cities and towns, and their relocation within prescribed portions of those limits (Tung 15). In 1972, California prohibited the Chinese from owning real estate or securing business licenses, and in 1874, white, unionized cigar makers called for proprietors to sell their cigars, and not those that the Chinese had made (Tung 13). These laws were enacted for the restriction of the Chinese. No other immigrant group was affected. The restrictions imposed by the American government and its citizens only increased the hardships the Chinese immigrant already faced. |
| 8 | The vast discrepancy between the numbers of Chinese men and women caused a variety of problems, namely a slow process of acculturation and a lack of family life. The ratio of men to women in 1890 was estimated to be around 27 to 1 (Sung 155). The discrepancy between men and women meant that family life was nearly non-existent in the Chinese immigrant's life. According to historian Melford Weiss, "this early sexual imbalance meant that the birth and growth of maturity of a substantial American born population would be delayed" (32). Family life was important to the Chinese. With no family life, the pull to return to China was strong. American culture was hard to accept and integrate into the already established Chinese way of life. Many of these immigrants already had established families in China to which they hoped to return. For those that didn't, the opportunity to start a family in America was nearly nonexistent. The lack of opportunity for the Chinese male to start a family was largely due to American prejudice and cultural segregation. Both factors lead to increased social isolation and furthered the lack of integration into American society. |
| 9 | Failure to learn the English language was an immediate problem for immigrants from China. It was also a cause of future resentment by Americans. It was easy for Americans to blame the Chinese for problems caused by mass immigration. The Chinese, in language, skin color, and political relations, were the farthest away from the white-Americans than any other immigrant culture. The Chinese community's strong sense of cohesiveness and cultural identity were contributing factors that furthered their isolation (Riis 127). In China, the family unit was well developed and emphasized in the culture. In America, there was little chance for the Chinese to live outside of Chinatown because of language difficulties, prejudice, and lack of business opportunity elsewhere" (Snyder and Hildebrand 65). Despite the difficulties, however, the Chinese immigrant managed to form a family unit through the members of their urban communities here in America. |
| 10 | Chinese immigration was an attempt to meet the needs of both the economically impoverished Chinese and the American desire for economic gain. Early Chinese immigration was seen as a positive step for both cultures to increase their economic stability. The downfall of Chinese immigration came at the hands of American prejudice and greed. The same Americans who brought the Chinese to the U.S. were also the ones who grew to resent their presence. The Chinese immigrants were singled out because of their "inability" to acculturate into American society. |
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