* Chinese *
(pIdgIn wOrd: "pAkÉ")

U lIkE knOw AbOUt dEm chInEsE?

sOmE InfO ::

whEn thEy cAmE & whAt hAppEnEd ::

  • immigrants from China began arriving in the U.S. in the mid-1800s after China suffered its defeat in the First Opium War
  • most Chinese came to the West Coast of the U.S. as free immigrants under a credit ticket system(1)
  • however, many Chinese were exploited under a contract-labor system(2) or were tricked into becoming coolies (3)
  • conditions were cramped and inhumane in the depots where the Chinese laborers awaited passage to the U.S. and on the vessels in which they sailed
  • those who survived the ocean voyage found harsh treatment in California
  • at first many Chinese worked in gold mines
  • but because they were often slaughtered in cold blood by whites and were preyed upon by bandits, many of them began to take jobs not wanted by white males - jobs such as cooking, washing and irning clothes, and cleaning
  • by 1865, many unemployed Chinese went to work on the Trancontinental railroad
  • others became farm laborers

chInEsE & thE U.s. gOvErnmEnt ::

  • resentment against the Chinese led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which prohibited the immigration of Chinese for a period of ten years
  • it was renewed again in 1892 for another ten-year period
  • in 1902, the suspension of Chinese immigration was made indefinite
  • Congress did not repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act until 1943, when the U.S. aligned itself with China in Wold War II
  • the quota of 105 Chinese immigrants was allowed each year until 1965
  • the Chinese who were permitted to stay in the U.S. after 1882 suffered from a succession of brutal laws against them
  • they were not allowed to become citizens
  • they were not allowed to marry someone of another race
  • they were not allowed to own land
  • they were not allowed to testify in court
  • they could not bring their families from China
  • they had to attend separate schools
  • special taxes were levied on occupations the Chinese were most likely to take
  • during and after World War II, when the Chinese were allowed into the U.S., the new immigrants tended to keep to themselves in their own communities
  • today the largest of these communities is Chinatown in San Francisco

Definitions::

(1)credit-ticket system: a transportation system for emigrants in which theyw ere given money for ocean passage on the condition that they agree to repay the debt out of their earnings after reaching their destination
(2)contract-labor system:a transportation system for immigrants in which a U.S. company paid for their transportation. In return, the immigrants agreed to work for the company for a specified number of years
(3)coolie: a derogatory term used to describe an unskilled Asian laborer hired for low or subsistence wages

AziaNNaTioN