Chinese First wave Immigrants 1820 1880 Mainly between 1849 1880 300 000 immigrants came to US during this time West coast migration This sets them apart from the German and Irish Most of these immigrants come from the Guangdong province This on the South east corner of China along the coast 95 96 of these immigrants come from here This was a trade rich culture and many of the immigrants coming from here are very familiar with Europeans whites because they trade with them They are comfortable going to America because they already know of the European culture Push Factors Crop Failure Most of the Chinese in this region are poor farmers The population density was 100 000 per square mile Each family had a limited amount of land for farming and if a drought or other natural cause their people would starve Guangdong never was able to feed all of its people even when their output was Had to import rice The rivers flooded every few years causing crops to fail and many would starve maximized Tsunamis Had no form of weather forecasting to predict tsunamis making them worse than they already are Happens several times during the 1850s Incredible amount of damage Further hurt an already weakened economy War Clan Warfare Clan Conflict A clan is several families who are all bound by one ancestor bloodlines political ties or economic ties Within a clan they all provide mutual support Each clan would all support one emperor and were responsible for a certain Caused lots of arguments between different clans who supported different emperor being elected emperors Punti Hakka Clan War Taishan 1855 1867 Taiping Rebellion 1850 1864 Taiping are trying to establish Great Heaven Kingdom or Kingdom of Heaven The people are upset with the social conditions in China Uprising by the people who want to set social conditions right in China People wanted an equal distribution of land equality of the genders get rid of arranged marriages prostitution slavery smoking and alcohol Majorly they wanted more freedom Emperor fought the people rebelling Destroyed South Eastern China Estimated 20 100 million people died Died from battle disease or starvation The Europeans come into help Pull Factors High paying wages California Gold Rush 1848 People in San Francisco got word that gold was found in Sacramento and San Francisco was a ghost town Everyone went to Sacramento to try to find gold Shortly after word reached the East coast and many people went to California After that word reached China and everyone thought California had gold all over the place and all you had to do was go there and you would be rich forever Became known as the Golden Mountain and known as a symbol of wealth Return Migration Chinese weren t interested in staying in America They wanted to go to America make a lot of money and return to China where they would be a millionaire for the rest of their lives With this money they could rise above many of the circumstances which they went to America in the first place Ex poverty hunger moving out of the flood zones etc Chinese families lived with each other Including the extended family aunts uncles cousins grandparents They were patriarchic so the oldest male would go to California make some money and come back to China They would return multiple times to do this It would eventually improve their family s status Chinatowns were basically big bachelor pads because only the men would come This created a Bachelor Society Lew Git Patriarch of his family and he went to America to get money and he was sending money back to his oldest son The son kept spending this money and the father was never able to return to China because the son kept getting into debt and asking for more money There was never enough money to send him back to CHina Location The Chinese go to California Biggest port in CA in the 1800s was San Francisco Don t have a lot of money when they get to America so they get to San Francisco and are stuck there once they arrived Created Ethnic Enclaves Chinatowns Jobs When they first arrive in CA they realize this fairytale of America is not so true Discriminated against because the color of their skin yellow no money etc This makes them stick together Try to get gold in Sacramento and do very well in gold fields Worked out well because they work harder than whites Made whites jealous The whites tried to get gov t to pass laws making it illegal for Chinese to work in Whites would receive a higher price for their gold than the Chinese Chinese price gold fields or buy land in gold fields was called the yellow price After they had to start mining for the gold the whites would not hire Chinese to go into mines they hired them to do feminine jobs such as domestic work Transcontinental Railroad to work in mines built the Great Wall Jobs were plentiful in California except for the Chinese which were not allowed Lelan Stanford said Chinese would do well in building the railroad because they Did very well Were able to lay 12 miles of track in a 12 hour day It was very dangerous work but the Chinese worked very hard because they knew they could make money to go back to China with Migrant Workers Started working on the farms in California as fruit pickers Caught fish and sold it on the docks The dream of the Golden Mountain was shattered but they were able to find other Fishing jobs Chinese Support Structures Clans Successful Merchants Merchant shops because a social gathering spot places to go when you were The older merchants because role models for younger chinese immigrants as sick etc well as a support system Hui Kuan Six Companies Similar to Salvation Armies for the clans They all supported different clans They provided a place to stay for new immigrants soup kitchens hospitals etc If you died in America the Hui Kuan would pay to have your body shipped back to China Formed because the Chinese knew Americans would not help or provide welfare for the Chinese and had to do it for themselves They helped solve problems between Chinese immigrants Mediators Tongs Chinese organized crime They ran prostitution gambling opium dens and traffic heroin Would provide assistance for immigrants for a price Would act like a Hui Kuan but expected repayment with interest Like a Chinese mob Chinese were a self contained immigrant group who had to rely on each other because they knew the WASPs would not do it for them Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 First piece of legislation aimed to keep an immigrant group out of US It put
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