History of Asian Immigration to the United States - Geography
What is Asia?
Asia is the world’s largest and most diverse continent. Asia occupies the eastern four-fifths of the giant European landmass. Asia is more a geographic term than a homogeneous continent, and the use of the term to describe such a vast area always carries the potential of obscuring the enormous diversity among the regions it encompasses. (15)
Asian Immigration to the United States
Beginning in the 1850s when young single men were recruited as contract laborers from Southern China, Asian immigrants have played a vital role in the development of the United States. (1)
Chinese Immigration
In the late 1840s and early 1850s, large numbers of Chinese immigrants arrived during the California gold rush. Most of these immigrants were men. These men were later chased out of the mining districts by the violences and taxes levied against them. A few Chinese immigrants were women. Most of these women were forced into prostitution. (5)
Seeking long-term prospects in the US, many Chinese immigrants created a vibrant culture on the West Coast, centered in San Francisco's Chinatown district. These immigrants helped build the a vast proportion of the track for the vast transcontinental railroad between 1860 and 1880. (5)
However, because Chinese immigrants often worked for lower wages than their white counterparts, the Chinese immigrants were increasingly subject to violence from an underemployed white working class in California. (5) In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States, was passed due to the widespread racism against the Chinese in the 1870s. The Chinese Exclusion Act halted Chinese immigration to the US until well into the 20th century. (3)
Chinese Students
The earliest Chinese student migrants first came as beneficiaries of British missionary schools then in larger numbers as part of a Chinese government sponsored initiative called the Chinese Educational Mission. These early initiatives set a precedent of ‘leaving Asia for America,’ bound up with colonial histories and based on a presumption that Western liberal education was important to the advancement of Asian countries. (13)
Chinese Educational Mission
The Chinese Educational Mission was launched during the Qing dynasty when China was in decline and weakened by foreign imperalism. (2) Many Chinese students were sent to live and study in New England to recieve American college education before returning to contribute to China's modernization and advancement. (14)
Why was the Chinese Educational Mission established?
Following the Boxer Rebellion of 1899-1901, the Chinese government had been forced to pay the U.S. government. The Boxer Rebellion was a movement against the spread of Western and Japanese influence in China. Many foreign missionaries, merchants, and diplomats lost life and property. The rebellion was suppressed by an international military force, and the Qing Regime had to pay reparations to eight foreign countries. (14)
After the payments, it became clear that America's losses amounted only half of the sum paid. Therefore, the surplus payments had to be sent back to China. Instead of sending the surplus back, Theodore Roosevelt set the terms on hwo the money would be spent by establishing schools in China and sending Chinese students abroad. (14)
Even when the Qing dynasty fell in 1912, the Republic of China--the Qing dynasty's successor--continued the Chinese Educational Mission program. With the extra funds from the Boxer Rebellion, the Beijing of Tsinghua Imperia College--later Tsinghua university--was established in 1911. Young Chinese men and women from 1916 were sent to the United states at the rate of about fifty a year. Over the course of the program, more than 1,200 students were supported. (13)
Japanese Immigration
During the late 1800s, Japanese immigrants came to America in large numbers. Japanese men primarily worked as agricultural laborers in Californa (5) while thousands of Japanese women worked as 'picture brides'--the spouses of men they've never met but who had seen pictures of them. The picture bride movement allowed men to marry by proxy. This movement became the predominant way for the members of the male Japanese population in the United States to wives and start families. (14)
Following the immigration of Japanese immigration, a growing number of anti-Japanese legislations and violence emerged. By 1907, racism against the Japanese increased to the point where requests were made to restrict 'the yellow peril'--a term used to describe the wave of Japanese immigration by multiple Americans. In that year, President Theodore Roosevelt and the Japanese government agreed on the Gentlemen's Agreement to restrict Japanese immigration to the United States. As Japan grew into an incresingly militaristic state with highly skilled armed forces, the Japanese government wanted to keep young and ambitious men from leaving the country. In 1914, the Alien Land Law, which prevented many Asian Americans from owning land since they were 'aliens ineligible for citizenship, was passed. The Alien Land law further restricted the Japanese immigrants in the US. (5)
Korean Immigration
In the 20th century, many Koreans came to the US in large numbers. Following the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War and Japan's occupation of Korea, sost of the Korean immigrants went to Hawaii and the West Coast to work as agricultural laborers. Korean immigrants were met with distrust and suspicion. Not only did they face racist exclusion in the United States, but also Japanese colonization at home. Their poor treatment prompted the Korean government to discourage further immigration.fter the 1960s, more Koreans came to the US as liberal immigration laws allowed Koreans to escape after the Korean War. From 69,140 in 1970, the Korean-American population grew to over a million in 2010. The Korean-American population became the most heavily employed Asian ethinicty in the retail business and one of the msot heavily Christianized Asian ethnicities in the US. (5)
Southeast Asian Immigration
In contrast to other Asian ethinic groups, people from Southeast Asia came relatively late to the US. Southeast Asians arrived mainly as war refugees in the 1970s. (5)
Beginning in 1975, Southeast Asian refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos have entered the United States after escaping from war, social chaos, discrimination, and economic hardship. Around one million Southeast Asians, including about 30,000 Amerasian children of American servicemen and their families, have entered the United States through a variety of refugee resettlement and immigration programs. (5)
Refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos each have distinct cultures, languages, and contexts of historical development. Although each country shares certain influences from their common history as a French colonial territory for nearly a century until 1954, Vietnam is much more culturally influenced by China while Cambodia and Laos have been more influenced by India. (5)
Vietnamese Immigration
The Vietnam War had displaced several million people, forcing them into refugee camps before some were allowed to legally enter the U.S. Between 1971 and 1980, more than 150,000 Vietnamese came to America. These numbers greatly increased during the 1980s and 1990s. Many Cambodians also immigrated during this time, fleeing the brutal dictatorship of the Khmer Rouge. (5)
Filipinio Immigration
In the early 20th century, Filipinos came in large numbers to the US. Following the US invasion of the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, Filipino immigration increased significantly in the early 20th century. Filipinos were primarily employed in the sugar cane fields in Hawaii. Filipino men also fought with American forces during World War II. (5)
Indian Immigration
Between 1965 and 1990s, a large number of immigrants from India came to the US In 2015, there were 2.4 million Indian immigrants resident in the US. This population is largely young, often made up of highly skilled workers in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). (5)
Pacific Islanders Immigration
A more recent group of Asian immigrants are Pacific Islanders. These immigrants live mostly in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Pacific Islanders are largely from Samoa, Tonga, Guam, and Melanesia, and include native Hawaiians. Because they are indigenous to countries presently under U.S. control, their status often hovers between that of Asian immigrant and indigenous American. (5)
References
1."Asian Americans Then and Now." Asia Society. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://asiasociety.org/education/asian-americans-then-and-now.
2. "Earlychinesemit." The Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program | Earlychinesemit. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://earlychinesemit.mit.edu/chinese-educational-mission.
3. History.com Staff. "Chinese Exclusion Act." History.com. August 24, 2018. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/chinese-exclusion-act-1882.
4. "Introduction to Southeast Asia." Asia Society. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://asiasociety.org/education/introduction-southeast-asia.
5. Newman, Jason. "Asian Americans in U.S. History." In American History,
6. Mikenew. "Fix the Asia Map." The Sporcle Blog. August 18, 2016. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.sporcle.com/games/mikenew/fix-the-asia-map.
7. Planet, Lonely. "Map of China." Lonely Planet. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/china/.
8. Planet, Lonely. "Map of India." Lonely Planet. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/india/
9. Planet, Lonely. "Map of Japan." Lonely Planet. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/japan/
11. Planet, Lonely. "Map of Pacific." Lonely Planet. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/pacific/
12. Planet, Lonely. "Map of South Korea." Lonely Planet. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/south-korea/
13. Seligman, Scott D. The Third Degree: The Triple Murder That Shook Washington and Changed American Criminal Justice. Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, an Imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, 2018.
14. Sharon Yamato Danley | Special To The Times. "Japanese Picture Brides Recall Hardships of American Life." Los Angeles Times. May 11, 1995. Accessed January 24, 2019. http://articles.latimes.com/1995-05-11/news/cb-64865_1_picture-bride.
15. Wendy Cheng. "Transpacific Articulations: Student Migration and the Remaking of Asian America by Chih-ming Wang (review)." Journal of Asian American Studies 17, no. 3 (2014): 382-385. https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed January 24, 2019).
16. Yefremov, Yury Konstantinovich, A.M. Celâl Şengör, Sripati Chandrasekhar, Aleksandr Maximovich Ryabchikov, Pierre Gourou, and Thomas R. Leinbach. "Asia." Encyclopædia Britannica. January 16, 2019. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/place/Asia.