Coolies, Sailors, Settlers
According to Professor Gary Okihiro, when was the earliest Asian settlements in the U.S.?
In the 1760s, when Filipino sailors permanently settled in fishing villages in Louisiana. Asians were in the North American continent ten years before the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783).
What is the early history of Korean immigration?
Hawaii turned to Korea for labor after the “growing militance of Japanese plantation workers.” Knowing that the Americans were displeased with the Japanese (who were in control of Korea at this time), the Koreans left for Hawaii to boast Korea’s international standing. Also, many Koreans were Christian and America was a Christian land.
How did Hawaii play a significant role in early Asian immigration?
As cane acreage expanded and the indigenous population dwindled, Hawaii needed cheap labor for its sugar plantations. First, they sought the Chinese, then the Japanese, the Korean, and the Filipino. The Japanese was the largest Asian group to work on Hawaii sugar plantations.
There were economic sanctions levied against Asian immigrants, such as Foreign Miners’ Tax and various alien land laws. Why didn’t Asians try to change these laws?
They were denied the right to naturalization; therefore, they could not vote and had no political power.
What role did slavery play in early Asian immigration?
When slavery was abolished, the Americas turned to Asia to replenish their labor forces.
What is the significance of the following quote: “Asia was in the Western mind. The West came to us”?
It was not Asia who went looking for the West; it was the West looking for Asia to trade goods with (e.g. tea, spices, silks, porcelains, and other luxury goods).
What is the early history of Filipino immigration?
Because the Gentleman’s Agreement Act of 1907, in which Japan agreed to stop issuing passports to Japanese laborers, Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association (HSPA) turned to the Philippines. Agents were able to recruit workers from places that they established ties with and with dense areas where people had a tradition of “outmigration in search of work.”
Why was San Francisco called “The Old Gold Mountain”? Where was “The New Gold Mountain.”
This was during the gold rush where the Chinese went to California to mine for gold. Australia was known as “The New Gold Mountain.”
Give an example from Chapter 3 of physical violence against Asian immigrants.
Students can explain one of the following historical incidents: The Los Angeles lynchings of Asians in 1861, the Rock Springs Massacre in Wyoming Territory of 1886, or ant-Chinese activities in Washington Territory of 1885.
Chinese immigrants worked for the Central Pacific Railroad. Which immigrant group worked for the Union Pacific Railroad?
Irish immigrants worked for the Union Pacific Railroad.
Who was Houqua?
A Chinese merchant who helped finance the building of the railroad.
What is the history of South Asian immigration?
Less is known about the Sikh immigration history. They were part of the British empire and knew the various connecting routes in Asia, Africa, and the Americas (they worked as soldiers, policemen, private guards, and watchmen for the British). Most ended up in Canada working for the railroad. They had temples that were used as weigh stations.
Why was the Transcontinental Railroad consider a “technological wonder”?
It transformed the United States geographically, economically, and culturally. Before the railroad, California was isolated from the rest of the nation. Americans had to travel by wagon to see California, and goods had to be transported by ship around the tip of South America.
According to Chan, several factors helped explain violence against Asian immigrants. What are these factors?
Chan mentions racism and nativism. She also notices a correlation between anti-Asian violence and national economic crisis, where Euro-Americans needed to find a scapegoat for their hardships.
What was the Foreign Miners’ Tax (1850 and 1852)?
Required non-US citizens to pay a monthly fee to mine. It was enforced primarily against the Chinese.
What is “guana”?
bird droppings that Chinese coolies in Peru shoveled and shipped as fertilizers to farmers across the globe.
How did the Opium Wars (1839-1842, 1856-1860) begin, and what were the consequences of those wars on China?
There was a trade imbalance between China and England, where the British wanted tea but the Chinese didn’t need anything from England. The British used Indians to smuggle opium to weaken China. The Chinese rebelled and thus began the Opium Wars. China lost both wars and succumbed to British demands. The Treaty of Nanking, for example, opened China’s ports to trades, allowed missionaries into the country, and stated that Chinese laws did not apply to Westerners. Other consequences on China include losing Kowloon and Hong Kong, economic instabilities, and social unrests (such as the Taiping Rebellion).
What happened to the Chinese after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad?
Only a few Chinese were retained, the rest were let go and became jobless. They were not even allowed to ride the train free of charge back to California.
Give an example of social segregation that Asians experienced in the 19th and early 20th century America.
Students can mention one of the following; relocating Chinese prostitutes, placing Chinese immigrants in quarantine, and not allowing Asian students to go to white schools.
What were the 1913 Alien Land Laws (1920 and 1923)
Prohibited Asian immigrants from owning and leasing land
Must be able to answer all three questions correctly for full points. (A) Define the word “coolie.” (B) Who were the coolies? (C) What were their destinations?
(1) Who was Matthew Perry? (2) What forces enabled the U.S. to recruit Japanese laborers?
(1) Naval officer Matthew Perry was sent to Japan to open its doors to trade and diplomatic relations. With the recent example of China losing to the British, Japan succumbed to pressure and allowed the U.S. to enter Japan.
(2) When Matthew Perry arrived in Japan, the country was suffering from what Chan called “a severe domestic political crisis.” There were leaders who wanted to “learn the ways of the West” in order to compete on a global scale. To finance their program of rapid industrialization, Japan imposed heavy taxation on farmers, dispossessing them of their lands. Related to this program, there was also a conscription law that had many Japanese leaving the country. This period in Japan is known as the Meiji Restoration of 1868.
What were some occupations that the Chinese were allowed to have after the completion of the railroad? And why were they allowed to keep these jobs?
(1) Work in laundromats and restaurants. (2) These jobs were not considered a threat to white America.
[One source observed, “white customers were prepared to patronize him as a laundryman because as such his status was low and constituted no competitive threat. If you stop to think about it, there’s a very real difference between the person who washes your soiled clothing and the one who fills your prescription” (34).]
What are the seven categories of hostility towards Asian immigrants?
Prejudice, economic discrimination, political disenfranchisement, physical violence, immigration exclusion, social segregation, and incarceration.
What was the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act?
Prohibited Chinese unskilled laborers from entering the United States.