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History of Chinese Immigration into the United States of America
Ethnographic Timeline Chinese Immigration into the U.S.

I chose to write about the history of Chinese immigration into the United States for my ethnographic timeline. While, I myself don’t have any Chinese immigrants in my family-tree, that I know of, I was born and do reside in the state of California. I knew from previous knowledge that Chinese immigrants have been a huge part of California history as well as our cultural influence. History teaches us that the Chinese have had a strong connection to the United States due to trade, labor and slavery. The gold rush and the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, as I knew, were major events that took place and involved many Chinese workers. The Chinese who came to the United States for a better life were met with opportunity as well as opposition.

1785 •	First recorded in U.S. history, 3 sailors from China stay and immigrate to the United States rather than return to their native country, brought here on a merchant trading ship. •	China with a population of over 300 million people, have been fighting off famine, poverty, disease and death due to natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods.

1848 •	California Gold Rush begins in the United States, gold is discovered by James Marshall at Sutter’s Timber Millon on January 24th, 1848. News of “Gam Saan” or “gold mountain” generates in Canton, China and the first wave of immigrants leaves China for the U.S. Merchant ship owners are hoping to fill their vessels full of gold and encourage workers to join them on the voyage to the U.S. •	Anti-immigration sentiment grows as the Foreign Miner’s Tax law is written, charging foreigners in the United States $20 a month for the right to work their claims. •	China experiences for the next 15 years, massive civil unrest during the Taiping Rebellion, resulting in the deaths of 28 million peasants. Increased crop failure due to flooding and war leads to the immigration of 20,000 Chinese citizens to the United States.

1865 •	The Central Pacific section of the Transcontinental Railroad began construction and workers were hard to find due to the Nevada Silver Rush. Founder of the railroad, Charles Crocker began hiring Chinese immigrants to build the railroad on January 20th, 1865. •	From 1850 until 1882, a total of 322,000 Chinese came to the U.S. 75% of the agricultural work that was done in California at the time was done by Chinese immigrants. Many immigrants came to San Francisco and Chinatown was established.

1868 - 1871 •	On July 28th, 1868 Anson Burlingame, the former U.S. Minister to China, signed the Burlingame Treaty. 8 articles written reaffirmed prior U.S. Commercial rights while future trade rights were left open to China to decide their own laws and regulations when it comes to American immigrants entering China. China granted the U.S. unlimited immunity, travel, visitation, residence and immigration to U.S. citizens. •	Racial unrest leads to the Chinese Massacre of 1871 in Los Angeles, California and 18 Chinese immigrants are slaughtered in the neighborhood Calle de los Negros. Out of the 172 Chinese immigrants living there, 10% were killed within a day. Charges that were filed were eventually dropped and sadly, no racial tolerance came from the massacre. The Los Angeles News and The Los Angeles Star had run editorials condemning Chinese workers living in the U.S. calling them immoral and inferior in every way. The prejudices lead to the killing of these innocent Chinese immigrants. The Anti Coolie Club was formed in 1876, whose prominent members were strongly against the Chinese living in the United States.

1876 - 1888 •	For China, the Northern Chinese Famine of 1876 lasted until 1879 and claimed the lives of 9 to 13 million diseased and starving people. •	The San Francisco Riot of 1877 came and went and the Burlingame Treaty was revised by 1880, limiting the entry of Chinese immigrants to the United States, but still not banning it. By 1882 unskilled Chinese laborers were banned and 5 years later, China loses almost 2 million people to another flood. •	The Angell Treaty came in 1880 and stated that the U.S. could suspend but not prohibit immigration to the Chinese. It helped create the myth that the United States was a friend to China and that they had good intentions. Chinese immigration was still welcome in the U.S. but naturalization was, however not. •	The Scott Act is written in 1888 and prohibits Chinese natives to re-enter the U.S. after any temporary departure.

1891 – 1897 •	In 1891 the Immigration Act allowed for the inspection and deportation of immigrants back to China, from the United States. •	Chinese Slavery in America is written by famous professor, author and philanthropist Charles Fredrick Holder. Holder’s documentation of the 1500 Chinese slaves living in San Francisco opened our eyes to the realities Chinese immigrants faced during that time. Young girls were auctioned off by professional slave merchants to the highest bidders, much like they are today. These girls are entered into slave trade against their will and forced to work in brothels, to be sold to men for whatever means they saw fit. While today’s business of slave trade is more hidden in the United States due to laws, much of it has been tolerated throughout our history.

1904 – 1912 •	In 1904 Chinese immigrants were permanently excluded from naturalization. •	The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 led to the “Paper Sons and Paper Daughters” incident. New immigrants were forged due to the lost paper trail of immigrant families kept on file here in California. •	1907 brought famine to China and 24 million lives were lost. In the same year, the Restrictive Immigration Act of 1907 was passed. The Dillingham Commission was created to review the U.S. immigration policy. •	From 1910 until 1940 the Angel Island Immigration Station of San Francisco vetted immigrants to California. 11% to 30% of all vetted Chinese immigrants were refused entry and sent back to China during this time. •	In 1911, the Dillingham Commission Report came out. The findings stated that Asian immigrants in a nut-shell were uneducated, unskilled and they failed to properly integrate within American society and culture. •	A major change to China took place in 1912, it marked the beginning of the end for the Qing Dynasty and the rise of the Communist Chinese Republic.

1924 - 1965 •	New Immigration Law of 1924 is written and it excludes all classes of Chinese immigrants to the United States of America. •	By 1928, China experiences a draught which causes famine and disease, over 3 million Chinese people die, three years later The Great Flood of the Huang He (Yellow River) kills another 400,000 to 4 million deaths. In 1941 a draught in the Sichuan Province claims 2-5 million more lives in China. •	The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed by the 1943 Magnuson Act. The U.S. set yearly immigration quota and extended citizenship rights and privileges to Chinese immigrants. Chinese immigrants living in the U.S. however were not granted property ownerships rights under this act. •	By 1965, The Immigration and Nationality Act abolished the nation of origin restrictions on immigration in the United States. From 1965 to present day we have enjoyed open Chinese immigration.

Present Day •	The U.S.’s “Golden Visa” program is a controversial one. It offers a green card in exchange for a business investor to hand over 500k to the U.S. to start up business and residence here. There are so many applicants that the wait time is now discouraging more Chinese from signing up. Recently, Jared Kushner, son in law and advisor of president Trump’s administration, used some of the talking points from our Golden Visa program to try to encourage more Chinese business deals. Currently the wait time is about 10 years in the program, whose knows what changes are on their way for Chinese immigrants and citizens in our future.

In conclusion to my timeline on Chinese Immigration in the United States, I would like to say that I have learned so much in doing research for this assignment. While I knew a few key facts about the history involved, I have learned so much more. In China, the people have dealt with severe flooding and draught over many centuries, which greatly affected their people and land over time. Many, many lives have been lost there due to famine, poverty, disease and war. People looked toward opportunity and the U.S. looked promising. As people came for trade and gold, many stayed and took up work in agriculture, industrial work, building the railroad and merchant labor. The Chinese were exploited and discriminated against and yet they continued to strive for a better life here. They were sold into slavery, threatened, fought against and still the Chinese Americans living here fought and continue to fight oppression. I have a new-found respect and appreciation for the Chinese people we share this land with and all of the culture and life they have infused into this nation.

References

Anderson, David L. Imperialism and Idealism: American Diplomats in China, 1861–1898. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985.

Alchin, L. (2014, September). Chinese Immigration to America Timeline. Retrieved March 3, 2018, from http: www.datesandevents.org/us-immigration-timelines/Chinese-immigration-america-timeline.htm

Wallace, Kelly. “Los Angeles Public Library.” Forgotten Los Angeles History: The Chinese Massacre of 1871, 19 May 2017, www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/Chinese-massacre-1871.

Holder, Charles Fredrick North American Review, Vol. 165, No. 490 (Sep., 1897), pp. 288-294

Lu, Shen. “America’s ‘golden visa’ is losing its luster in China.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, 29 Sept. 2017, 10:51, money.cnn.com/2017/09/29/news/economy/china-us-eb5-visa-immigration/index.html.