Reading: Asian Americans Then and Now

Question 1

When were young single men recruited as contract laborers from Southern China? Why did this stop?

Answer 1

beginning in the 1850s - the Chinese represented 20% of California’s labor force by 1870 even though they were .002% of US population

The depression in 1876 lead to “they’re taking our jobs!” and anti-Chinese legislation and violence began on West Coast

Question 2

Chinese Exclusion Act

Answer 2

1882 - the only United States law to prevent immigration and naturalization on the basis of race - which restricted Chinese immigration for the next sixty years

Question 3

What other groups came to the United States following the Chinese exclusion act?

Answer 3

Korean immigrants came to Hawaii following Japan’s occupation of Korea in 1905

South Asian Indian came as laborers but the “tide of the Turbans” was outlawed in 1917 when Congress declared that India was part of the Pacific-Barred Zone of excluded Asian Countries

Question 4

Gentleman’s Agreement

Answer 4

1907 Japanese immigration was restricted through an agreement between the United States and Japan

Question 5

By 1924 all Asian immigrants were fully excluded by law, denied citizenship and naturalization and prevented from marrying Caucasians or owning land with the exception of which group?

Answer 5

Filipino “nationals” were not included in this exclusion because the Philippines was already annexed by the United States as a result of the 1898 Spanish-American War

Question 6

Tydings-McDuffie Act

Answer 6

1935 - after severe anti-Filipino violence initiated by the Great Depression a annual quota of fifty Filipino migration excluded their entry as well

Question 7

During which half century did three waves of early Asian immigrants contribute their labor and were and when were they eventually granted naturalization rights?

Answer 7

Between 1882-1935 waves of Asian immigrants contributed then were denied following racisim anti 1952

Question 8

What are the differences in patterns of Asian immigration and exclusion from European immigration?

Answer 8

• the western colonialism and unequal power relations in Asia
• the insatiable need for cheap labor that accompanied manifest destiny westward expansion and economic development in the United States and
• the influence on social policy and public attitudes that resulted from lack of knowledge about Asian peoples and racist notions of white superiority

Question 9

Angel Island

Answer 9

immigration detention center for the West Coast - held many Chinese between 1910-1940

Question 10

What happened in response to the civil rights movement?

Answer 10

1965 - non-restrictive annual quotas of 20,000 immigrants per country were established

Question 11

in 1975 refugees from what Asian countries started entering the United States?

Answer 11

Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos

all of them shared common history as French colonial territory for nearly half a century until 1954