The History of Chinese Immigrants in America Essay Example

During the Nineteenth Century (1850-1899)  the Federal Government was put under pressure to put laws to control the number of immigrants that are entering the United States. Most Americans showed opposition to the numbers and nationalities of the new immigrants coming into the United States. Most were influenced by some Americans to pressure Congress to close the door on immigration. The history of Chinese immigration can be used as a case study in nineteenth-century American immigration policy. The good reason for the immigration is that when the Chinese immigrants came, more jobs opened and built railroads in the American west, and as Chinese laborers grew successful in the United States, a number of them became entrepreneurs in their own right. The Chinese immigrants were more dedicated to doing the jobs as the whites were slacking off during work. But, the bad reason for immigration is that Chinese people were assumed to be poor and unable to pay and people lost their jobs, the opium that was brought in by them, the disease they brought with them killed the people around them.

I think that the Chinese immigrants are just harmless people who are trying to earn money for their families who couldn’t come to the United States and that Chinese immigrants don't complain about the work nor complain, they just get the job done and receive whatever they can get and consider that these Chinese people are harmless, and that they are quiet and peaceful and they are not lazy and able to do stuff without support. While the white men will become lazy and complain about things and treat Chinese people no worse than dogs. This issue is talked about in Document 1 in Samuel Clemens writing as Mark Twain, Roughing It, Vol. 2: Chapter XIII: The Gentle, Inoffensive Chinese, 1871. It said “They are a harmless race when white men either let them alone or treat them no worse than dogs; in fact, they are almost entirely harmless anyhow, for they seldom think of resenting the vilest insults or the cruelest injuries (they do not react to insults or injuries). They are quiet, peaceful, tractable, free from drunkenness, and they are as industrious as the day is long (very hard working). A disorderly Chinaman is rare, and a lazy one does not exist. So long as a Chinaman has the strength to use his hands he needs no support from anybody; white men often complain of want (lack) of work, but a Chinaman offers no such complaint; He always manages to find something to do.”

Another reason why Chinese immigrants benefited in the nineteenth century is that they (the Chinese people) have never stopped building the railroads when the white people couldn’t get done because they were too slow, they were compelled to try Chinese people and it turns out that Chinese people were more efficient at the job and the time it takes to get it done. This is talked about in Document 3 in the Congressional testimony of Charles Crocker to a Joint Committee of the House of Representatives relating to the Chinese workers of the Central Pacific Railroad which contributed to the Chinese Immigration Report, 1877. Which states that “We continued about a year and a half when we found we could not get sufficient labor to progress with the road as fast as was necessary, and we felt driven to the expediency (easy solution) of trying Chinese” and stated that “we were compelled to try Chinese labor, and we tried them on the light work, thinking they would not do for heavy work. Gradually we found that they worked well there, and as our forces spread out and we began to occupy more ground and felt more in a hurry, we put them into the softer cuts, and finally into the rock cuts. Wherever we put them we found them good, and they worked themselves into our favor to such an extent that if we found we were in a hurry for a job, it was better to put Chinese on at once. Previous to that we had always put on white men; and today if I had a big job of work that I wanted to get through quickly, and had a limited time to do it, I should take Chinese labor to do it, because of its greater reliability and steadiness, and their aptitude and capacity for hard work.

But for the first reason why Chinese immigrants harmed the nineteenth century is that Chinese immigrants posed a threat to the jobs of white workers and seemed unassimilable. When the unemployed white workers couldn’t find work they are forced to turn to loitering and crime. “The Chinese were depicted as “many handed” or monstrous creatures depriving white laborers of their jobs” The image emphasizes the prevailing anti-Chinese view that the Chinese aren’t like other immigrants. They are instead “sojourners” whose only wish is to make money in America to send back to their families in China.  This is shown in the image of  Document 8: Chinese Octopus. Octopus Chinese Man Cartoon; What Shall We Do With Our Boys?;  As the Chinese expanded into a range of industries, other immigrants feared and blamed economic hardship on them.  Cartoons, such as this one, were common during the years leading up to the Exclusion Act of 1882.

The second reason why Chinese immigrants harmed the nineteenth century is in Document 9: “A Statue for Our Harbor”. “A Statue for Our Harbor” focuses on themes some Americans associate with Chinese immigration. The rays of light in the crown of the statue carry the words, “Ruin to White Labor”, “Disease”, “Immorality” and “Filth” (Courtesy of Choy, Philip. Dong, Lorraine. Hom, Marlon. The Coming Man. University of Washington Press: Seattle and London, 1994. Page:136). This image shows that the Chinese immigrant is holding an opium pipe in their left-hand meaning that they are the ones who brought the opium drug to the United States and rested their leg on a skull which concludes that they brought diseases to America when they immigrated here. The person looked like he was poor and dirty because his clothes were ragged because of China’s economic chaos. The steamboats represent pollution. Chinese immigrant laborers often worked for less pay than white laborers; consequently, anti-Chinese sentiment grew among white laborers who feared they would lose their jobs.  Exaggerated stories of rampant gambling, drug use, and prostitution in the Chinese immigrant neighborhoods led many whites to believe that the Chinese were destroying the cultural and moral standards of American society. 

In conclusion, in my persuasive essay about whether or not associating with Chinese immigrants is harmful or a benefit during this time, in my situation  I stand with both sides of the argument because I understand that white people are afraid of something new happening that can change the world which is technically talked about in the image of Chinese Octopus and the Statue Of Our Harbor because when Chinese immigrants posed a threat to the jobs of white workers and seemed unassimilable. When the unemployed white workers couldn’t find work they are forced to turn to loitering and crime. And, the Chinese immigrant laborers often worked for less pay than white laborers; consequently, anti-Chinese sentiment grew among white laborers who feared they would lose their jobs.  Exaggerated stories of rampant gambling, drug use, and prostitution in the Chinese immigrant neighborhoods led many whites to believe that the Chinese were destroying the cultural and moral standards of American society. But, at the same time I agree with the argument that they should allow immigrants to come in because it can change the world like more jobs will be created and things get done efficiently and quick like it as said in Document 1- Samuel Clemens writing as Mark Twain, Roughing It, Vol. 2: Chapter XIII: The Gentle, Inoffensive Chinese, 1871 and in Document 3 – Congressional testimony of Charles Crocker to a Joint Committee of the House of Representatives relating to the Chinese workers of the Central Pacific Railroad which contributed to the Chinese Immigration Report, 1877.  That the Chinese immigrants are just harmless people who need money to send back home to their families and that they don’t complain about the hardship they go through with immigration and the low pay and that the Chinese people have never stopped building the railroads when the white people couldn’t get done because they were too slow they were compelled to try Chinese people and it turns out that Chinese people were more efficient at the job and the time it takes to get it done.