Editing Chinese Americans (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Chinese Americans}}
{{See also||Chinese immigration to Hawaii|Chinese immigration to Puerto Rico}}
[[File:Chinese miners Idaho Springs.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Chinese American miners in the [[Colorado School of Mines]]' Edgar Experimental Mine near [[Idaho Springs, Colorado]], {{circa|1920}}]]

There are three major waves of recent Chinese immigration into America:

# First wave, beginning in 1815, sailors and merchants from Sino-U.S. maritime trade
# Second wave, 1949–1980s, where WWII allyship led to the repealing of the [[Chinese Exclusion Act]] and the passing of the [[Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act|Magnuson Act]], legally allowing for Chinese Americans to [[Naturalization|naturalize]]
# Third wave, 1980s-present, when the PRC [[Chinese emigration#Modern emigration (late 20th century–present)|removed restrictions on emigration]] from China<!-- This above information is from the History of Chinese Americans page.  -->

[[File:Chinese American Shell Peddlers.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Chinese American Shell Peedlers (1918)]]

=== First wave (1815–1949) ===
{{Main|19th century Chinese immigration to America}}

==== 19th century arrivals, cause for migration ====
Nearly all of the early Chinese migrants were young men from rural villages of [[Taishan City|Toisan]], as well as the [[Greater Taishan Region|eight districts]] in [[Guangdong Province]].<ref name="historyworld">International World History Project. {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20110527055848/http://history-world.org/asian_americans.htm Asian Americans]}}. Retrieved 14 March 2014.</ref> The Guangdong province, especially [[Taishan City|Toisan]], experienced extreme floods and famine in the mid-nineteenth century, as well as mass political unrest such as the [[Red Turban Rebellion (1854–1856)|Red Turban unrest]]. This prompted many people to migrate to America.<ref name="history.state.gov" />

The vast majority of the 19th century Chinese immigrants to the U.S. came from a small area of eight districts on the west side of the [[Pearl River Delta]] in Guangdong province. The eight districts consist of three subgroups—the four districts of [[Siyi|Sze Yup]], the district of [[Zhongshan|Chung Shan]], and the three districts of [[Sanyi|Sam Yup]]—each subgroup speaking a distinct dialect of [[Yue Chinese|Cantonese]]. In the U.S., people from Sze Yup generally worked as laborers; Chung Shan people specialized in agriculture; and Sam Yup people worked as entrepreneurs.<ref>{{cite book|title=Making of the American West: People and Perspectives|editor1-first=Peter|editor1-last=Mancall|editor2-first=Benjamin Heber|editor2-last=Johnson|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2007|chapter=Asians and Asian Americans in the West|first=Lisa|last=Hsia|pages=161–187}}</ref>

==== California gold rush, Central Pacific Railroad construction ====
In the 1850s, Chinese workers migrated to work in the [[California gold rush]],<ref>[[Bill Bryson]], ''Made In America'', page 154</ref><ref name="Strangers28">{{cite book|title=Strangers From a Different Shore|first=Ronald |last=Takaki|publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]]|year=1998|isbn=978-0-316-83109-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/strangersfromdif00taka/page/28 28]|author-link=Ronald Takaki|url=https://archive.org/details/strangersfromdif00taka/page/28}}</ref><ref name="Chang34-35">{{cite book|title=The Chinese in America|first=Iris |last=Chang|year=2003|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|isbn=978-0-670-03123-8|pages=34–35|author-link=Iris Chang}}</ref><ref name="Kwong44">{{cite book|title=Chinese America: The untold story of America's oldest new community |first1=Peter |last1=Kwong |first2=Dusanka |last2=Miscevic|publisher=[[The New Press]]|year=2005|isbn=978-1-56584-962-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/chineseamericaun00pete/page/44 44]|url=https://archive.org/details/chineseamericaun00pete/page/44}}</ref> and also to do agricultural jobs and factory work, especially the garment industry.<ref name="history.state.gov">{{cite web |title=Milestones: 1866–1898 – Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/chinese-immigration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405033646/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/chinese-immigration |archive-date=5 April 2019 |access-date=15 December 2017 |website=History.state.gov}}</ref> Some became entrepreneurs. Chinese often settled in ethnic neighborhoods called [[Chinatown]]s. In 1852, there were 25,000 Chinese migrants in America. After coming to the United States, these immigrants learned a lot of new knowledge about transportation, communications, architecture, medical care that they could not get in China. They also learned new Western culture, including new food, religion, life. 

[[File:Chinese American Fishermen b.jpg|thumb|Chinese American [[fisherman]] at Monterey, CA, circa 1875]]

In order to open up a route to Asia, the United States passed the [[Pacific Railroad Acts]] in 1862. From 1860 until 1869, the [[Central Pacific Railroad]] recruited large labor gangs, with many laborers on five-year contracts, to build on the [[transcontinental railroad]]. The construction of this railway attracted worldwide attention at that time. Most of the workers who first built the railroad were Irish people of European descent. Later, because the conditions for building the railroad were too difficult, most people gave up and turned to the gold rush in California. And the white workers were "unsteady men and unreliable. Some of them would stay a few days, and some would not go to work at all. Some would stay a few days, until pay-day, get a little money, get drunk, and clear out."<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Chinese and the iron road: building the transcontinental railroad |date=2019 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-0925-9 |editor-last=Chang |editor-first=Gordon H. |series=Asian America |location=Stanford, California |pages=P10 |chapter=Introduction |editor-last2=Obenzinger |editor-first2=Hilton |editor-last3=Hsu |editor-first3=Roland |editor-last4=Fishkin |editor-first4=Shelley Fisher}}</ref>

At the beginning, the person in charge tried to hire only a small number of Chinese people to see their abilities. Later, the person in charge found that the Chinese were smarter and more hardworking than they thought, so more and more Chinese people were hired. The Chinese learn very quickly, are more careful and frugal than white workers, and they need to be paid less than white workers. Construction Superintendent J.H.Strobridge and the acting chief engineer, [[Samuel S. Montague]] was also impressed by the rich experience and efficiency of the Chinese workers. Later, it was proved that Chinese workers laid 10 miles and 56 feet of track in a single day on April 28, 1869.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Voss |first=Barbara L. |last2=色色拉沃斯 |date=2015 |title=The Historical Experience of Labor: Archaeological Contributions to Interdisciplinary Research on Chinese Railroad Workers / 劳工的历史经验: 考古学对于中 国铁路工人之跨学科研究的贡献 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43491356 |journal=Historical Archaeology |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=P6 |issn=0440-9213}}</ref>

But the Chinese workers don't seem to like to communicate with workers from other ethnic groups. They have their own "community", with their own chefs and accountants. Chinese workers were responsible for their own board and ate a diet that included imported Chinese staples, such as dried shellfish, fish, fruits, vegetables, and seaweed, as well as locally sourced rice, pork, poultry, and tea. They recount that Chinese railroad workers bathed daily, changing into clean clothes after work, and preferred to build their own dugouts and stone shelters rather than use company-provided tents. The Chinese railroad workers, it is recounted, kept to themselves and, other than gambling, enjoyed few vices.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Voss |first=Barbara L. |last2=色色拉沃斯 |date=2015 |title=The Historical Experience of Labor: Archaeological Contributions to Interdisciplinary Research on Chinese Railroad Workers / 劳工的历史经验: 考古学对于中 国铁路工人之跨学科研究的贡献 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43491356 |journal=Historical Archaeology |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=P6 |issn=0440-9213}}</ref>

Chinese laborers built the majority of the difficult route through the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] mountains and across [[Nevada]]. Some Chinese also died during the construction of the railroad due to the heat of Nevada's summers and cold winters. In June 1867, the company wanted to make up for the lost progress due to the bad winter weather, and the management wanted to increase the workers' working hours. This caused the Chinese workers to strike. The strikers exhibited remarkable organization and discipline. The workers were spread out over several miles of the line in numerous camps, but they managed to communicate closely with one another and coordinate the work stoppage.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Chinese and the iron road: building the transcontinental railroad |date=2019 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-0925-9 |editor-last=Chang |editor-first=Gordon H. |series=Asian America |location=Stanford, California |pages=P14 |chapter=Introduction |editor-last2=Obenzinger |editor-first2=Hilton |editor-last3=Hsu |editor-first3=Roland |editor-last4=Fishkin |editor-first4=Shelley Fisher}}</ref> Finally the company gave in and raised their wages slightly to keep them working. 

By 1870, the U.S. Census recorded 63,199 Chinese in the United States,<ref>Bureau, U. C. (2021, October 8). ''1870 census: Volume 1. the statistics of the population of the United States''. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1872/dec/1870a.html
</ref> and by 1890, this number had increased to 126,778.<ref>Bureau, U. C. (2023, February 2). ''1900 census: Volume II. population, part 2''. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1902/dec/vol-02-population-age.html
</ref> Even though the Chinese have made great contributions to railway construction, it is still difficult for them to obtain citizenship. Even in 1871, a white supremacist mob attacked Los Angeles' Chinatown and killed nineteen Chinese residents. Those lynched and shot likely included former railroad workers.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Chinese and the iron road: building the transcontinental railroad |date=2019 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-0829-0 |editor-last=Chang |editor-first=Gordon H. |series=Asian America |location=Stanford, California |pages=P40 |chapter=Chinese Railroad Workers and the US Transcontinental Railroad in Global Perspective |editor-last2=Fishkin |editor-first2=Shelley Fisher |editor-last3=Obenzinger |editor-first3=Hilton |editor-last4=Hsu |editor-first4=Roland}}</ref> And with the enactment of [[Chinese Exclusion Act|the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882]], more Chinese were forced to leave the United States.

==== Chinese Exclusion Acts ====
{{See also|Chinese Exclusion Act|White Australia policy}}

The [[Burlingame Treaty|Burlingame–Seward Treaty]] of 1868 between the United States and [[Qing China]] supported Chinese migration,<ref name="history.state.gov" /> but the [[Page Act of 1875|Page Law of 1875]] banned all female Chinese migrants from entering the United States. Upon arrival to the U.S. Chinese men and women were separated from each other as they awaited hearings on their immigration status, which often took weeks. During this time the women were subjected to lengthy questioning that focused on their family life and origins. Their responses were then cross examined with others from their village, and any discrepancies were used to justify denial of entry. The stress of being separated from family caused many women to fall ill while they waited for a hearing. Some even committed suicide as they feared being denied access to the country. Once they were approved and allowed into the country, Chinese women migrants faced additional challenges. Many were coerced into prostitution, with over 60% of the adult Chinese women living in California in 1870 working in the trade. Some women were lured to the U.S. with the promise of marriage only to become sex slaves, while others went to the U.S. in order to reunite with their families. Ninety percent of the Chinese women who immigrated to the U.S. between 1898 and 1908 did so to join a husband or father. By 1900, only 4,522 of the 89,837 (5%) Chinese migrants were women.

In 1880, the diplomat [[James Burrill Angell|James B. Angell]] was appointed to negotiate a new treaty with Qing China. The resulting [[Angell Treaty of 1880]] restricted Chinese immigration and banned the naturalization of Chinese migrants.

Two years later, the [[Chinese Exclusion Act]] of 1882 prohibited all Chinese from immigrating for 10 years, and required all Chinese people to carry identification. This was the first act to restrict immigration in American history. Then, six years later, the [[Scott Act (1888)|Scott Act]] of 1888 illegalized reentry to the United States after a visit to China, even for long-term legal residents.

In 1892, the [[Geary Act]] was passed to extend the Chinese Exclusion Act, and in 1902, the prohibition was expanded to cover Hawaii and the Philippines, despite the strong objections from the Chinese government and people.<ref name="history.state.gov" />

Only in 1898, as a result of the ''[[United States v. Wong Kim Ark]]'' Supreme Court decision, ethnic Chinese born in the United States become [[American citizen]]s.

The Chinese Exclusion Acts remained part of the law until 1943. With relations already complicated by the Treaties of Wangxia and Tianjian, the increasingly harsh restrictions on Chinese immigration combined with the [[Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States|rising discrimination against Chinese living in the United States]] in the 1870s-early 1900s.<ref name="history.state.gov" />

=== Second Wave (1949–1980) ===
During and after [[World War II]], severe immigration restrictions were eased as the United States allied with China against [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] [[expansionist nationalism|expansionism]]. Later reforms in the 1960s placed increasing value on family unification, allowing relatives of U.S. citizens to receive preference in immigration.
{{expand section |date=May 2023}}

=== Third Wave (1980s–present) ===
{{Expand section|date=May 2023}}

As of 2023, [[Chinese emigration|illegal Chinese immigration]] to [[Chinese people in New York City|New York City]] has accelerated.<ref name=NYCPrimaryChineseDestination>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/24/us/politics/china-migrants-us-border.html|title=Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border|author=Eileen Sullivan|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 24, 2023|access-date=November 24, 2023|quote=Most who have come to the United States in the past year were middle-class adults who have headed to New York after being released from custody. New York has been a prime destination for migrants from other nations as well, particularly Venezuelans, who rely on the city’s resources, including its shelters. But few of the Chinese migrants are staying in the shelters. Instead, they are going where Chinese citizens have gone for generations: Flushing, Queens. Or to some, the Chinese Manhattan...“New York is a self-sufficient Chinese immigrants community,” said the Rev. Mike Chan, the executive director of the Chinese Christian Herald Crusade, a faith-based group in the neighborhood.}}</ref> The Chinese American Planning Council has subsequently been established with [[headquarters]] on the [[Lower East Side]] of [[Chinatown, Manhattan|Manhattan]].