Editing Asian Americans (section)

===Early immigration===
[[File:5ViewsOfStMaloLouisiana1883.jpg|thumb|Five images of the [[Filipino people|Filipino]] settlement at [[Saint Malo, Louisiana]]]]

Because Asian Americans or their ancestors immigrated to the United States from many different countries, each Asian American population has its own unique immigration history.<ref name="RoAAPEW2012" />

[[Filipinos]] have been in the territories that would become the United States since the 16th century.<ref>{{cite book |first=Joaquin |last=Gonzalez |title=Filipino American Faith in Action: Immigration, Religion, and Civic Engagement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxdJXdqPuuEC&q=filipino%20landing%20morro%20bay&pg=PA20 |access-date=May 11, 2013 |year=2009 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=9780814732977 |pages=21–22 |archive-date=March 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326122530/https://books.google.com/books?id=vxdJXdqPuuEC&q=filipino+landing+morro+bay&pg=PA20 |url-status=live }}<br />{{cite book |first=E. Jr. |last=San Juan |chapter=Emergency Signals from the Shipwreck |series=SUNY series in global modernity |title=Toward Filipino Self-Determination |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Cprm26URewC&q=filipino%20morro%20bay&pg=PA101 |access-date=May 11, 2013 |year=2009 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=9781438427379 |pages=101–102 |archive-date=March 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326122540/https://books.google.com/books?id=9Cprm26URewC&q=filipino+morro+bay&pg=PA101 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1635, an "East Indian" is listed in [[Jamestown, Virginia]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/upload/African%20Americans%20on%20Jamestown%20Island.pdf |title=A Study of the Africans and African Americans on Jamestown Island and at Green Spring, 1619–1803 |author=Martha W. McCartney |author2=Lorena S. Walsh |author3=Ywone Edwards-Ingram |author4=Andrew J. Butts |author5=Beresford Callum |year=2003 |work=Historic Jamestowne |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |access-date=May 11, 2013 |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104205831/http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/upload/African%20Americans%20on%20Jamestown%20Island.pdf |url-status=live }}<br />{{cite news |url=http://www.indiacurrents.com/articles/2007/05/16/indian-slaves-in-colonial-america |title=Indian Slaves in Colonial America |author=Francis C. Assisi |date=May 16, 2007 |newspaper=India Currents |access-date=May 11, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127200048/http://www.indiacurrents.com/articles/2007/05/16/indian-slaves-in-colonial-america |archive-date=November 27, 2012 }}</ref> preceding wider settlement of Indian immigrants on the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] in the 1790s and the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] in the 1800s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Okihiro |first=Gary Y. |title=The Columbia Guide To Asian American History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZDkwy7CURgC&q=south%20asian%20slaves%20jamestown&pg=PA178 |access-date=May 10, 2013 |year=2005 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=9780231115117 |page=178 |archive-date=March 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326122535/https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZDkwy7CURgC&q=south+asian+slaves+jamestown&pg=PA178 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1763, Filipinos established the small settlement of [[Saint Malo, Louisiana]], after fleeing mistreatment aboard [[New Spain|Spanish]] [[Manila galleon|ships]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/ancestorsintheamericas/time_06.html |title=Filipinos in Louisiana |website=[[PBS]] |access-date=January 5, 2011 |archive-date=March 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321101112/http://www.pbs.org/ancestorsintheamericas/time_06.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Since there were no Filipino women with them, these "Manilamen", as they were known, married [[Cajuns|Cajun]] and indigenous women.<ref>{{cite book |title=Southeast Asian Americans |last=Wachtel |first=Alan |year=2009 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-4312-4 |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i_SzmVM1lCAC&q=louisiana+manilamen+marriage&pg=PR4 |access-date=December 5, 2010 |archive-date=March 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326122534/https://books.google.com/books?id=i_SzmVM1lCAC&q=louisiana+manilamen+marriage&pg=PR4 |url-status=live }}</ref> Filipino farmworkers also played a major role in U.S. agriculture in the early 1900s. They often faced poor working conditions and discrimination.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Filipino Experience in the U.S. |publisher=Class Material |year=2024 |access-date=May 15, 2025}}</ref> The first Japanese person to come to the United States, and stay any significant period of time was [[Nakahama Manjirō]] who reached the East Coast in 1841, and [[Joseph Heco]] became the first Japanese American [[Citizenship of the United States#Naturalized citizenship|naturalized US citizen]] in 1858.<ref>{{cite book|author=John E. Van Sant|title=Pacific Pioneers: Japanese Journeys to America and Hawaii, 1850–80|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w1LIkmYaLWsC&pg=PA22|year=2000|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-02560-0|page=22|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=January 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103004328/https://books.google.com/books?id=w1LIkmYaLWsC&pg=PA22|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite book|author1=Sang Chi|author2=Emily Moberg Robinson|title=Voices of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Experience|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=55GHYJlvf7YC&pg=PA377|date=January 2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-354-5|page=377|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=January 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103004328/https://books.google.com/books?id=55GHYJlvf7YC&pg=PA377|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite book|author=Joseph Nathan Kane|title=Famous first facts: a record of first happenings, discoveries and inventions in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PaYEAAAAYAAJ|year=1964|publisher=H. W. Wilson|page=161|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=May 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510190257/https://books.google.com/books?id=PaYEAAAAYAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

Chinese sailors first came to [[Hawaii]] in 1789,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/132/1/JL08005.pdf |title=Chinese Merchant-Adventurers and Sugar Masters in Hawaii: 1802–1852 |author=Wai-Jane Cha |publisher=University of Hawaii at Manoa |access-date=January 14, 2011 |archive-date=September 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918192450/http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/132/1/JL08005.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> a few years after Captain [[James Cook]] came upon the island. Many settled and married [[Native Hawaiians|Hawaiian]] women. Most Chinese, [[Koreans|Korean]] and Japanese immigrants in Hawaii or San Francisco arrived in the 19th century as laborers to work on sugar plantations or construction place.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Xiaojian Zhao|author2=Edward J.W. Park Ph.D.|title=Asian Americans: An Encyclopedia of Social, Cultural, Economic, and Political History [3 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Social, Cultural, Economic, and Political History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3AxIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA357|date=November 26, 2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-240-1|pages=357–358|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=January 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103004328/https://books.google.com/books?id=3AxIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA357|url-status=live}}</ref> There were thousands of Asians in Hawaii when it was annexed to the United States in 1898.<ref>Ronald Takaki, ''Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans'' (2nd ed. 1998) pp 133–78</ref> Later, Filipinos also came to work as laborers, attracted by the job opportunities, although they were limited.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://opmanong.ssc.hawaii.edu/filipino/cali.html |title=Filipino Migrant Workers in California |author=The Office of Multicultural Student Services |year=1999 |publisher=University of Hawaii |access-date=January 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204034225/http://opmanong.ssc.hawaii.edu/Filipino/cali.html |archive-date=December 4, 2014 }}<br />{{cite journal |last1=Castillo |first1=Adelaida |year=1976 |title=Filipino Migrants in San Diego 1900–1946 |journal=The Journal of San Diego History |volume=22 |issue=3 |publisher=San Diego Historical Society |url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/76summer/migrants.htm |access-date=January 12, 2011 |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604203743/http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/76summer/migrants.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Ryukyuan people|Ryukyuans]] would start migrating to Hawaii in 1900.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://manoa.hawaii.edu/okinawa/wordpress/?page_id=78|title=Center for Okinawan Studies|access-date=2020-01-11|archive-date=January 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101095035/http://manoa.hawaii.edu/okinawa/wordpress/?page_id=78|url-status=live}}</ref> Many Chinese immigrants played key roles in building the Transcontinental Railroad, but their stories were often left out of mainstream history. According to a PBS article, “Descendants of Chinese Laborers Reclaim Railroad’s History,” families today are working to recover and honor those forgotten histories.<ref>{{cite web |title=Descendants of Chinese Laborers Reclaim Railroad's History |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/descendants-of-chinese-laborers-reclaim-railroads-history |website=PBS NewsHour |date=May 10, 2021}}</ref>

Large-scale migration from Asia to the United States began when Chinese immigrants arrived on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] in the mid-19th century.<ref>{{cite book|author=L. Scott Miller|title=An American Imperative: Accelerating Minority Educational Advancement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dCekZUesEjIC&pg=PA19|year=1995|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-07279-2|page=19|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=January 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103004328/https://books.google.com/books?id=dCekZUesEjIC&pg=PA19|url-status=live}}</ref> Forming part of the [[Gold Rush of 1849|California gold rush]], these early Chinese immigrants participated intensively in the mining business and later in the construction of the [[First transcontinental railroad|transcontinental railroad]]. By 1852, the number of Chinese immigrants in San Francisco had jumped to more than 20,000. A wave of Japanese immigration to the United States began after the [[Meiji Restoration]] in 1868.<ref>{{cite book |author=Richard T. Schaefer |title=Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=STR1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT872 |date=March 20, 2008 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-4522-6586-5 |page=872 |access-date=October 16, 2015 |archive-date=January 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103004328/https://books.google.com/books?id=STR1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT872 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1898, all Filipinos in the Philippine Islands became American nationals when the United States took over colonial rule of the islands from [[Spain]] following the latter's defeat in the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=38974 |title=The Legal Entanglements of Empire, Race, and Filipino Migration to the United States |author=Stephanie Hinnershitz-Hutchinson |date=May 2013 |website=Humanities and Social Sciences Net Online |access-date=August 7, 2014 |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808171836/http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=38974 |url-status=live }}<br />{{cite book |last=Baldoz |first=Rick |date=2011 |title=The Third Asiatic Invasion: Migration and Empire in Filipino America, 1898–1946 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qtn31sdI4j8C&q=Filipinos%20american%20nationals%201898&pg=PA204 |publisher=NYU Press |page=204 |isbn=9780814709214 |access-date=August 7, 2014 |archive-date=March 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326122531/https://books.google.com/books?id=qtn31sdI4j8C&q=Filipinos+american+nationals+1898&pg=PA204 |url-status=live }}</ref> The PBS documentary series Asian Americans highlights these stories and explores how Asian American communities have shaped the U.S. across centuries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Asian Americans |url=https://www.pbs.org/show/asian-americans/ |website=PBS |access-date=May 15, 2025}}</ref>