CHINESE IN AMERICA

THEY CAME FROM ASIA EITHER BY BOAT OR BY JUNK. THEY BELIEVED JADE TO BE MAGIC AS WELL AS DID THE EARLY MEXICANS. THEY CARVED IT AS OFFERINGS TO THEIR GODS. BOTH CULTURES HAD THE SAME UNUSUAL BURIAL CEREMONY FOR THEIR NOBLES AND THE RICE. THEY PAINTED A PIECE OF JADE RED AND PLACED IT IN THE PERSON'S MOUTH BEFORE BURIAL. ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE FOUND CHINESE OBJECTS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA ,INDICATING THAT THEY EITHER VISITED OR LIVED IN CANADA. THE FIRST PROOF OF CHINESE IN AMERICA IS IN THE GREAT CHINESE ENCYCLOPEDIA. A HISTORIAN WROTE THAT A BUDDHIST PRIEST LIVED IN BRITISH COLUMBIA IN 458 AD AND TRAVELED TO MEXICO. THE CHINESE WORKED AS SHIP BUILDERS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA BETWEEN 1571 AND 1746. THE FIRST RECORD OF CHINESE IN THE US IS 1785. THEY STARTED COMING TO THE US AFTER 1848 WHEN GOLD WAS DISCOVERED. THEY DISCOVERED IT WAS DIFFICULT TO MAKE MONEY. DESPITE THIS THEY CONTINUED TO COME. TO UNDERSTAND WHY THEY CAME TO AMERICA IT IS NECESSARY TO SEE WHAT KIND OF LIFE THEY LEFT BEHIND.

IN CHINA THEY HAD A HIGHLY DEVELOPED SYSTEM OF CIVILIZATION, HOWEVER THEY HAD A PROBLEM WITH DRUGS. THEIR LIVES WERE CONTROLLED AND STRUCTURED BY A HEAD EMPEROR. MOST OF THE PEOPLE WERE PEASANTS. CHINA MADE EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED LUXURIOUS PRODUCTS. FOREIGN MERCHANTS TRADED THROUGH LARGE COMPANIES. THEY WEREN'T ALLOWED TO GATHER IN GROUPS OF MORE THAN 10 PEOPLE. THE CHINESE WEREN'T INTERESTED IN PRODUCTS FROM EUROPE OR AMERICA. IT WASN'T GOOD BUSINESS FOR THE FOREIGN MERCHANTS TO BUY CHINESE WITHOUT SELLING THEM SOMETHING.

THE PORTUGUESE FOUND THAT THE CHINESE LIKED OPIUM, A POWERFUL DRUG MADE FROM POPPIES. WHEN SMOKED IT MAKES THE PERSON DREAM HAPPY AND WONDERFUL THOUGHTS. IT MADE THEM FORGET THEIR TROUBLES. IT BECAME VERY POPULAR. THIS TRADE GREW. ALL THE WESTERN COUNTRIES, INCLUDING ENGLAND, BOUGHT OPIUM TO CHINA. THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT SAID THIS MADE PEOPLE SICK AND WEAK AND UNABLE TO WORK. AND IT WAS ADDICTIVE. THERE WAS TOO MUCH SILVER LEAVING THE COUNTRY. THEIR GOVERNMENT PASSED A LAW IN 1796 TO STOP THE SALE OF OPIUM, BUT THE CHINESE SMUGGLED IT INTO THEIR COUNTRY.

IN 1838 THEY PASSED A LAW THAT ANYONE CAUGHT WITH OPIUM WOULD BE KILLED. THE GOVERNMENT SEIZED AND DESTROYED THE SHIPMENTS. THEY HAVE A NATIONAL MONUMENT WHERE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS WERE SEIZED.
INDIA BECAME THE CHIEF OPIUM TRADERS AND THE ENGLISH OWNED THIS PART OF INDIA. THERE FINALLY WAS A SEA BATTLE OFF THE COAST OF CHINA IN 1839. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE OPIUM WAR. CHINA DID NOT KEEP UP WITH TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES. IT'S GOVERNMENT HAD BECOME CORRUPT AND WEAK. FINALLY BRITAIN WON THE WAR AND GAINED THE ISLAND OF HONG KONG. THEY FORCED CHINA TO OPEN 4 MORE PORTS FOR TRADE. EUROPE BEGAN USING MACHINES TO WEAVE CLOTHING AND CLOTH. THEIR PRODUCTS WERE CHEAPER THAN CHINESE HAND MADE GOODS. THE CHINESE PEOPLE BOUGHT THE CHEAPER PRODUCTS. THEIR INDUSTRIES WERE DESTROYED, MORE OPIUM WAS IMPORTED AND THE CHINESE MONEY BECAME WORTH LESS.

THEY ALSO HAD ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS - THEY HAD YEARS OF DROUGHT, FOLLOWED BY FLOODS. THE PEASANTS HAD LITTLE TO EAT. INSTEAD OF HELPING THEM, THE GOVERNMENT FORCED THEM TO PAY HIGHER TAXES. THERE WERE REBELLIONS.

A SECOND OPIUM WAR BEGAN IN 1856 -1860. CHINA LOST AGAIN. IN THE 1940'S THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT SAID NO MORE OPIUM WOULD BE ALLOWED IN THEIR COUNTRY! FOREIGNERS RECRUITED CHINESE LABORERS OVERSEAS. MANY CHINESE PEASANTS LEFT IN GREAT NUMBERS TO WORK IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. BRITAIN WAS INTERESTED IN THEIR LABOR. THEY FREED THEIR BLACK SLAVES AND HIRED THE CHINESE. THEY SIGNED CONTRACTS FOR SEVERAL YEARS. DURING 1860 TO 1870 LARGER NUMBERS OF CHINESE LEFT TO FIND WORK IN MANY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. THE SHIPS THEY TRAVELED ON HAD HORRIBLE CONDITIONS. THEY WERE TREATED LIKE SLAVES. SOMETIMES 500 PEOPLE LIVED IN THESE CROWDED SHIPS. OVER 1/4 OF THE PEOPLE WHO TRAVELED DIED.

THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT DID NOT LIKE THE WAY SOME OF THE COUNTRIES TREATED THEIR PEOPLE. SO THEY HAD AN INVESTIGATOR GO TO PERU AND CUBA. THEY FOUND THAT THEY HAD BEATEN THEM BADLY. SO THEY NO LONGER ALLOWED THEIR PEOPLE TO GO TO THESE COUNTRIES. THE CHINESE CAME TO SAN FRANCISCO IN BOATS THAT WERE PACKED - SO TO SPEAK LIKE SARDINES!

IN 1848 GOLD WAS FOUND NEAR COLOMA, CALIFORNIA. A SAW MILL WAS BUILT FOR JOHN SUTLER PIECES OF GOLD WERE IN THE MILL POND - THE NEWS TRAVELED WORLDWIDE. AMERICANS FROM THE EAST COAST POURED INTO CALIFORNIA, THEN HAWAIIANS, AND THEN SOUTH AMERICANS. NEXT YEAR EUROPEANS CAME. IN 1850 CALIFORNIANS ASKED THE STATE TO PASS A FOREIGN MINER'S TAX. IT FORCED ALL MINERS TO PAY A VERY HIGH PRICE FOR A MINING LICENSE. AFTER A SHORT A FIGHT EUROPE, MEXICO, SOUTH AMERICA LEFT THE MINERS FIELDS. THEN IN 1852 20,000 CHINESE ARRIVED IN SAN FRANCISCO AND THE MINERS WERE UPSET. THE CHINESE MOSTLY HELPED OUT WITH THE LAUNDRIES, RESTAURANTS, AND GENERAL STORES. THE MINER'S EXPELLED THE CHINESE FROM THE MINING CAMPS, SOMETIMES BEATING THEM UP AND SHOOTING THEM. THE STATE COLLECTED OVER 5 MILLION DOLLARS FROM MINING TAXES PER YEAR. MANY CHINESE MINERS WERE EXPELLED FROM THE MINES. HOWEVER SOME STAYED AND BUILT SOME EQUIPMENT FOR THE MINERS USING TEAMWORK.

AS THE AMERICAN MINERS LEFT THE CAMPS IN 1870'S THE CHINESE MOVED IN. THEY ALSO WORKED THE QUICKSILVER AND BORAX MINING INDUSTRIES. THE CONDITIONS RUINED THEIR HEALTH. THE RAILROADS IN CALIFORNIA IN THE 1870'S WERE ANOTHER BIG PROJECT. IRISHMEN HELPED IN THIS DANGEROUS AND EXHAUASTING AND EXHAUSTING WORK. IT TOOK THE PACIFIC RAILROAD TWO YEARS TO LAY 50 MILES OF TRACK., AS MANY MEN LEFT AFTER PAY DAY. THEY TRIED HIRING A GROUP OF CHINESE MEN AND FOUND THAT THEY WORKED SO WELL , THEY HIRED ANOTHER 3000 IN 1865. SOON CONSTRUCTION MOVED ALONG QUICKLY.

DURING 1860 - 1890 ALL PARTS OF CALIFORNIA HAD CHINESE IN THE FIELDS. SOME WERE IN THE VINEYARDS AS WELL. SOME OF THE IMMIGRANTS BECAME FISHERMEN IN CALIFORNIA. THEY GROUPED TOGETHER A SMALL FISHING VILLAGE. THEY DISCOVERED ABALONE AND THEY SENT IT TO CHINA.

AGAIN FISHERMEN FROM THE EAST COAST WANTED THE CHINESE OUT OF CALIFORNIA AND A FISHING TAX WENT INTO ACTION IN 1860. IT MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR CHINESE TO BE IN THE FISHING INDUSTRY. THEY COULD WORK IN THE SHARK AND SALMON CANNERIES. HUNDREDS MOVED TO CHINA CAMP ON THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY TO TRAP SHRIMP USING NETS. THIS BECAMEW A STATE PARK WHERE SOME CHINESE FOLKS STILL WORK. THE SHRIMP WERE SENT BY BOAT BACK TO CHINA.

AFTER 1865, THE CALIFORNIA CHINA MEN ENGAGED IN WOOLEN MILLS, CIGAR FACTORIES, AND SLIPPER FACTORIES. AFTER THE CIVIL WAR , THERE WERE SO MANY UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE THAT THE EAST COAST MANUFACTURERS EMPLOYED EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS. THE AMERICAN UNION ON THE WEST COAST FORCED MANUFACTURERS TO LAY OF CHINESE IMMIGRANTS AND HIRE AMERICANS. BUT THE AMERIANS WENT ON STRIKE BECAUSE OF LOW WAGES. THE FIRMS REHIRED CHINESE TO BREAK THE STRIKE. SOON CHINESE MADE UP 3/4THS OF THE TOTAL WORK FORCE IN THE MILL AND MANUFACTURING BUSINESSES IN CALIFORNIA. AFTER 1941 THE U.S. WAS AN ALLY OF CHINA. THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACTS WERE REPEALED SO THEY COULD BECOME NATURALIED AMERICAN CITIZENS.

RUTHANNE MCCUNN