Paper Example on Chinese Immigration to US: Migration, Emigration, and Immigration

Introduction

Migration is defined as the movement of people from one place to another with the intention of settling. For instance, it can be within the borders of the United States or outside its borders. Emigration is the movement of people from their nation into another while immigration is the movement of people from the other nations into one's country purposely to settle. In this regard, the movement of the Chinese from China to the United States is referred to as immigration in the U.S. and as emigration in China. As it will be analyzed in this paper, Chinese migration patterns caused a lot of cultural landscapes both in the U.S. and in China.

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Notably, in 1839-1842, the Qing state battled with the British on opium consumption in the domestic market (Zhao, 2016, p.115). This triggered the Qing state to enter into the opium war with the British as the Qing state tried to stop British from selling opium to the local Chinese. The outcomes of the war were poor governance, prosecutions, natural disasters, diseases, and fluctuation in economic conditions. These outcomes significantly initiated Chinese migration pattern, motivated migration to the United States of America, structured the world economic system, and facilitated formulation of policies that attempted to manage the migration. Below are the research objectives, purpose, and importance of this research.

Research questions

• What first attracted the Chinese to the United States in the Mid-19th century?
• How did the Chinese immigrants in the United States react to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?
• What facilitated the majority of the Chinese to migrate to the United States?

Purpose

This research paper will critically analyze Chinese migration to the U.S. in the Mid-19th Century during the stiff economic and political environment in China.

Importance

This research will be important because it provides an in-depth analysis of the prevailing economic and political situations both in China and the U.S. during the Mid-19th century and the facts about Chinese migration patterns to the U.S.

Summary of the Chinese Migration Pattern

Since the mid-19th century, the United States of America has been in contact with Asian countries through trade and commerce. After Great Britain had defeated China in the Opium War, it forced the Chinese government to open ports for trade, which was later called the Treaty of Nanjing. Great Britain then secured concessions from the government of Qing through a Treaty of Wangxia (Zhao, 2016, p.115). The United States continued to enter the Asian market, forcing many Asian nations to sign treaties to trade with Americans.

However, no Asian country interacted with Americans more than China. The agreements of trade and commerce that were formed between China and Great Britain led to increased movement of the people between the two powerful nations. The movement of the Chinese people to the United States was more profound than any other Asian country. The Chinese people started arriving in the United States from 1842 (Zhao, 2016, p.120). This was during the Gold Rush of California that began from 1848 to 1855.

After the Second World War, the American government uplifted some of the migration bans, and more people continued to migrate to the United States from different countries such as Australia, China, Japan and Korea. Meanwhile, Chinese migration to the United States continued to increase. Most of the Asian people before and after World War II were the Chinese people. This is why even now, Chinese people in the United States make up a significant number (2.5 million) compared to other Asian people in the United States.

Analysis of the Motivations to Migrate

In the wake of the mid-19th century, the Chinese commenced on a journey to the United States to escape the adverse economic conditions caused by the opium wars. The economic factors of the 1840s left them with no other option but to migrate to the United States and the neighbouring nations like Singapore.

According to Zhou & Liu (2015, p.185), the discovery of the gold rush in the mountain of western United States in 1848 was the main reason that motivated a large pool of Chinese labour contractors to move to the United States to work in the gold mines and send back some money to their families back in China. This emigration process made the advocates of Chinese labour to ease the process of providing contracts principle and credit cards to the emigrants.

Majority of the Chinese immigrant were men. They relocated to access the financial stability in the United States then return home to their families. During the migration, the Chinese found themselves in the hands of greedy recruiters and traders who manipulated and deceived them for their benefits. Despite this unethical condition by recruiters, the labourers were willing to consider the eight dollars paid in advance by the government or the recruiters to their families, and the monthly wages ranging from three to four dollars to financially support their families back at home. Though the wages were very low, it was better than getting nothing back in China where the economy had deteriorated. The little wages they earned were enough to enable their stay in the United States as well as support their families back in China.

Nonetheless, during the emigration process, the labor contractors provided a significant direction to their fellow countrymen due to their prominent positions in commerce (Zhou & Liu, 2015, p.182). This direction enabled more Chinese to access permit to move to other countries. In 1860, the Qing lifted the restriction to migrate outside the country and granted every Chinese right to travel overseas.

Analysis of How the World Economic System Structured the Migration

The United States was perceived as a global elite in labour supply to the immigrants as it provided them with access to commercial properties and stability. In the mid-19th century, the Chinese were recruited as low-skilled laborers. According to Lim (2017, p.330), the start of 1847 to 1874 saw California provide a variety of opportunities to the Chinese immigrants willing to provide cheap labour. A big number of laborers migrated with the prospect of grabbing the available opportunities in gold mines in California, Western United States. The move saw increased migration of Chinese into the U.S.

By the end of 1855, the number of Chinese going to the United States increased to 160,000 (Lim, 2017, p.333). The rise saw several Chinese traders and merchants establish diasporic networks that linked China and the United States to effectively facilitate the movement of Chinese to the United States.

Analysis of the Politics or Policies Attempting to Manage the Migration

Since the mid-19th century, the United States set up several policies such as the federal immigration law, Execution act and the civil right rules to the immigrants. These policies or laws barred the Chinese contract laborers in China from accessing the borders of the United States. Moreover, most of these policies or laws set up by the U.S. government were against the immigration of the Asian countries, especially China, because they failed to successfully embrace America cultures. In between 1852 to 1870, the United States passed federal immigration law to restrict Chinese entry into the country. Additionally, the laws barred the Chinese Immigrants in the United States from accessing the financial stability to support themselves and their families (Lim, 2017, p.340).

The Civil Right Act of 1866 enacted by the United States government declared that all the people born in the U.S. were eligible to make contracts, own assets, sue in court, and enjoy the full protection of Federal government. This Act came as a setback to the Chinese immigrants who were born outside the United States. Besides, the Civil Right Act initiated a fifty per cent tax deduction on all the wages of the Chinese immigrant leaving them with less than four dollars to save and support their families (Asgher & Banhegyi, 2015, p.157).

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited the migration of Chinese laborers to the United States. The Exclusion Act was the first immigration law to exclude the entire Chinese Ethnic group. Furthermore, the Chinese Exclusion Act barred the Chinese people from being eligible in the United States as before. In the same context, the United States introduced a post bond payable upon entry into the country, which was more expensive to access given most immigrants to the U.S were poor. The government ultimately regulated all the rights and privileges of the noncitizens in an attempt to control the population in America. This included the rights to own an asset or business, and freedom to invest and own properties in the United States.

Experience of Concrete Individuals as Part of the Migration Pattern

In the process of this migration in the mid-19th century, there was a notable concrete individuals who engaged in the migration pattern of the Chinese laborers to the United States. The concrete individuals engaged in the Chinese migration by providing financial support to the emigrants as well as providing vital data and information to them. Their involvements in this Chinese migration pattern to the U.S. endangered their life while trying to save the needy immigrants. Discriminations in the hand of the raiders was another issue faced by the concrete individuals in the mid-19th century. (Hooper & Batalova, 2015, p.50).

One notable concrete individual was Takoma Ordinance. He was one of the concrete individuals who explained how the immigrants faced hostility, discrimination and racial abuse in the United States. He acknowledges significant human rights violations during the Opium War and also the severe economic problems back in China were key motivators for this Chinese migration pattern in the mid-19th century.

Ordinance further explains the multiculturalism which exhibited the racially and ethnically diverse population of the United States. According to Takoma, it was the high poverty levels in China that influenced the Chinese men to start looking for greener pastures which later led to this migration pattern (Hooper, & Batalova, 2015, p.79). Despite the work of concrete individuals like Takoma, they failed to provide the solution to all the issues on the migration patterns' challenges.

Another recognizable concrete individual is Evanston who continued to treat the immigrant with human and dignity (Hooper, & Batalova, 2015, p.80). He also acknowledged the violation of human rights through concurrent raids from the brokers. Additionally, his resolution recognized how disparity in wealth and power distribution shaped the rich nations of Europe and resulted in migration in search of a better life in developed nations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that in the mid-19th century, the Chinese faced severe economic, political and financial problems which triggered their migration to the U.S. In the same context, war and migration changed the nation both negatively and positively. On the positive end, the movement from China to the United States enabled the Chinese men to financially support their families in China and earn a living from the monthly wages. The opium wars of 1839 to 1842 made the situation in China unsafe to the locals. It led to rampant emigration later with the discovery of the gold rush in the Western United States. Moreover, there were issues concerning oppression, economic fluctuations, opium addictions, poor governance, and natural disasters. Besides, there were several concrete individuals such as Ordinance and Evanston whose contributions in the migration patterns were positiv...