Chinese Immigration Research Project

Anyone born in this country is a citizen. The law states that any citizen of the U.S. can bring their offspring into the U.S. Many of the new “citizens” brought “paper sons” to America. Paper sons were usually the son of the immigrant's friend. The paper sons had to be interrogated about their “father”. The immigrant and the paper son agreed on answers. The interrogation could last for hours. If he failed the test, he would be deported and sent back the China. Many Chinese boys came to America this way. “Hoping to catch a paper son in a lie, immigration officers asked specific questions, like `how many steps were in your father's house?'.” The only reason for all the deceit is only because of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. It was the first time an immigration limitation was passed on a certain group. It was signed by President Chester Arthur. It was ended in 1942, when China and the U.S. were allies in WWII. The wife of a Chinese general came to the U.S. She promoted the war. She also asked for the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act and it was repealed.

Many Americans hated the Chinese immigrants. There were many reasons why Americans hated them. Some hated the Chinese because they were more successful than some Americans. On the other hand, others hated the Chinese because they looked so different. Some participated in anti-Chinese riots. Many Chinese immigrants were lynched. Others were severely injured. The worst riot lasted three days. The National Guard was called in, but even that wasn't enough. Eventually, the Navy was called in, and the riot was broken up. These weren't the only bigoted acts. Racist laws were passed to give the Chinese a hard time. The Sidewalk Ordinance prevented people from carrying poles with baskets on the ends. It was deliberately aimed at the Chinese. The Cubic Air Ordinance required every adult in San Francisco to have 500 cubic feet of living space. In addition, the Foreign Miners Act taxed all foreign miners if they owned gold mines. This deterred some miners from buying mines. Perhaps the most ruthless law was the Scott Act. It added to the Chinese Exclusion Act. It announced that all Chinese immigrants outside of the U.S. couldn't come back in. At this time, about 20,000 immigrants were in China visiting their family.

Many people changed their attitudes towards the Chinese during WWII. WWII united China and the U.S; they had a common enemy: Japan. Many Chinese-Americans joined the military. Because at first they experienced racial prejudice, most of the Chinese-Americans were cooks. The few that actually fought were respected in the Army. Some even made it to be the Squad Leader. Because the Chinese were allies with the U.S. and the Japanese were its enemies, many stereotypical thoughts emerged. Chinese faces were said to be “kindly and honest”, and Japanese faces were said to be “cruel and arrogant”. This began an era of equality to the Chinese.

Chinese-Americans achieved great accomplishments. There were many important people. Michael Chang is a former professional tennis player. He was the youngest person to win a Grand Slam. He was also the first American to win the French Open in 34 years. Another important Chinese-American is Yo Yo Ma. He is a exceptional cellist who went to Juilliard School of Music. In addition, another Chinese-American is I. M. Pei. He is a renowned architect. He has designed the glass pyramid in from of the Louvre museum in Paris. Other buildings designed by him include the National Gallery of Art and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Furthermore, Jerry Yang founded Yahoo!. It is now a leading Internet brand. There are countless more significant people, but it is too many to list on paper.

Chinese Americans have made an enormous impact on American society. Like many of the immigrants from other countries, the Chinese immigrants were mostly poor. However when they got here, many were detained fro years at Angel Island. Those who did manage to get to the mainland received hate and prejudice from Americans. When the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, Chinese immigration was restricted. Some Chinese immigrants lied to the government, and said they were born in the U.S. That way, they brought their children or “paper sons” here. Even so, the children had to pass a difficult interrogation. The Chinese finally proved themselves in WWII, when they fought with the U.S. Life would be very different without the impact of Chinese-Americans.