2 History - 9

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new immigrants

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• accounted for phenomenal growth of American cities during this course, largely by immigration from Europe
• 1st wave of migration form Europe in 19th century – foreign immigraration averaged 2.4 million per decade
• 2nd wave = 5.2 million came in 1880s
• Migration of peeps from E. asia – the migration of Chinese to the US in 19th century was aprt of a larger demographic movement, pattern of immigration, had much more to do /w political n economic disolocations in Chinese than the particular promises of America. Diaspora=dispursion of a national group to places beyond its perceived homeland.

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Chinese diaspora

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o From 1840 to 1900 participating in a major
Chinese diaspora
• = some 2.5 million peeps left home to undeveloped countries in the Americas, Africa, S. pacific. In the us, which was only a small portion of this small movement, the diaspora centered largely in CA.
from the early ears of the CA gold rush, chiense immigrants suffered from discriminatory legislation—oppressed.
A mjor turning point took place in white/Chinese relations in CA in 1869: the year transcontinental railroad completed An Eastcoast story centered in NY.

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Transcontinental railroad

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• When completed in 1869, it not only released lotsa Chinese into labor market, but facilitated n dramatized the portability of labor—the ease w/ which capital ($) could control wages through long distance labor exchanges—control labor costs, control production costs, n enhance profits
In 1870, the shift of 143 chiense immigrants living in CA were shifted to 2 small factories on east coast: shoe factory in MA, a mechanical laundry factory in new jersey. > sounded an alarm in nat ional labor movement in 1870 > all this is taking place against the backdrop of accelereated growth of American economy n class conflic

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working men’s party

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A large political dispute erupted around 1870 over the contracted, coolie labor question: should migration of chines eot US to work for lower wages under contracts fo servitiude, was useful for the interests of America. >
working men’s party
• of SF arose in early 1870s led by an irish immigrant dennis carney<anti Chinese labor leader. Prinipal slogan
“the Chinese must go”

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“the Chinese must go”

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a labor movement but w/ a specific ethnic target
• began in SF, but over the course of 1870s, dev into a national political debate over the status fo Chinese labor n immigrants. At first, it reads mostly like a national political debate btwn competing theories of free labors.
• Over the course of the 1870s, things began to change. Initially is was a large debate btwn democrats=antichinese position vs republicans=more sympathetic to Chinese, more hostile to labor movement. Many republicans came to embrace the antic hinese position as well, by 1882, congress passed the
Chinese exclusion act

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Chinese exclusion act

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Many republicans came to embrace the antic hinese position as well, by 1882, congress passed the
Chinese exclusion act
• Renewed twice, not repealed until 1943. The first legislation to restrict immigration on the basis of race.
• The legislation was in place from 1882 to 1943
This was partly a result of the emerging prestige n influence of “race science
Chinese people made their first, n most prominent appearance on stage, on the exhibition stage of the c heap museum culture
• Afong moy: the Chinese lady (1835). The first Chinese woman to appear in the us was afong moy. This was a source of intense theatrical entertainment to NY crowds. The most famous display before the gold rush was

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Chang and eng bunker

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• Two twins born in 1811 in siam, from whom we get the phrase Siamese twins. Came to us in 1829 as part of an exhibition in boston, and for decades, a prominent features of American entertainment culture. The fascination of their sex lives tends not to care about their national origin or racial identity. Ver crucial to their popularity was their racial identity.
Considering how few Asians lived in US, it is not a coincidence that a mjor preouccupation of the museum culture was the exhibited asian body.
• In 1849, john peters jr. opened an entire museum evoted to Chinese curiosities

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The great Chinese museum

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Barnum rented the museum a year later n made a big splash, the exhibition of a living Chinese family
By the 1870s the popular culture shifted from seeing Chinese as curiosities towards seeing them as dangerous n subhuman—corresponded w/ increasing Chinese immigration to NY and SF.
Now they were the peeps who lived in these opium dens, where Chinese immigrants in NY were building up aid organizations, cultural institutions, but these places were portrayed as rat infested opium dens, scenes of organized crime.

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Rat eating

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• Image that surfaced in children’s songs that Chinese eat rats. Virulent images that ssociate images w/ animal species, associate them explicitly w/ urban ills (rat is symbol of epidemic, dirt, n decay).