For blog 3 i decided to compare and contrast the differences between Chinese people and Japanese people. Originally I just grouped the Chinese and the Japanese in the same category. I didn't see any difference between the two groups. However, after I learned about them they really had two different life styles. Both of the groups were treated differently by Americans too.
The Chinese and the Japanese both came to the United States for two different reasons. The Japanese came for better jobs and money. The Japanese brought their entire family with them to get out of the harsh taxes the government gave to farmers. The Japanese also mostly settled in Hawaii and worked on farms. However, the Chinese came over to get out of all the Opium wars. The Chinese were also in tough times economically so they looked towards America and the mainland as their way of freedom. The Chinese also only came to stay temporairly. That is why mostly only the men went over and left their families behind. They just went to make money and return to their families. The Japanese said they were there only temporairly also, however they were really planning on staying. This made it easier for Americans to get along with Chinese people unlike Japanese.
In the end both groups chose the same thing. They both decided to stay in the United States because there were a lot of more job oppurtunities. Both groups needed the money to help provide for their families. The Americans descriminated against these groups at first in many different ways. The Chinese had to deal with an enforcement of a lot of new laws against them. They had the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Naturalism Law. The Chinese Exclusion Act, kept anymore Chinese people from entering America. The Naturalism Law, stated Chinese people could not become citizens because they were not white. The Japanese had to deal with descrimination from their farm owners. The owners would make their workers a very ethnic group to try and keep from rebelling workers. The Japanese were well informed that they couldn't have skilled jobs because they were not Americans. The Japanese were hit with the Alien Land Law. This law prevented any the Japanese from owning any land to grow crops on.
The Japanese and Chinese dealt with discrimination much differently. However, they both made it through it with many lucky breaks along time. Both are now a big part of our society. They both have had a different road to come down, but both ended up on the same road ok.
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While the Chinese were indeed fleeing from the opium wars, they were also coming to America because the "local people" and the "guest people" were fighting over the fertile lands. The Taiping Rebellion is one example of this. Also, economic conditions drove the Chinese out of their lands. Peasant farmers were often unable to pay their taxes and in fact lost their lands, homes of their families. Also, FLOODS of all things made their property unusable, causing the fleeing from their own lands. It is interesting to think about all of these things acting on a person, a family, and a culture of people. You are correct in saying that they did not plan to stay permanently, but the hundreds of thousands that left in fact often left their wives and families behind, all for a place than initially seemed welcoming, until the new few turned to the unwanted many.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that really surprised me was the chinese exclusion act. I was suprised at such measures taken to prevent orientals from coming into america. The fact that you had to be white to be a citizen means that the intentions of the United States was never to gives theses people citizenship rights as they were just allowing them into america so they could do cheap labor. America is on of the top notch capitalist country, but what measures did it take to build it supremacy as will as what measures will it take to keep it?
ReplyDeleteI think you have a good point about the Chinese being exploited for the purpose of cheap labor. They, like many immigrant groups, were let into the country to fill the necessary gaps in America’s expanding labor market. Many of these jobs were the worst of the worst, or simply jobs that white American citizens wouldn’t bother taking. Yet, they needed to get done and so immigrant groups were taken advantage of.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting to think about how many immigrants fled from harsh economic/political conditions only to be welcomed in America by laws worded to do the same thing. Many came to work for a better life in this country. How many do you think came and just ended worse off than before?
Both the Chinese and Japanese immigrated to America because of economic and political turmoil they were facing in their homeland--for the Chinese it was the threat of British rule and the Opium wars; for the Japanese it was constant crop failure. The success of both groups I think was pretty dependent on their male/female immigrant ratio. Judging in these terms, the Chinese were worse off because tradition and government regulations limited the number of women that could make the journey abroad. In contrast, Japanese immigrants were better off because both men and women made the journey, and were not a 'bachelor' community like the Chinese. Both groups were exploited for cheap labor, and I think you make a great point in highlighting this fact.
ReplyDelete(Nick Claypool): In a lot of ways, I think the immigrants were better off in America than their homelands. More job opportunities, for example, meant that despite the harshness and difficulty of the labor, immigrants still had a livelihood and some rate of pay.