immigration

Immigration

By: Makaila Irene Crouch-Pyne

Chinese

Immigration

The Chinese first began to immigrate to the United States during the Gold Rush of 1849 in California. Multiple Chinese farmers came to the states to try to make a big fortune and after that go back to there home and back to china. China had got sent advertisements of good jobs, food, and paying

In 1860 the Trans-Continental Railroad was opened. First, the Central Pacific Railroad Company only hired 50 Chinese workers only on a trial basis! As these workers proved to be reliable and hardworking, the railroad company hired as many Chinese laborers as they could find. From 1864-to 1869, when the railroad was completed, more than ten thousand Chinese laborers worked on the railroad. When the railroad was the final product of complete almost half of the Chinese men went home/ back to China. But the other half stayed for a home and job so they could get money/gold probably because they did not have enough gold to travel back to China.

The vary first Asians arrived in our state also known as Colorado, around the year 1870 they settled in Leadville so they could mine because Leadville was a mining town. But many also set up restaurants and did labor work like housekeeping and laundry. As you might know, the Chinese section of Denver was called “Hop Ally” so if you were Chinese and lived in Denver you would live in “Hop Ally”. Discrimination was common against the Chinese. Many people would resent the cheap labor of the Chinese on October 31, in the year of 1880 Denver experienced its only race riot as the non-Asians burned “Hop Alley” down. By the year 1920, the Chinese population in Colorado was only 291 saying that the rest of it was in the thousands or even millions.

Immigration

Chinese

In the year 1790, The United States Naturalization Law restricted American citizenship only to white people. Chinese people were not allowed (anymore) to become US citizens,(wow how cruel and mean) even when the 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship to former slaves. In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act ( seriously why?) which prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers. This law stayed in effect until 1952 ( how?) with the passage of the immigration and Nationality Act of 1953 which allowed Asian immigration in a limited way and allowed Asians to become American citizens. Finally, in 1965, quotas on immigration based on race and ethnic origin were ended.

Japanese

When the US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882,(why would a person do that?) many American businesses found themselves without a cheap labor force. (ya you did that to your self just saying) As a result, they turned to the Japanese to fill this gap. (how mean!) Many Japanese farmers who could not afford to pay their taxes decided to come to America to earn higher wages. (good for them) The Japanese government would only issue permits to those immigrating to America who were healthy, strong, educated, and of good moral character. (hope they got some money!)

Japanese Immigration

Most Japanese immigrants settled in California at first, working on fishing crews, factories, lumber mills, and farms. (Good for them) Many Japanese men brought their wives with them and, although they could not become American citizens, their children who were born in America were. (makes some sense okay it makes a lot of sense) In the early 1900s, Japanese laborers came to Colorado, initially to replace the dwindling Chinese workforce in the mines. ( okay all right) Many of the Japanese worked for the Denver and Rio Grande railroad. (good job) Some became stoop laborers on sugar beet farms or worked in the peach orchards of the western slope. ( oh peaches!) Japanese farmers were also brought here to help settle and farm the San Luis Valley. Many people resented the Japanese workers and discrimination was common. (Like in the Chinese one)

African-American

African Americans first came to Colorado from the South to escape from slavery ( good for them) to free territory. The first American settlers arrived in Colorado in 1857. ( okay?) Many African Americans came to Colorado to mine for gold, although state laws did not allow black people to stake mining claims. (rude) Most African American miners would file their claims through white lawyers who would typically take a 20% commission. Many miners were cheated out of their earnings. The laws were changed in 1876 after Colorado became a state. Other African Americans came to Colorado to farm or find jobs in the cities. Most of the jobs were unskilled labor jobs such as janitors, porters, store clerks, etc. African American women were hired as domestic help-maids, nursemaids, laundresses, etc. Many African American men worked on the railroads as conductors and porters. The Five Points area of Denver became an African American center in the 1880s because it was the railroad’s terminus (the end.) African American families and businesses settled in that area.