Asian-American History

In the late 1800s Chinese, and eventually other Asians, were excluded from citizenship. These laws were repealed during World War II, followed by further immigration law changes, making it easier for Asians to enter the U.S.

Today, Asian immigrants have a high rate of assimilation and participation in the American mosaic.

The Chinese were the first Asians to arrive in large numbers. By the 1830s Chinese were selling goods in New York City and toiling in Hawaiian sugarcane fields.

Gold was discovered in California in 1848, eventually attracting thousands of Chinese miners and contract laborers. In 1850, just over 1,000 Asian immigrants entered the U.S., but ten years later, the figure had jumped to nearly 37,000, mostly Chinese.

In some quarters, Chinese workers were welcomed. The Central Pacific Railroad recruited Chinese to work on the transcontinental railroad in 1865. Three years later the Chinese and the U.S. ratified the Burlingame Treaty that facilitated Chinese immigration.

However, many people feared being "overwhelmed" by the influx, which had swelled to nearly 65,000 in 1870, and over 107,000 in 1880. Some places passed laws against Chinese and other Asians, often referred to as "Mongolians." Anti-Chinese riots erupted in Chico, California, in 1877 and in Rock Springs, Wyoming, in 1885.

Meanwhile, increasing contact with Japan prompted Japanese to move to Hawaii and California to work in agriculture. In 1869, the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony was established in California.

In 1899, following the Spanish-American War , the Philippines came under American control, prompting increased immigration. In 1902 the pensionado program, allowing Filipinos to study in the U.S., was implemented.

Because most Filipinos are Roman Catholic, their integration into American life was somewhat easier than for other Asians. Though Filipinos faced the same prejudices as Chinese and Japanese laborers (as described in Carlos Bulosan's book America is in the Heart), Filipinos arrived with English skills, making assimilation easier.

During World War II, thousands of Americans of Japanese ancestry were placed in internment camps. Even though many did not speak Japanese or have any close ties to Japan, they were nonetheless regarded as wartime threats. Although the U.S. was also at war with Germany and Italy, Americans whose ancestors had come from those countries did not face a similar mass internment.

In 1988 Congress passed a measure giving $20,000 to those who had been interned during the war. President George H.W. Bush signed it the following year.

Although Asian immigration increased steadily through much of the 20th century, the region still contributed fewer newcomers than Europe, Latin America, and North America.

The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 eliminated race as a barrier to immigration, and in 1965, national quotas were ended, facilitating Asian immigration.

Political power soon followed. Dalip Singh was elected to Congress from California's Imperial Valley, and in 1962, Hawaii sent Daniel K. Inouye to the U.S. Senate and Spark Matsunaga elected to Congress, both from Hawaii. Two years later, the first Asian American woman elected to high office, Patsy Takemoto Mink, won a Congressional seat in Hawaii.

Since then, hundreds of Asian Americans have been elected to state legislatures and municipal positions.

In 1979 the U.S. and China resumed diplomatic relations, making immigration easier for Chinese. But, the new arrivals came from other Asian countries as well, including India and Pakistan. In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, more than 130,000 refugees fled from the Communist governments of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in 1975, with additional thousands arriving in subsequent years.

In 1980, more than 2.5 million Asian immigrants entered the U.S., up from under 500,000 in 1960.

The Immigration Act of 1990 increased the numbers of Asians coming to the U.S. by raising the total quota and reorganized system of preferences favoring certain professional groups. This allowed Asians with training in medicine, high technology, and other specialties to enter more easily. In 1990 nearly 5 million Asian immigrants were reported, second only to Latin America.