Chinese

Contents
History | Recent Immigrant Patterns

History
The Chinese first started emigrating to the United States as early as the 1840s as part of the drive for gold in the American West. They often came as contracted laborers working in mines or constructing the expansion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Most of the laborers were male peasants and intended to return home after earning money here. The predominance of males in the Chinese communities was the beginning of the "bachelor society" which became typical in Chinatowns in major cities in the U.S. These early workers did not have much success at finding their gold and instead, by the 1870s, found themselves the objects of serious anti-Chinese sentiment and racism. In 1882, the U.S. Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which denied Chinese laborers entrance to the U.S. and forbade naturalization of those already here. Chinese in America were effectively driven out of their jobs and this was the beginning of the development of the ethnic enclaves in urban areas that became Chinatowns. The number of Chinese immigrants dropped dramatically after implementation of the Chinese Exclusion Act-from 123,000 in the 1870s to 14,800 in the 1890s. The Act was renewed a number of times and remained in effect until 1943. Over that time, the barring of the Chinese evolved to include the barring of all peoples from Asia (the Asiatic Barred Zone, as detailed in the Immigration Act of 1917).

After World War II, with the repeal of the exclusion act, more Chinese began to immigrate to this country-primarily women and children who were reuniting with their husbands and families. Also, Asian women who had married American soldiers stationed in the Pacific during the war were allowed to immigrate under the War Brides Act of 1945. Since women were now allowed to immigrate, the bachelor society of Chinatown began to dissolve. In fact, today, over two thirds of adults in New York City's Chinatown are married. In the city as a whole, about 80 percent of the Chinese are married.

It was not until the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that immigration from Asia, and specifically China, began to increase in large numbers. Since the 1970s, major social, economic and political changes have taken place in China leading to increased emigration. About 22 percent of all Chinese today who immigrate to the U.S. come to live in NYC. About one fifth of these immigrants live in Manhattan's Chinatown. Whereas earlier Chinese immigrants were mainly from poor rural areas in the Quangdong Province (Cantonese), today's immigrants come from a more diverse range of places, with a diverse range of socio economic and linguistic backgrounds.

Recent Immigration Patterns
Chinese immigration as a percentage of total US immigration for selected years: