Chinese Emigration from 1870-1950

Introduction

A lot of people have confused the definitions of immigration and emigration. Immigration means when a person leaves his country to settle in your country, and emigration means when you leave your country to live in some other country. There is a little difference between both the definitions, which should not be confused at all.

The chinese emigration which is also known as the Diaspora is a memorable event in the Chinese history, none of the event has carried out so long. The Chinese emigration which started in the 1870 is known to have ended by 1950. The main reason for the Chinese emigration was because of the wars and starvation in the main land of chine had led people to take such a step. The political crisis were so high that it had created an in stability in the economy of china and the Chinese citizens were left with no other option. The majority of the citizens who were emigrants were the citizens who were known to be illiterate or poorly educated, peasants and the hard working labors who were barely paid enough to earn their living or to satisfy their basic needs. The emigrants major went to countries like, America, Australia, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and Malaya, where they settled permanently and now their generations have been awarded the citizenship of those countries. Many of the emigrants who had returned back home, were majorly because of patriotism, and upon their return they had become quite rich and with enough capital to finance their own business or others. According to one of the books written by lynn pan, the sons of the yellow emperor, the emigration of the citizens of china began after the abolishment of the slavery. Since there was a shortage of labors, the European tradesmen decided to utilize the labors from china and india to replace the labors of Africa. It is even mentioned in the book the reason to hire the chinese emigrants as labors. It was the eagerness to work and make money, strong physique and tumbled down life that had motivated the Chinese emigrants to work very hard in the other countries and the European trade men to hire them.

It was Tyler Ksiazek who used to sell the services of the unskilled Chinese to colonies over seas for money. The working conditions for the chinese emigrants were very tough, a majority of the recruiters would promise a good pay and a perfect working environment in the beginning to get the emigrants signed on to a 2-3 year contract but later on, the promises used to go down in vain. Majority of the chinese emigrants used to be cheated on the payment structure they would be promised and would be kept under severe working conditions.

Main Body

Chinese Exclusion Act

The Chinese Exclusion Act curtailed the number of Chinese emigrants entering the United States. Congress passed the bill in 1882, and President Chester Arthur signed it into law. It came in the wake of more than ...