Asian American Experience In The U.S. A Chronological History: 1763-1992

Asian American Experience In The U.S. (1763-1992)

1763-1859: Early Settlement and Immigration

  • 1763:

    • First recorded settlement of Filipinos in America.

    • Filipinos escape imprisonment aboard Spanish galleons by jumping ship in New Orleans and fleeing into the bayous.

  • 1790:

    • First recorded arrival of an Asian Indian in the United States.

  • 1842-1852:

    • China defeated by the British Empire in the First Opium War.

    • Resulting Treaty of Nanjing:

    • China forced to pay indemnities of $21 million silver dollars.

    • Cedes the island of Hong Kong.

    • Opens five ports to foreign commerce, resulting in heavy taxation on peasant farmers.

    • Series of floods and crop failures lead to poverty and famine among Chinese peasant farmers.

  • 1847:

    • Three Chinese students arrive in New York City for schooling.

    • Yung Wing graduates from Yale in 1854, becoming the first Chinese to graduate in the United States.

  • 1848-1852:

    • Discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, CA, attracts Chinese immigrants to the West Coast.

    • Many arrive as indentured servants during the California Gold Rush.

    • Bulk of Chinese immigrants later serve as a cheap labor source for railroads, mines, and other industries.

  • 1852:

    • California imposes a Foreign Miner's License Tax of $3 per month on every foreign miner not desiring or prohibited from becoming a citizen.

    • Purpose: reduce Chinese immigration and discourage Chinese from mining for gold, even though they threatened white miners minimally due to typically working deserted claims.

1854-1892: Legal Exclusions and International Relations

  • 1854:

    • Law enacted forbidding Chinese from testifying in court against whites,

    • Deprives Chinese of legal protection, leading to violence against them.

  • 1859:

    • Exclusion of Chinese from public schools in San Francisco.

  • 1860:

    • First Japanese delegation visits Washington, D.C.

  • 1868:

    • The Burlingame Treaty recognizes the rights of free migration and emigration for U.S. citizens and China.

  • 1892:

    • Geary Act prohibits Chinese immigration for another 10 years and denies bail for writ of habeas corpus.

  • 1894:

    • Saito, a Japanese man, applies for U.S. citizenship but is refused as he is neither white nor black.

  • 1898:

    • Philippine Islands become a protectorate of the United States under the Treaty of Paris, ending the Spanish-American War.

    • Hawaii also annexed to the United States.

  • 1901:

    • Drought in northwestern Korea results in rice shortages.

  • 1902:

    • Congress indefinitely extends the prohibition against Chinese immigration.

  • 1903-1904:

    • 7,000 Koreans migrate to Hawaii to work in sugar cane and pineapple fields,

    • Welcomed as strike breakers for Japanese laborers demanding better conditions and wages.

1905-1943: Segregation and World War II Impact

  • 1905:

    • Japan gains control over Korea post-Russo-Japanese War, leading to cessation of Korean immigration to Hawaii.

  • 1906:

    • San Francisco school board issues a decree mandating all persons of Asian ancestry to attend segregated schools in Chinatown.

    • Japan intercedes on behalf of its citizens, granting them an exception due to Japan's status as a world power.

    • Anti-miscegenation laws in California amended to prohibit marriage between whites and "Mongolian" individuals.

    • Major San Francisco earthquake destroys municipal records, allowing immigrants (especially men) to claim U.S. citizenship and bring their families to America.

  • 1907:

    • President Theodore Roosevelt enacts the "Gentlemen's Agreement" with Japan, limiting Japanese immigration.

    • Allows family members, including wives of Japanese, to immigrate, enabling Japanese families and community formation.

    • Prohibits further Korean immigration to the U.S. as laborers, allowing Filipino workers to enter the agricultural sector in Hawaii.

    • Korean immigration virtually ceases under Japanese occupation from 1910-1945, resuming only with the Immigration Act of 1965.

  • 1941:

    • December 7: Japanese planes attack Pearl Harbor; the U.S. enters World War II.

    • Japan invades the Philippines, and one-third of Filipino men in the U.S. enlist to fight in the military.

  • 1942:

    • Executive Order 9066 results in the internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans, including many second and third-generation citizens, in 10 internment camps.

1943-1988: Legislative Changes and Restitution

  • 1943:

    • The Magnuson Act repeals the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, enabled by the alliance between the U.S. and China during World War II.

    • Sets an immigration quota of 105 per year for Chinese immigrants based on one-sixth the total population from the 1920 census.

  • 1944:

    • The War Brides Act removes racial restrictions for Asian brides, permitting their entry into the U.S.

  • 1945:

    • August 6: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, marking the nuclear age's inception.

    • August 14: Japan surrenders, concluding World War II.

  • 1945:

    • Congress passes the War Brides Act, allowing 6,000 Chinese women to enter as brides of Chinese American soldiers.

    • Closure of all American internment camps for Japanese Americans.

  • 1946:

    • Philippines gains independence; U.S. citizenship offered to all Filipinos in the U.S., extending beyond servicemen only.

  • 1948:

    • Congress enacts the Displaced Persons Act, granting permanent resident status to 3,500 Chinese visitors, seamen, and students caught in the U.S. amid the Chinese Civil War.

    • California repeals the law banning interracial marriage.

    • The Evacuation Claims Act authorizes repayment to people of Japanese ancestry for economic losses due to internment: 10 cents returned for each $1 lost.

  • 1949:

    • U.S. breaks diplomatic ties with the newly formed People's Republic of China.

  • 1950-1953:

    • Korea is engulfed in the Korean War.

1982-1992: Racial Violence and Civil Rights

  • 1982:

    • Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, is murdered in Detroit by two jobless automobile workers who mistake him for Japanese and blame him for their economic troubles.

    • The murderers are acquitted and serve no jail time.

  • 1984:

    • Filipino World War II veterans are denied U.S. citizenship, with over 1,000 veterans facing deportation.

  • 1986:

    • The Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1985 passed by the House of Representatives on October 17, 1987, and signed into law on November 6, 1987.

    • Raises the Hong Kong quota from 600 to 5,000 annually and allows aliens present in the U.S. before January 1, 1982, to apply for temporary status,

    • They can become U.S. citizens after seven years post-application submission. Family reunification preferences remain unchanged.

  • 1987:

    • First formal signing of the Proclamation of Asian Pacific American Heritage Week at the White House.

  • 1988:

    • The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 signed into law, implements recommendations from the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians.

    • The law apologizes and offers reparations to thousands of Japanese Americans wrongfully denied civil rights during World War II.

  • 1992:

    • Korean businesses face looting and burning amid riots in Los Angeles in reaction to the Rodney King verdict.