Asian American Studies - Essay Example

The Chinese were one of the first Asians to migrate to the U.S. Although only a few Chinese lived in Hawaii in the early 19th century, a large number of Chinese came to Hawaii and inland in the 1840s. The Chinese relocates to the United States for various reasons. Some were looking for refuge from revolts and wars in the mid-19th century (Ling 21).Others were looking for a greener pasture in terms of jobs. The first Chinese immigrants were perhaps laborers. Huge numbers of them migrated to the U.S. as skilled laborers when the fast growth of the West required cheap labor.

Some of the Chinese were also attracted by the likelihood of riches. Majority of the Chinese immigrants in the 19th century were males. They dreamt of earning a decent income in the U.S. and afterward going back to China eventually. Married women stayed in China to take care of domestic duties like caring for their children and the parents of their husbands. Moreover, Chinese in cities were mostly working in the service industry. Chinese in the urban neighborhoods were very secluded from mainstream U.S. A large number of Chinese American was raised speaking only their own native language and seldom socializing with Whites.

Chinese immigrants were eventually hired in other industries such as mining, construction, etc. On the other hand, just like the Chinese, the earliest Japanese immigrant arrived in the U.S. in the 19th century. Also, similar to the Chinese, they arrived as peasants; but, not like the Chinese, many Japanese settlers became plantation laborers in Hawaii. Inland, a large number of Japanese who were originally hired as agricultural laborers eventually became independent, entrepreneurial farmers and traders.

In urban areas, they built small communities where they may interact and help each other, speak their mother tongue, and eat accustomed food (Min 10). After Japanese men had secured themselves in the U.S., they get their wives from Japan, and their wives helped them in farms and businesses. Japanese migrated to the United States to live and raise families. On the other hand, a small number of Filipinos settled in the U.S. prior to the turn of the 20th century. Majority of early Filipino settlers after 1898 were already American citizens, the period that the U.S. gained the Philippines at the end of the Spanish-American War (Min 12).

Filipino immigrants were looking for work in Hawaiian plantations and in the mainland. They also worked as service or domestic workers. In the early 20th century, a large number of Filipino laborers formed labor unions, but their attempts to acquire wage raise were countered with aggression by their employers and White colleagues who did not want any competition. More open to intermarriage than other Asian Americans, particularly Japanese and Chinese, Filipino males also inflamed racial violence and resentment by marrying White females.

Since many Filipinos worked in the agricultural sector and plantations, they did not form enclaves in the cities (Ling 94). Because of their geographical distribution and their tendency to intermarry, Filipino immigrants eventually became more integrated in the United States than other Asian Americans. Similar to other Asian Americans, majority of early Korean settlers in the U.S. started their voyage to the mainland serving in Hawaiian plant