Chinese Immigrants In Canada In The Late 19th Century

China living in Canada (male, female or kid) has to pay "$10" if coming to Canada via sea

Throughout the last three decades, increasing numbers of Asians have migrated to Canada from all over the Asian continent. Currently, 44% of the Vancouver area population is of Asian descent (Statistics Canada, 2001). Immigrants commonly occupy skilled job positions that the host nation is unable to fill with its own citizens, and thus they offer many advantages to their receiving country. In a nation with a declining birthrate, such as Canada, their contribution can play a major role on multiple levels. The immigrants themselves often enjoy a greater earning potential than they did in their native country, which can be advantageous for those who wish to send money back home to support their families.

Since its founding, the United States has attracted immigrants from all over the world and consists of a variety of different cultures. Immigration has had an enormous impact on American society and economy and shaped the country remarkably.

As the population of chinses immergents started to climb, they were starting to become apart of population statistics. If you were Chinese by birth and you were outside NSW, the governments of the other states took advantage of you and made you pay a special reentry

In the early immigration, the Fraser River gold rush is perhaps the largest event. It was an overall positive event, and the Chinese were a large part of the business of the time. They were entrepreneurial and established themselves selling things that were important to the miners, importing goods, growing food, and building infrastructure. Stores similar to the Wong Toy & Co. one would’ve existed then. The head tax period was obviously dominated by the creation of the Chinese Head Tax, similar to other anti-Chinese taxes throughout the world. This was a major step backwards in Chinese Canadian history, and the backwards thinking of it all was best illustrated as they continued to immigrate along the very railroad they helped build. Canada

Their historical arrival marked the establishment of a continuous Chinese community in Canada. While the Fraser Gold Rush is the one that drew Chinese north, it was during the Cariboo Gold Rush that the first Chinese community, called The Hong Shun Tang, was established in Canada in the gold mining town of Barkerville.

In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, and Alien Contract Labor Laws of 1885 and 1887 prohibited certain laborers from immigrating to the United States. " Immigration Act of 1882 levied a head tax of fifty cents on each

One of the first significant pieces of federal legislation aimed at restricting immigration was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese laborers from coming to America. Californians had agitated for the new law, blaming the Chinese, who were willing to work for less, for a decline in wages.The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. Those on the West Coast were especially prone to attribute declining wages and economic ills on the despised Chinese workers. Although the Chinese composed only .002 percent of the nation’s population, Congress passed the exclusion act to placate worker demands and assuage prevalent concerns about maintaining white “racial purity.”

In the early 1880’s immigrants started to come over to the United States. Immigrants came into the United States for job opportunities, and a better life for there families. Immigrants come from all over the world, such as chinese, Italian, and Russian immigrants. The experiences of Chinese immigrants differed from immigrants from Italy, and Russia. Their experiences differed, because of how they came over to America, where they lived, and jobs.

As a result the federal government did not take action at first. By 1885, the CPR was completed and the demands for action increased, so in order to satisfy the public, the government enacted the Immigration Act which included the head-tax. During this period, the Chinese entered the city looking for other sources of employment; as they would accept low-wages, businesses were willing to hire them. Although the $50 head-tax slowed immigration, the public kept pushing the government to be stricter as there were too many Chinese in the city. Again the government conformed to the wishes of the public and raised the tax to $100 in 1900. Most Chinese worked in the salmon canning industry (Wing), while others worked as chefs in restaurants making only a few dollars a week (Bright ,13). By sticking together and preserving their language and culture, Chinese gave Canadians more reason to discriminate against them. Chinese were completely a different race from the British, and as John A. Macdonald said, the Chinese migrant "is a stranger, a sojourner in a strange land ... he has no common interest with us ... he has no British instincts or British feelings or aspirations"; Canadians didn't believe that they could assimilate well into the Canadian

My belief was that people of African descent were the only group that experiences racism, but when I migrated from the Caribbean to a multicultural country—Canada, I soon realize that my understanding of racism was inaccurate and did not reflect social reality. As a result of my new environment, I learnt that racism is solely based on supremacy where a person of a different background may justify their advantages/power by placing a negative meaning behind cultural differences, thus resulting in unequal treatments. In particular, this short journal will briefly explore how slavery affects(d) people of colour in and over race of people in Canada.

In 1880, the Hayes Administration authorized a well known U.S. diplomat named James B. Angell. His job was to negotiate and control a new treaty they were planning with China. The treaty was called the Angell Treaty, which permitted the United States to restrict or prohibit Chinese immigration. In 1882, the Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which eliminated the process of immigration of any Chinese laborers, whether it were skilled workers or unskilled workers for 10 years. The Act also required every Chinese person going on a voyage in or out of the country to carry a certificate identifying his or her occupation as a laborer, scholar, diplomat, or merchant. This Act was the first in the whole American history to place broad restrictions

A key challenge the idea of Canada as a racially-inclusive society are the events surrounding immigration policy throughout its history. Two periods of history which display this are the events regarding Chinese and Asian immigration, and Indian immigration. Each of these moments display how the Canadian government used its power to ensure Canada was a white supremacist state. In the case of Chinese immigrants, the state used rigorous measures to reduce immigration, and initiatives to ensure individuals to did immigrate were not successful.

Canada has continuously served as a home to immigrants and refugees from decade to decade harbouring people from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The first set of immigrants to settle in the country came from Britain, the United States and from other nationalities mostly including immigrants from Europe who were either desperate to escape from religious or political turmoil or were simply attracted to Canada’s economic promise. Soon after the Canadian confederation in 1867, immigrants from Irish and Chinese backgrounds who occupied most of the country were used as workers and the demand for labourers to

After World War Two, Canada’s immigration policy changed. From World War Two to the 1960s, Canada’s immigration policy was restrictive and the government still favoured European and American immigrants because they were more likely to adapt to the Canadian society. The government did try to limit the number of other immigrants. By 1947, the Chinese Exclusion Act was revoked by the federal government. This was a step in the right direction to make Canada’s immigration policy to be more reasonable. By 1962, Canada removed regulations on immigrants from Africa, Asia and other countries. Under Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada’s immigration policy became “colour-blind”