L'immigration chinoise

Chinese immigration A good many of Chinese emigration waves, also known as the Chinese Diaspora, befell throughout History. Intro - Transpacific trade The first time the Chinese reached North America was contemporaneous with the Spanish colonization of the Philippines (1565-1815), where they had established themselves as fishermen, sailors, and merchants on Spanish galleons that sailed between the Philippines and Mexican ports. California belonged to Mexico until 1848, and a low number of Chinese had already settled there by the mid-18th century. BUT mass immigration from the 19th century I. First wave (19th century to 1949): the beginning of the Chinese immigration 1. Background The first major immigration wave started in the 1850s. The massive emigration phenomenon was mainly caused by wars and starvation in mainland China, e.g. The Taiping Rebellion, as well as the problems resulting from political corruption. Most came from Southern China aspiring to live a better life and to make their fortune in the 1849-era California Gold Rush. Shortly after the end of WWI, the U.S had already begun transpacific maritime trade with China, starting with the commercial port of Canton. Great excitment and curiousness about America were shown by the dwellers. The main trade route between the U.S. and China then was between Canton and New England. These Chinese were merchants, sailors, seamen and students who wanted to see and acquaint themselves with a strange foreign land they had only heard about. Most immigrants were illiterate, or poorly educated peasants and manual labourers, historically called coolies (Chinese: ??, translated into : Hard Labour). The Chinese coolie emigration was believed to have begun after the aboliton of slavery throughout the British possessions. In order to replace African manpower, European merchants had to employ Indian and Chinese labourers, who were thereafter labelled with "...strong physique, eagerness to make money, history of toil from infancy..." Labour recruiters sold a goodly amount of unskilled Chinese's services in the coolie trade to planters in colonies in exchange for money to feed their families. This type of trading was known as mai zhu zai (selling piglets : ???) by the Chinese. Some deceitful labor recruiters promised good paying and working conditions to get men signed onto three-year labor contracts. Most labourers' lives were very harsh and many died en route to South America because of bad transport conditions. Usually, they were cheated out of their wages and were unable to return to China after their contracts expired . Immigrants that came were mainly men. By 1848, there were 325 Chinese Americans and over 300,000 by 1880: a tenth of the Californian population - mostly from six districts of Canton. Departure from China The vast majority of Chinese immigrants at first had the intention of only staying in America temporarily. Because the chances to earn more money were by far better in America than in China, these migrants often remained considerably longer than they had at first planned. Arrival in the United States : culture shock<...