Irish Immigration

Immigrants from around the world wanted to migrate to the United States in search for better opportunities because the United States’ economy was blooming during this time period. Immigrants did not only came to the United States for better jobs, but also for the freedom that the United States gave to its people. Each group of immigrant had their own reason to migrate to the United States. For example, the Irish fled to the United States in the 19th century because the English was oppressing them. This was the reason that led to the first wave of Irish immigration. “The Irish were dispossessed of their island by the English Prosperos. The Irish, too, were depicted and degraded as the ‘Other’- as ‘savages,’ outside of ‘civilization,’ and ‘wild.’

The Irish’s animosity toward African Americans was further fueled in the Civil War. They were displeased with President Lincoln’s decision to free the slaves. They feared that the slaves would drive them out of the job market. Thus, the Irish fully supported the Civil War “only to preserve the Union.” On the other hand, the Chinese left their country due to harsh economic conditions and conflicts caused by the British Opium War. Most of the Chinese immigrants were men who came to find work opportunities, and send money back home. Some paid their way to the United States, some borrowed money from their villages. Either way, these men were lured by the tale of the “Gold Mountain.” Because most of them had family back in China, they only wanted to work in the United States

At first they were welcomed as guests and treated with politeness by the local. However, as the political current changed, the whites oppressed them. The could not attain citizenship because they were not “white.” The California legislature passed the Foreign Miner’s tax, which charged three dollars per month for each miner. The Chinese could only live in certain neighborhood; even then, to prevent Chinese crowding together, the California legislature passed the Cubic Air Ordinance law, stating that each person require a certain amount of space. After the mines were dried out, the Chinese began working on the Continental Railroad. Due to the harsh working conditions and the low wage, these workers went on a strike, demanding a better wage. However, the managers threatened to replace them with African American workers. These Chinese workers had no choice, but to continue working until the railroad was completed. In 1882, the government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited the entering to leaving the United States of Chinese laborers. Like the Chinese, the Japanese also came to the United States in hope of a better future. To get more money to build a stronger centralized government, the Japanese government was imposing heavy taxes on its people making the people went