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Chinese Immigration
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The drought in China
There was a drought in China and all of the crops were killed. There was not enough food and well people to stay in the country and have a good life. Many people decided to move of America in search of a new and better life. So many people were pulled to America, though many were already sick or starved from the drought. America offered opportunites of work, heathier living, and more freedoms to the people. -
Reaching Angle Island
I reached Angle Island today with my brother. The people here were rude and didn’t treat us how we deserved to be treated. I had a hard time understanding them and getting to where I needed to be. After a long and hard trip and many hours of waiting, my brother was sent into Medical Courantyne becuase they believed he had a disease and was not allowed further in America. He had a lung disease and was to be kept under close medical watch for the rest of his life. -
Seeing America
After spending four days on Angel Island getting things settled and waving goodbye to my borther, I went off into America by myself. I had brought pure silver candle holders with me to sell for enough money to find a place to live. I spent months on the streets selling and working in a sweatshop, a hot, crowed factory making about $8 a week, which is less money than white people and men make. It was tough being alone in a new country, becuase girls were not given the same rights as men. -
Got a Job
After many months of waiting and living in bad environment all alone, I got enough money to settle and get a real job working on the railroads. The working conditions are bad, and we are forced to work long hours on low wages. If we do not work well we will be punished and sometimes beaten. Because of my nationality I get discriminated against by most of the people in America and earn lower wages with longer hours than the white people. -
Thinking of moving west
I have worked on the railroads for two years and have only made enough money to live in a tenement, a small, cramped and run-down building where I pay $1 a week to stay living there. I have made enough money by now to purchase a horse and am planning to move east and get land with a man I have met who lives in the same tenement as I do. Before I go I am expecting for my other brother, who stayed in China to come to America and join us. -
The Chinese Exclusion Act
Two weeks before my brother was to come to America to move west with me, the U.S. government started the Chinese Exclusion Act, stoping all Chinese immigrants from coming into America for 10 years. He will not be able to get into America and is now stuck in China. I am to go move to the west and take the dangerous trip with only one other person.The act seemed unfair to all the Chinese people and caused for the Chinese already living in America to be discriminated against. -
Moving West
I have finally prepared for my trip . John and I are ready to race for the land in the west. We hope to get a nice green area where we can farm, and have a good house and a family. Our horses are well rested and taken care of, so they will be strong for the upcoming trip. -
Racing for Land
Yesterday afternoon many men, women and children all got ready to race for the land. As it began we all ran with our horses and belongings to claim the best piece of land we could find. John and I got seperated durring this, so I just knew I had to get the first picece of land I could find. People were fighting, and tripping all around and flags were being stuck into the ground as people claimed their land. I could see the land I wanted in view but somone else got to it before me. -
Continuing to Get Land
I continued to ride on farther, in search of more land I could claim as my own. There were still people and items everywhere, and green grass as far as I could see. Not much land was left, so everyone was getting more and more anxious. All of a sudden I felt something hit me, it was a wagon, filled with someone else's belongings. I fell forward off my horse and was toppled over by many other horses and wagons. And I never got the land I deserved.
