First Chinaman
From The Peopling of NYC
I am 50 years old and I was born in Canton. I came to America in 1850 on a boat with hundreds of others. They were all men. I would say there were 20 men to every 1 woman. I am not like the first Chinese immigrants who came to America in the early 1800s. I am not wealthy, nor am I a successful merchant or a skilled craftsman. NO! I am an unskilled laborer; a peasant. I came here, like many others, eager to pursue the opportunities that America had to offer. I came in search of the “Gold Mountain of California”. Fueled by news of the California Gold Rush, I packed the few clothes that I had and came here, hoping to get rich and send money back to my poor rural home or return back to China in a few years with my newly acquired wealth.
Unfortunately, my dream never became a reality. By 1851, there were about 25 thousand of us immigrants working around the Gold Rush and the San Francisco area. I along with more then half of the Chinese population of the US lived in this region. Eventually, we formed large cities of ethnic enclaves called “Chinatowns” all over the country. Because of America’s rapidly expanding industries, I was able to get a job in a wool mill. It was a low-paying job; nonetheless, it was a job. Most of my friends worked as garment manufacturers. I worked hard, but I didn’t complain. In 1860, I, along with 10,000 other Chinese immigrants, got involved in building the western leg of the Central Pacific Railroad. I got paid $35 a month. Considering that the cost of food was approximately $15 to $18 and since the railroad provided shelter for its workers, I was able to put away about $20 a month.
Everything was going according to plan, until suddenly my welcome into the country turned sour. Fear, ignorance, and post Civil War depression combined to create a sudden hostile atmosphere towards us, Chinese immigrants. We were blamed for occupying too many jobs within the cities. “Those rice - eaters are taking all of our jobs” protesters would say. Our population grew steadily until 1870, however in 1870, the government passed the Naturalization Act, which, for the first time in American history barred free Chinese immigration. Though immigration declined, by 1880, we still made up more then 25% of California’s workforce.
Unfortunately, in my heart, I knew that I had no hope of seeing my family on American soil. Thus, in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed.
