Write a 2 page essay on Asian American History: Prewar, WWll, Postwar.Download file to see previous pages America is known as “The Melting Pot” because its citizens consist of many who migrated fr

Write a 2 page essay on Asian American History: Prewar, WWll, Postwar.

America is known as “The Melting Pot” because its citizens consist of many who migrated from different countries and nationalities. These various peoples “melted” together to form a new group of people know as Americans. Moving to a new country and “melting” down cultures, beliefs, religions, etc. to fit into the American culture is not easy. Change, whether good or bad, is difficult to accept. As you will find in this essay, Asian American history faced many challenges as it evolved into its current status. Before World War II, the California Gold Rush (1848) brought an influx of Chinese immigrants. These Asian immigrants faced many hardships, laws that limited their freedom, and even experienced violence and abuse. Johnson (2005) in an article titled, Asian-American History, states that “In 1850, just over 1,000 Asian immigrants entered the U.S., but ten year later, the figure had jumped to nearly 37,000 mostly Chinese”. Due to the overwhelming amount of new arrivals, “which had swelled to nearly 65,000 in 1870, and over 107,000 in 1880” according to Johnson, many areas passed laws against Asians, especially the Chinese because of their number. In one instance, California passed a law in 1913, prohibiting "aliens ineligible to citizenship" from buying land or leasing it for longer than three years. Riots and protests against Asians broke out in many cities.