History

Many Chinese immigrants, such as traders and sailors, began to arrive in the United States in the mid 1700s, with some choosing to stay in New York and settle here. However, most Chinese immigrants began to arrive in the mid 1800s from the Pacific Coast because of the Gold Rush in California. Soon after the Gold Rush died out, many Chinese immigrants took jobs in textile and tobbaco factories in the west. Because they were willing to accept poorer working conditions than whites, many Americans rebelled against the Chinese immigrants and pushed them eastward into larger cities along the East Coast, where many Chinese immigrants were more able to find job opportunities. Around the 1870s, many Chinese immigrants settled around Mott Street, south of Canal Street. This area was known as Five Points slums, which by 1880s had almost 1,100 Chinese immigrants residing there, and is close to modern day Chinatown. Immigrants took job in restaurants, laundries, and even cigar shops, bringing with them a knowledge from previous employment in the West. [1]

A picture depicting the Gold Rush in the 1800s. The right side of the picture depicts Chinese immigrants working together with white Americans. [2]

Eventually, the United States enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 because of the growing anti-Chinese sentiments.The act denied naturalization to Chinese immigrants in America, denied the wives and children of Chinese immigrants access to the United States, and only allowed Chinese immigrants that worked in certain industries to immigrate here. This created a male dominated society in Chinatown, with a ratio of female to male Chinese people of 40-150. An association known as the Chinese Consolidated Business Association acted as a pseudo government of Chinatown and managed businesses, funerals, and general disputes. The Association acted as a governing body of Chinatown. [3]

A political cartoon depicting anti-Chinese sentiments and the Chinese Exclusion Act. [4]

The Exclusion Act was lifted in 1943 and there was a quota placed on Chinese immigration. Several industries in Chinatown continued to employ immigrants with extremely low wages such as the garment, laundry, and restaurant businesses. Eventually the quota expanded in 1963 and there was another large influx of Chinese immigrants and the population of Chinatown boomed. Many immigrants began to expand Chinatown into Little Italy, buying up buildings to use for garment or laundry businesses.

1) http://www.ny.com/articles/chinatown.html
2) http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Chinese.html
3) http://www.new-york-chinatown.info/chinatown-history.html
4) http://fineartamerica.com/featured/chinese-exclusion-act-1882-granger.html

Picture of Chinatown then:

Picture of Chinatown now: