From The Peopling of New York City

In the early 1890s, often lonely and helpless in the city, Chinese peddlers from Mott Street were vulnerable to harassment by gangs and at times murdered because of their race.^[1]

Contents 1 Tom Lee 2 Crime 3 Tong Wars 4 References

Tom Lee

Tom Lee, or Wong Ah Ling before he changed his name, was a labor contractor in California, who moved to St. Louis where he became a citizen. He arrived in New York in 1879. He did well in the tea and silk trade business, in manufacturing cigars, and in less legal pursuits. In 1880, he and some colleagues incorporated the Lung Gee Tong- or the “Order and Brotherhood of Masons”. They established their headquarters at 4 Mott. This building was a lodge of the “Triads, or Sam Hop Hui, an underground oppositional society”. Back at home in China, this brotherhood was involved in a lot of revolutions. In New York city, their main purpose was to create a criminal underworld. He identified himself was “the President of the Chinese Society in this city” and he dined and conversed with many important members of the Democratic party. ^[2]

Crime

Due to this organizations the city adversely changed their attitude towards the Chinese. While earlier there attitude was of astonishment, and high praise for their goods, the new attitude turned into fear and anger. The earlier images of clever craftsmen turned into harsh portraits of cunning deceivers. Wong Ching Foo launched the first Chinese language paper in New York, The Chinese American. Through this paper he tried to bring the slaughtered reputation of the Chinese back but all to no avail.

This critical turn in attitude towards the Chinese was all because of Opium. The same drug that the West world had forced into China. This same drug had given many of New Yorkers their riches, and was widely supplied to the middle class through cough syrup, medicines etc. Due to the addiction of the drug by the Chinese, the American newspapers started giving the Chinese a bad reputation. They had headlines such as "Horrors of the Opium Dens"^[3], in which they talked about how young white women were seduced by Asian men.

Tong Wars

The origins of Tongs were to be "benevolent protective associations"^[4]. Due to the constant oppression by the Americans, these Tongs ensured that the different craftsmen, merchants, etc were treated fairly. Additionally, they supervised over the community keeping an eye out for any illegal activities. Slowly these tongs got involved into prostitution and deviated from their original purpose. They began selling protection to merchants and due to the territorial disputes, these tongs began to class violently. The videos talk about some of the clashes in Chinatown.

• Return to Crime
• Return to Chinese

References

1. ↑ Burrows, Edwin G., and Mike Wallace. Gotham. A History of New York City to 1898. Oxford UP, 1998. (Page 1129)
2. ↑ urrows, Edwin G., and Mike Wallace. Gotham. A History of New York City to 1898. Oxford UP, 1998. (Page 1130)
3. ↑ urrows, Edwin G., and Mike Wallace. Gotham. A History of New York City to 1898. Oxford UP, 1998. (Page 1130)
4. ↑ Britannica Encyclopedia