Despite a once-conspicuous presence in the Western United States, little is known demographically about the Chinese in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the United States. The widely accepted model of a declining male "sojourner society," beset by draconian restrictions on immigration and the impossibility of family formation, is seemingly contradicted by the continuous economic vitality of urban Chinatowns in the United States." (Chew and Liu) the 1930's and 1940's saw a large inner migration with in the United States as young and educated Chinese left the 'Chinatowns' to pursue work in mainstream America.

America was preparing for war which also led to many Chinese being accepted in the defense industry. "These domestic and international developments led Chinese in America to decide that America was home for them and for their posterity, and hence to discard the last vestiges of the sojourner psychology that had been common among many immigrants during the exclusion era. Although parents, particularly those of immigrant origin, were still desirous that their progeny acquire at least the rudiments of Chinese language and culture, such knowledge was no longer considered either a necessary skill for survival in American society or preparation for further education in China. The younger generation growing up in this environment took to mainstream American culture, accelerating the trend that had been evident even before the war." (Him)

Thus, time helped to curb former barriers to employment. "Anti-Chinese sentiment abated during World War II, when China became a member of the Grand Alliance and public images of the Chinese gradually changed. A more favorable attitude in America toward China and Chinese-Americans continued after the war. Facing pressures from the public and other interest groups, Congress repealed a large number of exclusion laws, which for years had denied Chinese-Americans' fundamental civil rights and legal protection. (Ling 113)

By the 1960's, there were many wealthy Chinese Americas who had come to appreciate the American Dream. This also entailed new immigration laws like the New Immigration Act of 1965 that literally...

Another great boom for the Chinese was the Equal Opportunity Act which created even more opportunities for Chinese to become gainfully employed in other opportunities than restaurants and laundries. This means that pre-World War II, Chinese-Americans did not enjoy the new levels of assimilation like later Chinese-Americans. Their current levels of success were founded on many years of turmoil, prejudice and alienation.
Conclusion

This report aimed to provide some insights into the historical immigration of Chinese to the United States and America in general. The foundation of this work was based on the notion that all migration, whether it occurred on local, national or international scale, usually occurred because of a combination of underlying factors for the philosophy of Push - Pull. In the case of the Chinese, these factors included poor economic and cultural repression in their Home while the same time a promise of financial and social improvement offered by employment in the sugar fields of Hawaii and the gold mountain era of California's gold rush. "Although globalization has occurred at a seemingly unprecedented rate since World War II, the present global economy is not simply a creation of the late twentieth century; rather, it blends postwar economic invention with older inherited processes that, even when co-opted or greatly modified, still retain their distinctiveness. In most contemporary discussions, these inherited processes have been overlooked or summarily dismissed. Three common perceptions contribute to this blind spot." (Chew and Liu)

Works Cited

Him, Mark Lai. "Retention of the Chinese Heritage, Part II." Chinese America: History and Perspectives (2001).

Chew, Kenneth SY, and John M. Liu. "Hidden in Plain Sight: Global Labor Force Exchange in the Chinese-American Population, 1880-1940." Population and Development Review Vol. 30 (2004).

Ling, Huping. Surviving on the Gold Mountain: A History of Chinese-American Women and Their Lives. Albany: State U. Of New York P, 1998.

Migration