Essay - Chinese American History the Exclusion Act; Redefining Citizenship Historians Have...

Chinese American History

The Exclusion Act; Redefining Citizenship

Historians have studied the Chinese Exclusion Act extensively and have recorded many aspects of ***** politics behind the events. However, they often focus their attentions on the motives of the excluders. They pay little attenti***** to those that were excluded and ***** impact that it had on ***** lives. One important question has escaped the scrutiny of historians. Why, if they knew of the hardships and discrimination ***** they would face in America, did all of those Ch*****ese immigrants continue to flock to America in droves?

What motivated them to leave their home ***** families ***** arrive at Angel Island and have to buy a new identity, all ***** great personal risk, to stay in America? What was the big attraction? Sure, there were jobs here and they could send money home to support their distant families, but the life in ***** ***** hard and treacherous. The following will explore the historiography of Chinese *****s and the impact that the exclusion act had on shaping the course of ***** American culture. It will also examine man gaps that have been left by historians. The answers to *****se gaps will help shed light ***** the many questions ***** surround this era.

His*****ry and Impact ***** the ***** Act

Erik Lee explored the ***** and motive behind the actions of Chinese immigrants in his book At America's Gates. Lee relates ***** experiences ***** Chinese Americans to the immigration story of his Grandfather. In this case, he has first had knowledge ***** the events and *****ir impact on Chinese Americans. This personal experience apparently sparked his interest in the topic of how ***** Exclusion act *****ed other ***** American Immigrants ***** their families. Lee uses primary sources to draw his conclusions and support his thesis. He relied exclusively on the documents of immigrants and those that were deported as his data source. ***** gives his work and incredible heir of reliability.

However, even Lee admits that he used ***** own interpretation to "read between t***** lines" of *****he ***** documents. This is in*****ntly dangerous in any research setting. ***** is particularly disturbing when we consider that Lee felt p*****sionately about the issues, especially as *****ory related to his own family his*****ry. *****re is a danger that Lee inadvertently introduced h***** own expectations on the research, which may have skewed the results. For these reas*****s, one must take this into consid*****tion ***** they ***** his theories on the impact ***** ***** Exclusion Act.

Regardless of the validity issues with *****'s research, he still contains an excellent section of ***** background ***** t***** Exclusion Ac*****. He raises many ***** ***** makes observations that appear to have been missed ***** other his*****rians. In the 1850s thousands of Chinese flocked to California in search of Gum Saan, or Gold Mountain. ***** was what ***** ***** called the United States. Many ***** planned ***** come to ***** United *****, make a fast buck and then go back to t***** villages