Asian American History

According to the 2010 population census, it is estimated that about 9% of American citizens trace their heritage to Asia (U.S. Census Bureau 27). Particularly, the unique immigration characteristics between Asia and the USA have made the relationship between the unique and integral in their developmental experience. Asians and Asian Americans have played an important part in the progress and development of the USA, its values, culture, and social interactions. Characterized by widespread vilification, discrimination, and hostility, the Asian- US relationship has evolved over time. At the same time, it has shaped the history of the two continents in more ways than one. The contribution of the Asian migration to the American progress story is notable for the Chinese railroad workers or the Japanese, who had been sent to internment camps by Americans in the Second World War as well as the contribution of Asian Americans in the Civil and First World Wars. Even though Asian immigrants to the USA had faced marginalization by various legislations, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, American history benefited immensely from their contributions. Conrad Ng, Asian Pacific American Centre director, explains that the Asian-American relationship can be defined starting from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement (Stillman 245). The struggle for many Asian Americans could be traced to 1850 shortly before the Civil War when some Asians participated in the battlefields. On the other hand, the Asian contribution remained insufficiently studied up until recently after the civil rights agitation in the late 20th century.

Research Objectives

The research focuses on establishing the consequences of the long American-Asian relationship, particularly its effect on the societal way of life. In other words, it aims to find how persons related, their individual perceptions of life, and core values. The research also seeks to evaluate the impact of this relationship and how it affects the way ordinary citizens approach the same. The paper will highlight how the Asian-American relationship has shaped different lives, by examining the lives of two Asian immigrants – Geronimo Flores and Pilisiano Lausa, both Philippine islands natives and American nationals through naturalization. The project will detail how the lives and cultures of the two World War One veterans were affected by the Asian-American relationship as a consequence of a historical force – the war. The paper’s purpose is to explain the nature of their journey from the Philippine islands and the culture they left behind as well as the values they had rescinded for the American values and way of life (Chan 44). The project also aims to examine how their native cultures have affected their assimilation to their new society in America

The argument of this research paper is that Asian values and culture have perforated and affected American culture to a large extent. At the same time, Asian culture has contributed significantly in the pursuit for American exceptionalism through the participation in civil and labor rights and construction of massive infrastructure. Further, the thesis holds that values more vividly manifested in Asia, such as close familial ties, have supplemented American values to create a robust cultural environment with tight social interactions and the way young generations treated older generations. Further, Asian food cultures have also complemented American cuisine, thus becoming a great cuisine, considered a first class in the world. Of significance is how historical occurrences have shaped the relation and interaction between American and Asian ideas. Notably, historical forces, such as industrialism, nationalism, capitalism, and labor migration have had an important influence on the Asian-American relationship. Labor and migration perhaps have had the most visible impact on how Asia and the USA related ideologically. It was one of the fundamental ways for culture assimilation and acculturation. Further, the research appreciates the effect of cultural exchange, and the Asian-American relationship as a whole affects ordinary natives and citizens on an individual basis. As a result, the paper plans analyze how ordinary people react to these interactions and the impacts of forces as a consequence of these interactions on the societal way of life and their culture.

Background of Asia-US Interactions

Asians, mainly Chinese immigrants, contributed about 80% of the workforce for the construction of the treacherous central Pacific stretch of the transcontinental railroad. It was recorded that these immigrants had set new records in track laying, risking their lives, tunneling deep underground passages, and setting explosives on mountainous terrains despite the massive inequity in wages. The immigrants’ industriousness and diligence psyched the workers into completing the railroad in 1869, more than five years ahead of its scheduled date of completion. Throughout the 19th century, Asian immigrants continued to play significant roles in different sectors of the economy. Thus, in agriculture, many Asian immigrants in Washington worked in canneries and as fishermen, while in California, Asian tenants cultivated their land to produce different food products, including flowers, vegetables, and fruits. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, an estimated 7,000 Koreans, about 50,000 Chinese, 112,000 Filipino, and 200,000 Japanese laborers offered their services in Hawaiian plantations before the country had joined the United States in 1959 (Okihiro 35). At the time of joining the United States, it was the first and only state with predominantly Asian, Hawaiian Native, and Pacific Islander population as compared to other countries in the union. Evidently, the contribution by individuals and groups with an Asian descent to the US economy and social progress is notable.

With time, Asia’s culture diffused into the American one, as thousands of Asians acquired the US citizenship through birth and/or naturalization. Consequently, the Asian practices in cooking and other social activities gradually assimilated into the American culture. Thus, the Asian immigrant cooking is believed to have found its way into the American palate during the early gold rush. Since then, the gourmet dining scene has been permeated by Asian fusion restaurants. Consequently, Japanese Sushi, Indian Buffets, Chinese takeout, Korean BBQ’S, Vietnamese pho houses, and the ramen counters have become staples all across America. These restaurants served as the public face of the Asian Pacific America as well as part of Chinese family businesses. Notably, this food culture goes beyond the restaurants into the farmlands, shrimp boats, home kitchens, and places of worship, where dominating stories on Asian Pacific American food-ways focus on their adaptability, ingenuity, and preservation that have aided its passing along and cultural identity reinvention (Chan 76). Thus, the USA has notably borrowed hugely from the Asian cultures through intercultural interactions. Earlier, the exchange was noted, but today, these acquired behaviors have become a true part of the American culture.

The Asian American community also played an active role in the civil rights activism common in the 18th and 19th century. Particularly, labor and civil rights activism has been a uniting factor for Asian Pacific Americans and the working class Latinos, African Americans, and white Americans for a long time. The Asian community participated in a wide array of protests against right suppression. Thus, in 1965, Mexican and Filipino labor organizers, including Cesar Chavez and Larry Liong, led a successful nationwide grape boycott during the Delano grape strike; consequently, they contributed significantly to the establishment of the United Farmworkers movement. In the late 1960s, the Asian American movement was linked with the African American civil rights movement and other groups that voiced their discrepancies on issues surrounding women rights, the Vietnam War, workers’ rights, affordable housing, and the introduction of ethnic studies in the central colleges (Lerner et al.). Through the presence of the Asian community in the USA and their agitation for civil liberty and equal rights for all, Asia has played a critical role in the achievement of fundamental democratic values essential for the harmonious coexistence of people from different ethnic, cultural, and racial backgrounds.

Asian Americans’ History – A Social History

Over time, the nature of the group referred to as Asian Americans have evolved. Thus, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Asian immigrants were primarily composed of unskilled laborers, the majority of whom were males. Today, the Asian American community consists of high income, well-educated immigrants who acquire citizenship and green cards via their employers as opposed to a family reunion, which is still the primary way to secure Asians’ entry into the United States. The Asian Pacific American community was also disintegrated in the past, with many of them identifying themselves through unique negligible ethnic identities. However, in the early 1980s, the death of Vincent Chin, who had been beaten up by two white autoworkers mistaking him for a Japanese, and the rise of the Japanese motor industry provided the first major platform for the unification of different Asian American communities in the USA. Thus, Chin’s death became a rallying point for this unification, and it was thought as a beginning of the widespread pan-ethnic Asian Pacific American movement (Lerner et al.). The agitations expressed by the Asian race complemented similar agitations by African-Americans, which yielded in favorable legislation and better reception from society of white Americans.

Asian History’s Effect on Ordinary Life

Geronimo Flores left his native home Binalonan, the Philippines for Hawaii on June 30, 1908 and arrived at the port of Honolulu on July 19, 1908. At the time of departure, his destination was to the sugar plantation in Honolulu where he planned to work as a private laborer. Considering that industrialization in the USA had developed throughout the 19th century and further innovations had catalyzed the growth of mass production, job opportunities were alluring in the United States as compared to the minimal craft-driven Philippines’ economy that was yet to adapt to mainstream mass production at the time. At the time of his departure, Flores was unmarried, which was characteristic of most labor immigrants from Asia at the time. Comparably, life as a laborer in the United States was better than an unproductive life on the island. When Geronimo had moved to the United States, there was a relative tranquility in the world. and as a result, the movement of cargo and people was unlimited to some extent. His move was also facilitated by the favorable colonial relations between the United States and the Philippines since the United States’ annexation of the Philippines in 1899.

Notably, American immigration laws restricted the immigration of people from the Asian region, including Cambodia, India, Japan, China Vietnam, and many other South Asian regions, except for the Philippines that was American territory, to fill the labor shortage in agricultural farms in California and Hawaii. As the result of this relative tranquility and expanding economic production that required labor force, Flores and many other Filipinos migrated to the United States as laborers in 1908. During the First World War, Flores was posted to the first Hawaiian Brigade stationed at the Schofield Barracks Honolulu (Chan 13). After five years as a private laborer in the Honolulu sugar plantations and a member of the First Hawaiian Infantry Battalion and Lieutenant WW Brier and lieutenant Bishoff, Flores was granted citizenship. He received it through naturalization partly because he had fought during the First World War and partly because he had met the requirement for five-year residence and bore no allegiance to any other power.

Piliano Luasa was also a Philippine native who had traveled to the USA as a laborer in the early 20th century to work in the agricultural plantations in Hawaii. Like Flores, Luasa was lured to the country by the current economic, social, and political relative stability before the First World War. As noted before, at this time, only Philippine immigrants were allowed the right of entry into the United States of America, and as a result, his arrival from Manila was nonincidental. After years as a laborer, Lausa was recruited into the sixth aero squadron in 1917 in the wake of the United States’ intervention in the First World War. Lausa’s naturalization petition was accepted by a representative of the immigration bureau Honolulu on March 21, 1919.

Despite the risks and vulnerabilities associated with labor migration at the time, Filipinos continued to harbor eagerness to immigrate and work in the United States even when the standards of living in the superpower country were yet to gain traction. Nevertheless, the Filipino migrants maintained a feverish quest for a perceived better life in the United States. This can be explained as a result of Americans’ extended stay in the Philippines, which exposed the natives to the enlightened world, as it seemed at the time. The eagerness of the majority of Filipinos to move to a new place was complemented by the shortage of agricultural laborers and later soldiers during World War One in the United States. As the result of the combination of these factors, the migration by Filipinos was entirely voluntary in the hope of a better life in the United States. Having arrived in the country, the Filipinos were forced to adapt to the new environment and change their behavior to suit American culture. Further assimilation occurred through intermarriages, as most laborers were single at the time of departing their native countries; thus, they married American women. The benefits of the 1889 Act on Immigration and Naturalization further aided the assimilation process and thus, established Asian American families (Lerner et al.). The native background of every immigrant propelled them to the new lands in search of better economic conditions and improved living standards since in the 19th century, just like today, the urge to migrate was still largely informed by these basic desires. Thus, both Lausa and Flores had the urge to satisfy this desires with the hope promised by the life in the United States.

Life for immigrants before attaining citizenship was variedly difficult, marred by discrimination, especially towards Asians, as the result of hostile reactions to the job competition by white and African-American laborers. Even though Filipinos had enjoyed their national title as a consequence of their country being a US colony, like other Asians, they had experienced severe discrimination and bias because of their Asian ties. Immigration to the United States, on the other hand, had a positive effect on the lives of immigrants who could afford the basic needs as the result of wages earned working in pineapple and sugarcane fields. Despite vast inequity in wages and rampant discrimination, the American life had promised a bountiful future, and as has been ascertained, the immigrants during the early 20th century lived to benefit immensely from high American living standards as nationals and later, citizens. Both Lausa and Flores had arrived into the United States at around the same time in the early 1900s as laborers. However, their occupations as laborers were short-lived since a new demand for soldiers was created by the start of the First World War and the subsequent need for troops to protect the United States and fight beside its European allies. Further, after being recruited into the army service, most immigrants enjoyed higher privileges after the end of the war since they received an opportunity to achieve permanent citizenship and a decent salary from the government as payment for their service rendered during the war (Salyer). Since the Asians’ migration into the United States had been limited for a long time with the exception of Philippine natives, those Asians, who were not from the Philippines, were viewed with suspicion and often denied legal entry. This led them to use illegal means of entry, making it difficult for them to access government services or even enroll for better-paying employments.

Whereas there is little information of the nature of life that Lausa and Flores led after the world war, it was certain that their living standards were better than those of farm laborers or craftsmen in the Philippines. At the same time, the immigrants, who had worked in the United States and joined the battling troops in the First World War, received acceptance for full citizenships. The citizenship was subject to submission of a petition and availability of people who could become the witnesses of one’s allegiance to the United States of America, which allowed one to receive American citizenship (Salyer). The Asian contribution to the American dream was realized shortly after the world war, even though their input had been immense before the USA had joined the war. World War I forced American society to realize the Asians’ contribution as they had fought side by side in different brigades and squadrons in defense of the USA and its Allies. This yielded their full assimilation and subsequent relaxation of the firm Asian migrant exclusionary rules.

Relations between the Asian and the American people date to the mid-17th century, and they were facilitated and, in some cases, hindered by a wide array of historical forces. The nature of different historical forces has shaped the effects of the relations of the people of two societies and guided the nature of their response to the consequences of these interactions. Particularly, it is important to analyze the effects of some recorded historical forces on the nature of relationship between the USA and Asia phased in different periods, many in which coincided with certain historical events that influenced its perception among the ordinary people, including servicemen such as Lausa and Flores.

The movement of individuals from Asia to the United States since 1850 has led to the transfer of over one billion people to date. Current and past Asian American residents have had an impact on the social values held in the United States. Thus, in addition to providing labor and agitation for human rights, they have also contributed immensely to the American social fabric and continued to guide individual values, actions, behaviors, and preferences even among Native Americans. Equally, it is notable that the Asian American Association has had dimensions, including exclusionary laws and permits for the nationals from US colony of Philippines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Various aspects of the American and Asian history had a varying degree of influence on the lives of ordinary people as they were guided by various historical forces, resulting in different outcomes. Thus, the nature of the relationship can only be expounded through understanding various aspects of social life that was affected by a long Asian-American relationship (Salyer). The Asian role in the USA was not limited to economic contribution only by the way of labor but it also had a substantial impact on the social and political development.

Dimensions of Historical Force’s Effects on the Aspects of Life

Population

Interesting historical forces have acted to catalyze and sometimes repress the surge of immigrants from Asia to the United States. Past stringent immigration laws, some described as discriminative, were aimed at ensuring low Asian Americans’ portion in the whole population of the USA. If Asian immigration into the country had not been slowed down and sometimes even stopped by immigration laws, it would be difficult to estimate the number of Asian Americans who would have made the USA their home since the mid-19th century. As compared to immigrants from Ireland, who today account for approximately 38.5 million Americans claiming Irish descent, or 15% of the national population according to the 1990 census, the large-scale Asian migration started shortly afterward. Interestingly, according to the millennium population census, Chinese Americans accounted for about 1% of the national population, with a total of 2.8 million people (U.S. Census Bureau) after the years of serious immigration laws before 1965. Perhaps, the Asian population would be larger, maybe even one of the dominant cultures in the USA, if the historical discourse of immigration laws had been more favorable for them before 1965.

Immigration

Exclusionary laws against Asians did not discourage the interested individuals from migrating into the country who crossed the ocean and entered the United States majorly though Hawaii and California. Many times, they were without proper documentations, thus entering the USA through illegal means because it remained a desirable place to go even with restrictions on immigration. These unlawful means were majorly adopted by Chinese American immigrants who had suffered the longest exclusion. The most preferred mode of illegal entry was the use of fake paper children or the United States citizens’ children since it was reinforced by a court finding that the US nationals’ children, born within or without its borders, acquired a right of citizenship. With the general chaos in record-keeping in China, the San Francisco fire, which had destroyed thousands of legal documents, opened a loop for Asian natives to claim citizenship.

Asian natives had exploited available immigration limitations to cheat the exclusionary laws before 1960. Thus, the country’s illegal immigrants were the majority of Asians, especially non-Philippines, who had entered the country illegally or who were the descendants of an illegal entrant. As a result of lack of proper documentation, most Asians avoided civil service, and therefore, they could not have access to critical government services out of fear of being exposed. It also hindered many Asians from achieving political progress since such actions would attract authorities’ attention and personal scrutiny to them. Thus, illegal entry had denied most Asians the opportunity for the involvement in society at large. This situation created a mentality of silence among Asian immigrants; in many cases, it obscured their essential social needs and issues as well as did little to support young generations in acquiring knowledge through formal educational systems (Lerner et al.). Illegal immigration also became a source of blackmail as even Asians born in the USA were often used by conservatives to stifle change and dissent.

Familial Development

The formation of family-based communities by Asian Americans was delayed by the strict immigration rules as the departure from the close family set up in Asia. Thus, more and more single men of age found themselves living alone since they had to work too much at the agricultural farms. This was caused by the fact that servicemen would not allow them the comfort of family, while immigration was quite restrictive. Many Asian immigrants did not get an opportunity to establish families in the United States unlike their European counterparts who could bring their families. Instead, social and communal structures in the areas populated by immigrant Asians became more oriented to the needs of grown up men without families. The subsequent arrival of families after the Second World War had stretched some facilities that had not been purposed for families. Allowing families to enter the country after World War Two gave an impetus to the community development, and since this time, children had become the early American-born generation (Kurashige and Murray 31). Because of the limited number of women of Asian descent and the stringent immigration laws, Asian males found it difficult to travel with their spouses or find somebody to marry in the United States. As a result, most of the immigrants did not start families, and when they did, they occasionally married non-Asian women or maintained split families.

Split Families

Since immigration laws were quite strict, most Asians had to adapt to the circumstances, which led to the development of split families. In most instances, the male family members lived in the United States, while their children and wives remained in China. This pattern of life continued for up to three generations; it became a typical form of family through 1880 to the 1950s. The social impacts of split families, even though limitedly explored, indicated a change in male and female roles. The effect on the household was not immediately identifiable, even though its immediate effect must have been significant to the real family as opposed to idealized family, roles, structure, and relationships. Even after the repeal of the American immigration laws, the impact of household split on the social composition of many Asian families could not be immediately addressed. This happened because most single Asian men had to get used to being day-to-day fathers to the teenagers, whose growing up stages they had missed, which made their interactions difficult. Once again, women were required to surrender the roles they had taken up as the pillars of their family during their husbands’ absence, which caused a massive social disruption of too many family-based communities (Kurashige and Murray 40). Thus, Asian society in America adapted to the restrictive legislative climate to maintain their families, a value that was highly regarded in their culture.

Slow Political Development

One of the achievements of the restrictive immigration laws was the control of the political activity of immigrants as it often attracted attention to one’s citizenship. As a result, it slowed down the Asian American political development, social involvement, and power. Asian migrants were not allowed citizenship even when they had stayed long in the USA before the limited participation in the country of law. As a result, it necessitated political occurrences but also made it necessary to keep ties with the Asian political developments. Low numbers of the US-born generations of Asians resulted in few eligible Asian American voters. Consequently, social, racial, and economic discriminations served to alienate them from the political process further and exclude even the US-born Asians from it. The only exception was Hawaii, where large Asian communities existed, which reflected on the state’s choices. Thus, Asian Americans have only managed to participate in active politics recently (Kurashige and Murray 43). Due to the nature of exclusion faced by Asians in the USA, their contribution to the political discourse was passive, except for the areas, where Asian populations were high.

Immigrant Population in the Present

Recent provision of equal entry rights to all has been followed by high traffic migration, which makes contemporary Asian American groups heavily immigrant in composition. The number of immigrant Asian Americans remains high despite the increase of the number of US-born Asians. Immigrant communities face limitations because of the limited knowledge of the American system and society, and many members of their families remain in their native homes. Even though Asian immigrants enjoy a higher naturalization rate as compared to their counterparts from other continents, as immigrants, they are predisposed to the uncritical view of a new system and society. Immigrants, who tend to focus on immediate adjustment and survival, are often criticized if they fail to make progress as the result of some innate shortcomings or lack of effort. Collectively, this factor continues to diminish Asian American political and public policy contributions. Individual immigrants face many other challenges in a particular context with regards to family and community. To survive in the system, families often adapt to unfavorable circumstances while dealing with differential rates of acculturation tensions of younger generations. Existing communities have to change their nature to accommodate newcomers and prepare for new Asian groups or the expansion of the existing communities because of the population growth sustained by immigration (Lerner et al.). The Asian American population has increased tremendously over time despite migration restrictions quotas imposed by the US law. However, the characteristics of Asian migrants to the United States have evolved since their migration as laborers. Today, Asian immigrants mainly consist of experts and employable workforce with sufficient skill. This group of migrants faces unique challenges in comparison with their compatriots in the mid-19th and early 20thcenturies.

Denial of American Identity

The nature of immigration laws both perpetuated and reflected a social setting, in which Asian Americans were not fully accepted as a part of society since they were perceived as not being genuinely American because of some reasons. Men, having no family even after their stay in the United States for a long time, were considered transient. Many opinionated the sojourner mentality to Asians, believing that they would not move completely away from their villages and that women were not allowed to immigrate, which was a convenient social interpretation of the strict immigration laws before 1965. However, a few exempt categories of Asian men could and did bring their families, thus serving as founding families for a slow growth of the Asian American in the USA. As a product of persistence after the Second World War, more Asian men brought their families to stay, thus altering the initial temporary working conditions and challenging the sojourner mentality that discouraged/prohibited permanent residency (Lerner et al.). Despite heavy discrimination Asian Americans’ contribution towards building the USA was notable; while evaluating the effect of high stretching bias on their perception of other Americans, it was hard to tell, but their allegiance over time had shifted to the country that gave them an opportunity to find a better life (Kurashige and Murray 37). Even for the Asian Americans with families in America, distance and separation from large society and family-based communities failed to guarantee a vote, permit of the citizenry, and exasperated their exclusion from the American Dream. Asian Americans were denied equal schooling, housing, job, and participation in socio-political life. A huge percentage of Asian Americans of many generations received threats of violence and discriminatory treatment.

Language

The history of Asia and the USA has also had an impact on the language used by members of the two different communities. Both communities used standard terms such as ‘American’ to mean a white person, a measure of the long history of separation and exclusion of Asians who could not be Americans. Despite the changes in linguistic patterns, it slowly suggests that despite a long relationship between the USA and Asia, Asian Americans have been pushed to the edges of American identity that they have helped create both in their minds and the minds of others.

Modernity

During the mid-19th century, the migrants from Asia were mainly non-skilled laborers moving to the plantations in the United States after slaves had been granted freedom, and wage labor in farms was common. At the start of the 20th century, the focus shifted to the work offered in manufacturing assemblies as the result of the establishment of the mass production systems. In the United States, unlike in underdeveloped colonies, industries already thrived and provided a significant amount of job opportunities. For the ordinary immigrant, the prospect of working in agricultural plantations and high-risk industrial estates offered better prospects as compared to the available opportunities in their native lands. For ordinary immigrants, moving to the United States was akin to moving closer to opportunities (Kurashige and Murray 64). Even in the face of restrictions on movement and familial presence, ordinary immigrants saw a benefit in moving to the United States as opposed to staying at home. Immigrating to the United States provided an opportunity for the outsiders to contribute to nation building. Thus, Asian American history became one of the major proponents of the spread of modernism and the industrial spread throughout the world. Thus, the traffic flow of immigrants in and out of the United States became a passage of knowledge from the developed United States and the relatively underdeveloped Asian region.

Nationalism

As members of an American colony, Filipino immigrants were granted access into the United States as nationals but not citizens. As citizens of the United States, immigrants felt the obligation to take up their roles and responsibilities in building the American dream of exceptionalism through hard work and diligence. The recruitment of Asian Americans into various fighting squadrons during the Civil and the Second World War further served to strengthen the immigrants’ allegiance to the USA. Induction into service became a vital step for the immigrants to show where their allegiance stood. Even though it was possible that some immigrants held a negative perception due to exclusionary regulations, serving among the troops reinforced their allegiance and made them a part of a larger community. After the Second World War, as a commendation for the exceptional service rendered by immigrants during the war, the United States immigration restrictions were lessened to allow immigrants’ families to join them. Nationalism was measured by the degree of service offered to one’s country of residence through war. At the end of the First World War, both Lausa and Flores were granted naturalization and citizenship based on the army commanding officers’ recommendation as a reward for their service in the United States forces during the war. Further nationalism was further reinforced by the feeling of oneness in fighting on one side of the battlefield, surpassing sense of inferiority cultivated by long-term exclusionary laws (Levinson and Ember). Further, the feeling of nationalism was enforced by the government’s acceptance of immigrant family entry into the United States, thus indicating acceptance to the immigrants who had continued to live and serve in different jobs, contributing to the general economic and social growth in the USA after the war.

Capitalism

Capitalism is one of the major historical forces that have shaped the perceptions of ordinary citizens on Asian American history. Moreover, capitalism is one of the fundamental components of egalitarian US society values. Capitalism encourages individual business success based on private means of production and with little or no government interference into the market (Lerner et al.). During the late 1800s, as the flow of immigrants became significant, the native white and African American workers became alarmed by the introduction of Asian immigrants as the latter would increase competition for the limited labor. People feared that immigrant Asians were after their jobs; thus, they faced immediate danger of the drop in wages and lack of employment. As a result of these effects and as a defense mechanism, discrimination against Asian immigrants became the only viable means of limiting their access to high net income job opportunities and free participation in the labor market.

Conclusion

Asia American history is a compelling interaction tale of a small group with unique social and cultural characteristics that has blended to become a part of larger society while maintaining a level of influence on the cultural and social makeup of new society. Asian American history has been instrumental in the creation of American exceptionalism today through the contributions of Asians as a group and individually in the times of peace and times of stability. Asian culture, values, and behaviors have been incorporated into American one to complement an already robust social culture. At the same time, the American industrialism and capitalism have been spread through the relationship, thus creating more job opportunities as well as boosting individual and communal living standards. Both groups benefitted from learning the diversity of each other, enabling them to appreciate some noteworthy practices that had been assimilated into their preferences and values. The exchange of cultural values helped both communities understand the importance and value of their counterparts.

Finally, sociocultural interaction had been the biggest contributor to the removal of artificial exclusionary barriers that not only discriminated against fellow humans but were also harmful to the harmonious co-existence between Asians and Americans. Even though in most instances, Asian American discrimination appears as a mechanism of defense against an intruding party, it is noteworthy to highlight the level of progress the United States had made before the immigrant influx in search of jobs. Further, job surplus availability in the United States further precipitated the movement of immigrants from Asia in search of better income and chase of the American dream, which became the fruit of efforts of all participating sides.