[00:00.00]An article in the Illustrated
[00:03.48] London News in January 1875
[00:05.57]gave some insight into
[00:09.29]the emigration process of
[00:11.69]the Chinese by conveying the ideas
[00:13.77]of changes they might undergo.
[00:15.63]The author thought the modifications
[00:19.68]would be slight and principally external.
[00:23.94]He believed that, in an attempt
[00:26.57]to blend in, the Chinese
[00:29.09]would adopt American language,
[00:30.95]culture, and dress. However,
[00:35.11] because the Chinese brought
[00:36.97]with them a strong sense
[00:38.60]of their own identity,
[00:40.14]it wasn’t necessary for
[00:42.33]them to cultivate a
[00:43.74]North American way of life,
[00:45.83]nor did they feel an obligation
[00:48.23]to abandon their traditions.
[00:50.42]Much of the article
[00:52.94]would be considered insulting
[00:55.24]by today’s standards.
[00:56.55]In the United States, there were
[01:01.47]two opposing points of view.
[01:04.10]On one side of the coin,
[01:05.84]the Chinese were seen as
[01:07.71]an inexpensive means of providing
[01:10.00] the manual labor necessary to
[01:12.74]develop the assets of the country,
[01:15.48]most often in hazardous occupations.
[01:18.21]On the other side,there were
[01:21.49]those who branded them
[01:23.35]as the “curse” of the nation.
[01:25.65]Some Americans applauded the Chinese
[01:29.15]but others condemned them as evil.
[01:32.76] Some were disturbed by
[01:34.95]what might happen if all
[01:36.70]the immigrants decided to stay.
[01:38.76] Their distress was unfounded however,
[01:42.48] as most Chinese had
[01:44.24]no intention of staying.
[01:46.86]Their greatest wish was to
[01:49.38]accumulate as much money
[01:51.13]as possible and return to China.
[01:53.97]Guilds were set up
[01:56.38]to provide lodging and
[01:57.80]employment for the emigrants,
[01:59.88]for a fee of course.
[02:01.52]The fee ensured that
[02:03.93]the worker would be paid a decent wage
[02:05.90] and that his employer
[02:08.08]would not deceive him.
[02:10.61]The accumulated fees amounted to
[02:13.99]a large sum, allowing the Guilds
[02:16.73]to help those who
[02:18.37]were ill or out of work.
[02:20.56]They not only saw that
[02:22.96]the worker received whatever
[02:24.61]was due to him, they also
[02:26.35]made him pay all his debts.
[02:28.33]The worker wasn’t allowed to
[02:31.50]return to his own country
[02:33.14]without a certificate from
[02:35.22] his agent stating he owed nothing.
[02:37.63]Many Chinese were able to
[02:42.66] save a portion of their earnings
[02:44.41]to take with them to
[02:46.16] their family back home.
[02:48.02]Often, after workers returned to China,
[02:51.41] they would revisit North America
[02:54.26]to accumulate more money.
[02:55.90]Before being allowed to
[02:59.61]board a ship in China,
[03:01.37]however, they had to prove
[03:03.34]that they were going of
[03:04.87]their own free will and
[03:07.06]were under no labor contract.
[03:09.13]Before the ships set sail,
[03:12.09]the authorities would visit
[03:14.28]to guarantee that all on board
[03:16.57]had their tickets stamped
[03:18.54]and were not leaving
[03:20.29] the country against their will |