LESSON 6: ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN IMMIGRATION
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ASIAN IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES MAINLAND
Early Immigration of Filipinos and Native Hawaiians: 1763–1850s
Although the Chinese were the first group to come to the western coast of the United States in large numbers, other Asian
Pacific Islander groups were in this country at an earlier date. For example, a group of Filipinos, who came to the United States
as sailors, developed a colony in Southern Louisiana around 1763.
Native Hawaiians navigated merchant ships to the West Coast as early as the 1780s. Many Hawaiians came to work in the
Northwest trading posts.
In 1853, when Washington became a U.S. territory, the Caucasian population was listed as 3,965 (the census at that time did
not factor in African Americans or Native Americans). In the 1850 census, only one Chinese person was listed in the Washington
territory. Around that time, there were an estimated 1,000 Native Hawaiians who made up a substantial portion of the work
force. These early Hawaiians helped to chart and develop the area that was later to be known as the states of Washington and
Oregon. Kalama and the Kalama River were named after Hawaiian John Kalama.
Chinese Immigration: 1850s–1882
The Chinese arrived in California in the 1850s. Most came from the Guangdung province in southern China, which was an area
with high poverty and famine levels. News of gold in the Washington territory brought many to the Northwest. By the 1870s,
thousands of Chinese had been contracted to work on the Northwest railroads. Chinese laborers also worked in agriculture,
mining and construction projects.
In 1882, the U.S. passed the first of several exclusion acts against Asians, this one preventing Chinese laborers from coming to
America. This was the first time the U.S. government had ever enacted legislation specifically excluding a group of people. Many
Chinese entered the U.S. stating that they were returning U.S.-born citizens, born on American soil. Since all immigration papers
had been destroyed in a 1906 San Francisco fire, officials had little information to dispute their claims.
The exclusion law was repealed in 1943, but due to the limitations of Chinese women being brought over, generations of
Chinese men had worked and died without the opportunity to marry and raise families.
Japanese, Korean and South Asian Immigration: 1890s–1924
As the numbers of Chinese began to diminish with the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, other groups filled the labor
needs of the Northwest. A large number of men were recruited from Japan and a smaller number from Korea and India. Other
Japanese came as students or “picture brides,” wed to men through arranged marriages. Between 1885 and 1894, more than
30,000 Japanese laborers arrived in Hawaii, many moving on to the U.S. mainland. The Japanese were able to raise families
and settle throughout the West Coast. However, housing discrimination against Asians, including the Japanese, resulted in a
Japantown where Japanese businesses and residences were clustered. In Seattle, much of the Chinatown-International District
was a “Japantown” with many hotels, restaurants and small businesses. The Japanese were also prominent farmers. At one time,
they occupied 70 percent of the stalls at Pike Place Market and supplied 75 percent of the region’s vegetables.
By 1930, 17,837 Japanese residents resided in Washington State. Korean immigrants only numbered about 1,000 at the turn of
the century. After Korea became a protectorate of Japan in 1905, very few Korean laborers came here, a situation that did not
change until after 1950. Indians or South Asians mostly settled in small numbers in California after working on the railroads or
in lumber mills in the Pacific Northwest.
Asians and Pacific Islanders were barred from becoming naturalized citizens. A 1790 citizenship law stated that only
Caucasians could become citizens. In 1907, the U.S. negotiated the Gentlemen’s Agreement with Japan, which drastically
limited immigration. The U.S. Congress later passed the Immigration Act of 1924 prohibiting the immigration of “aliens
ineligible to citizenship,” meaning Asians. This act barred the immigration of Japanese, Korean and South Asians until
after World War II.
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