APPENDIX
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The exclusion law was repealed in 1943, but due to the limitations of Chinese women being brought over, generations of Chinese men had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% of the stalls at Pike Place Market and supplied 75% 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.
Filipino Immigration: 1900s–1934
After the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Philippines became a protectorate of the United States. In the 1920s, large numbers
of Filipino men came to work on farms and canneries throughout the Northwest, replacing the dwindling supply of Japanese workers. Many
of these migrant workers lived in the Chinatown-International District, forming a large bachelor society similar to the Chinese. Like other
Asians, Filipinos were barred from owning land and were subjected to racial violence. In the late 1920s, Filipinos were driven from their homes
in the Yakima Valley. In 1934, when the Philippines were granted commonwealth status, the U.S. applied restrictions and cut back Filipino
immigration to 50 people each year.
After WWII: Filipino, Chinese, South Asian and Korean Immigration
In later years, some Filipino veterans of World War II were able to come to the U.S. and gain their citizenship. Koreans began coming in
large numbers in the 1960s and ‘70s. The passage of the 1965 Immigration Act, a sweeping reform of the immigration laws, resulted in
an explosion in immigration. Many settled on the West Coast, with a smaller number moving to the East Coast.
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