The Chinese came to the United States with the idea of instant wealth due to the massive advertisements of the Gold Rush in California. The idea of immigrating to the States was not permanent but a way to make money and send it to their families living in poverty back in China. Gam Saan, or the gold mountain was a dream to the Chinese to become instantaneously rich. The Chinese push factor was the poor condition and unavailability of jobs in China; while the pull factor were the many advertisements and allure America brought. In 1849, the rumor of the Gold Rush arrived in Hong Kong but it wasn't until 1851 that 250,000 Chinese immigrated.
The first group of Chinese immigrants was between the 1840s and 1850s with little work experience and education. The Chinese immigrants found jobs in building railroads and their labor was cheap. In the 1960s a new wave of Chinese immigrants from all over China arrived to the United States. The new wave was skilled and was culturally diverse- some from Hong Kong and others from Taiwan.
Foreign Miners License tax
The Sidewalk Ordinance of 1870
Chinese Exclusion Act
Queue Ordinance of 1873
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