Question: What was the general breakdown among the Chinese immigrant community? 

Answer: The first real wave of Chinese immigrants came to California beginning in 1848 in response to the discovery of gold. They were merchants who sold their stock to the settlers and miners and then went in search for gold themselves. They wrote home to share their experiences and by 1851 there were almost 25,000 Chinese, called "Celestials" for the Celestial Empire of China, on the West Coast. These immigrants were almost all from the province of Kwangtung in southern China, traveling through the harbors of Canton and Hong Kong. In rural China of the time, the purpose of life was the well-being of the family group. Many families sold possessions and/or borrowed in order to send one young man to America to make a fortune, not for himself, but to send back home to his family. The idea was to get as rich as possible as quickly as possible and then to return home. Other miners resented their lack of interest in becoming naturalized and by 1852 they were being driven from the mines. Still seeking their fortunes, many turned to jobs which the miners did not want to perform for themselves, such as cooking and laundry. By 1860 many had returned home. Then in 1862 the Union Pacific and Central Pacific cross-continental rail line began construction. A new wave of immigrants came from China through the Chinese Six Companies, organized into crews with their passage prepaid and then deducted from their monthly wages. When the railroad was completed in 1869, some Chinese returned home but for each one who returned, two more arrived. Some 123,000 came in the 1870's. The economy and political situation was against them. The Gold Rush was over and most people had failed to make their fortune. The railroad was completed, the major swamplands had been filled, and industry did not need the thousands of unskilled laborers. An agitator named Dennis Kearney organized what became the Workingman's Party in an effort to drive the immigrants away and protect American jobs. Harrassment escalated until the Exclusion Act of 1882 which was intended to prohibit the entry of Chinese laborers for ten years. Many Chinese left. Those who remained responded by moving away from the West Coast and establishing neighborhoods of their own whereever they went. Family life was the exception in these communities since most immigrants were single young men, or if married, had left their wives at home, expecting only a short stay in America. The Exclusion Laws made it almost impossible to bring family into the country. The Chinese distrusted American institutions and formed their own family associations, district organizations, and halls. Tongs were first founded as social clubs, but some, especially in San Francisco between 1880 and 1900 became involved in crime and vice. The Exclusion Laws were not repealed until the United States and China allied during World War I. Many of the original immigrants had either returned home or died, but enough remained to cause another wave of immigration as families were finally allowed to reunite. Then in 1949 the Communist takeover of mainland China caused a new wave of immigration. Unlike previous waves, many were from the educated and upper levels of society, and they brought entire families at once. This trend of educated, skilled immigrants and immigrants of all ages has continued into today.
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