Asian American History
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Asian American history is the history of ethnic and racial groups in the United States who are of
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
n descent. The term "
Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
" was an idea invented in the 1960s to bring together
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
,
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
, and
Filipino Americans Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...
for strategic political purposes. Soon other groups of Asian origin, such as
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
,
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
,
Iu Mien The Iu Mien language ( ium, Iu Mienh, ; zh, 勉語 or ; th, ภาษาอิวเมี่ยน) is the language spoken by the Iu Mien people in China (where they are considered a constituent group of the Yao peoples), Laos, Vietnam, Th ...
,
Hmong Hmong may refer to: * Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand * Hmong cuisine * Hmong customs and culture ** Hmong music ** Hmong textile art * Hmong language, a continuum of closely related ton ...
, and other
South Asian Americans South Asian Americans are Americans of full or partial South Asian ancestry. The term generally excludes Afghanistan, referring specifically to those who can trace back their heritage to the Indian subcontinent, which includes the countries of Ba ...
were added. For example, while many Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino immigrants arrived as unskilled workers in significant numbers from 1850 to 1905 and largely settled in Hawaii and California, many Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Hmong Americans arrived in the United States as refugees following the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. These separate histories have often been overlooked in conventional frameworks of Asian American history. Since 1965, shifting immigration patterns have resulted in a higher proportion of highly educated Asian immigrants entering the United States. This image of success is often referred to as the "model minority" myth. For the contemporary situation, see
Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
.


Hostility to immigration

The Chinese arrived in the U.S. in large numbers on the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...
in the 1850s and 1860s to work in the gold mines and railroads. They encountered very strong opposition—violent as riots and physical attacks forced them out of the gold mines. The Central Pacific railroad hired thousands, but after the line was finished in 1869 they were hounded out of many railroad towns in states such as
Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
and
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
. Most wound up in
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
s—areas of large cities which the police largely ignored. The Chinese were further alleged to be "
coolie A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...
s" and were said to be not suitable for becoming independent thoughtful voters because of their control by
tongs Tongs are a type of tool used to grip and lift objects instead of holding them directly with hands. There are many forms of tongs adapted to their specific use. The first pair of tongs belongs to the Egyptians. Tongs likely started off as b ...
. The same negative reception hit the Asians who migrated to
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The Japanese arrived in large numbers 1890–1907, many going to
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
(an independent country until 1898), and others to the West Coast. Hostility was very high on the West Coast. Hawaii was a multicultural society in which the Japanese experienced about the same level of distrust as other groups. Indeed, they were the largest population group by 1910, and after 1950 took political control of Hawaii. The Japanese on the West Coast of the U.S. (as well as Canada and Latin America) were
interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but very few on Hawaii at the
Honouliuli Internment Camp Honouliuli National Historic Site is near Waipahu on the island of Oahu, in the U.S. state of Hawaii. This is the site of the Honouliuli Internment Camp which was Hawaiʻi's largest and longest-operating internment camp, opened in 1943 and closed ...
.


Historiography

According to Chan (1996), the historiography of Asians in America falls into four periods. The 1870s to the 1920s saw partisan debates over curtailing Chinese and Japanese immigration; "
Yellow Peril The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror and the Yellow Specter) is a racist, racial color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a ...
" diatribes battled strong, missionary-based defenses of the immigrants. Studies written from the 1920s to the 1960s were dominated by social scientists, who focused on issues of assimilation and social organization, as well as the World War II internment camps. Activist revisionism marked the 1960s to the early 1980s. Starting in the early 1980s there was an increased stress on human agency. Only after 1990 has there been much scholarship by professional historians.


Chronology

Major milestones according to standard reference works and others are:


16th century

* 1587, "Luzonians" (Filipinos from
Luzon Island Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political cen ...
) arrive in
Morro Bay Morro Bay (''Morro'', Spanish for "Hill") is a seaside city in San Luis Obispo County, California. Located on the Central Coast of California, the city population was 10,757 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,234 at the 2010 census. The town ...
, (San Luis Obispo) California on board the galleon ship ''Nuestra Señora de Buena Esperanza'' under the command of Spanish Captain Pedro de Unamuno during the
Manila Galleon Trade fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire ...
. * 1595, Filipino sailors aboard a Spanish "
galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch War ...
" the ''San Agustin'' which was commanded by Captain Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno arrive on the shores of
Point Reyes Point Reyes (, meaning "Point of the Kings") is a prominent cape and popular Northern California tourist destination on the Pacific coast. Located in Marin County, it is approximately west-northwest of San Francisco. The term is often applied ...
outside the mouth of the
Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...
. The ship was on a trip to
Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...
before it was shipwrecked on the aforementioned area.


17th century

* 1635, an "East Indian" is listed in
Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James (Powhatan) River about southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was ...
.


18th century

* 1763,
Filipinos Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or othe ...
established the small settlement of
Saint Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
in the bayous of Louisiana, after fleeing mistreatment aboard Spanish ships. Since there were no Filipino women with them, the "
Manilamen Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...
," as they were known, married
Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...
and Native American women. * 1778, Chinese sailors first arrive to Hawaii. Many settled and married Hawaiian women. * 1785, Chinese sailors of an American ship reached
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
.


19th century

* 1815, Filipinos working as shrimp fishermen and smugglers in Louisiana serve under General
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
's American forces in the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
and as artillery gunners at the
Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the French ...
. * 1820s, Chinese (mostly merchants, sailors, and students) begin to immigrate via Sino-U.S. maritime trade. * 1829, Famous conjoined twins
Chang and Eng Bunker Chang Bunker and Eng Bunker (May 11, 1811 – January 17, 1874) were Siamese-American conjoined twin brothers whose fame propelled the expression " Siamese twins" to become synonymous for conjoined twins in general. They were widely exhibited as ...
, both born in Siam (modern-day
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
), began performing on a series of tours in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, with a Siamese translator brought along to help translate for Chang and Eng. Chang and Eng became naturalized US citizens in the 1830s and settled down in North Carolina. Two of their sons with their American wives later fought for the Confederacy during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. * 1835, First account of Chinese laborers on Hawaii by an American, who were noted to perform efficient, backbreaking work compared to indigenous Hawaiian laborers. In response, an Anglo-American entrepreneur hires the first Chinese paid laborers in Hawaii and recommends the importation of Chinese laborers to the Continental US. * 1841, Captain Whitfield, commanding an American whaler in the Pacific, rescues five shipwrecked Japanese sailors. Four disembark at
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
. Manjiro Nakahama stays on board returning with Whitfield to Fairhaven,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
. After attending school in New England and adopting the name John Manjiro, he later becomes an interpreter for Commodore
Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). As well as starring in the short-lived television series ''Stud ...
. * 1849, First mass wave of Chinese immigrants to the US for gold prospecting including in states such as California, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In 1852, 20,000 Chinese-Americans migrated to California, totaling 67,000 Chinese immigrants in California. In response to increased Chinese immigration, the California legislature passed a new foreign miner's tax of $4 a month. * 1850, Seventeen survivors of a Japanese shipwreck were saved by an American freighter; In 1852, the group joins Commodore
Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). As well as starring in the short-lived television series ''Stud ...
to help open diplomatic relations with Japan. One of them,
Joseph Heco Joseph Heco (born September 20, 1837 – December 12, 1897) was the first Japanese person to be naturalized as a United States citizen and the first to publish a Japanese language newspaper. Early years Hikozō Hamada was born in Harima pro ...
(Hikozo Hamada) later becomes a naturalized US citizen. * 1854 **''
People v. Hall ''The People of the State of California v. George W. Hall'' or ''People v. Hall'', , was an appealed murder case in the 1850s, in which the California Supreme Court established that Chinese Americans and Chinese immigrants had no rights to testi ...
'', the
California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...
case that denied the rights of Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans to testify against white citizens. **
Yung Wing Yung Wing (; November 17, 1828April 21, 1912) was a Chinese-American diplomat and businessman. In 1854, he became the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university, Yale College. He was involved in business transactions between Ch ...
becomes the first Chinese-American student to graduate from an American university (
Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
) * 1861–1865, Several dozen Asian volunteers of various ethnicities enlist in the Union Army and Union Navy during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. Smaller numbers serve in the armed forces of the Confederate States of America. * 1861 The utopian minister Thomas Lake Harris of the Brotherhood of the New Life visits England, where he meets
Nagasawa Kanaye Kanaye Nagasawa (né Isonaga Hikosuke; February 2, 1852February 14, 1934) was a California winemaker, the first Japanese national to live permanently in the United States, a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, and a disciple of Thomas Lake ...
, who becomes a convert. Nagasawa returns to the US with Harris and follows him to Fountaingrove in
Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...
. When Harris leaves the Californian
commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...
, Nagasawa became the leader and remained there until his death in 1932. * 1862, California imposes a tax of $2.50 a month on every Chinese man. * 1865, The
Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by Pacific Railroad Acts, U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in N ...
Co. recruits Chinese workers for the
transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...
from California to Utah. Many are killed or injured in the harsh conditions blasting through difficult mountain terrain. * 1869, A group of Japanese build the
Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony The Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony is believed to be the first permanent Japanese settlement in North America and the only settlement by samurai outside of Japan. The group was made up of 22 people from samurai families during the Boshin Civi ...
in Gold Hill, California * 1869, The Fourteenth Amendment gives full citizenship to every person born in the United States, regardless of race. * 1877,
Denis Kearney Denis Kearney (1847–1907) was a California labor leader from Ireland who was active in the late 19th century and was known for his anti-Chinese activism. Called "a demagogue of extraordinary power," he frequently gave long and caustic speeches ...
organizes anti-Chinese movement in San Francisco and forms the
Workingmen's Party of California The Workingmen's Party of California (WPC) was an American labor organization, founded in 1877 and led by Denis Kearney, J.G Day, and H. L. Knight. Organizational history As a result of heavy unemployment from the 1873-78 national depression, ...
, alleging that Chinese workers took lower wages, poorer conditions, and longer hours than white workers were willing to tolerate. * 1878, Chinese are ruled ineligible for naturalized citizenship. * 1882,
Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplom ...
is passed banning immigration of laborers from China. Students and businessmen are allowed. Large numbers of Chinese gain entry by claiming American birth. * 1884, Philip Jason, a Korean independence activist and physician who later became an American citizen among Koreans for the first time, arrived in the United States. * 1885 The
Rock Springs massacre The Rock Springs massacre, also known as the Rock Springs riot, occurred on September 2, 1885, in the present-day United States city of Rock Springs, Wyoming, Rock Springs in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The riot, and resulting massacre of Chin ...
in Wyoming leaves 28 Chinese miners dead. * 1887, Robbers kill 31 Chinese miners Snake River, Oregon. * 1890, In Hawaii, then an independent country, sugar plantations hire large numbers of Japanese, Chinese and Filipinos. They form a majority of the population by 1898. * 1898 Hawaii joins the U.S. as a territory. Most residents are Asian and they receive full U.S. citizenship. * 1898 The Philippines joins the U.S. as a territory. The residents of the Philippines become U.S. nationals but not citizens.


1901 to 1940

* 1902,
Yone Noguchi was an influential Japanese writer of poetry, fiction, essays and literary criticism in both English and Japanese. He is known in the west as Yone Noguchi. He was the father of noted sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Biography Early life in Japan Nogu ...
publishes ''The American Diary of a Japanese Girl''. * 1903
Ahn Chang Ho Ahn Changho, sometimes An Chang-ho (; , November 9, 1878 – March 10, 1938) was a Korean independence activist and one of the early leaders of the Korean-American immigrant community in the United States. He is also referred to by his pen na ...
, pen name Dosan, founded the Friendship Society in 1903 and the Mutual Assistant Society. * 1904,
Seungman Rhee Syngman Rhee (, ; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965) was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Ko ...
(이승만), comes to the U.S. to earn a B.A at
George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...
and a Ph.D. from
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
. In 1910, he returned to Korea and became a political activist during
Japanese occupation of Korea Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon, Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji period, Meiji government, military ...
. He later became the first president of South Korea. * 1906 The
San Francisco Board of Education The San Francisco Board of Education is the school board for the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco. It is composed of seven Commissioners, elected by voters across the city to serve 4-year terms. It is subject to local, state, and f ...
segregates Japanese students, but withdraws at the request of President
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
and protests by the Japanese government. * 1907,
Gentlemen's Agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties. It is typically oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or th ...
between United States and Japan that Japan would stop issuing passports for new laborers. * 1910,
Angel Island Angel Island may refer to: *Angel Island (California), historic site of the United States Immigration Station, Angel Island, and part of Angel Island State Park, in San Francisco Bay, California * Angel Island, Papua New Guinea * ''Angel Island'' (n ...
in San Francisco Bay opens as the major station for as many as 175,000 Chinese and 60,000 Japanese immigrants between 1910 and 1940. * 1913,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
bans Japanese immigrants ("Issei") from purchasing land; land is purchased instead in the names of U.S. born children ("Nisei") who are citizens * 1924, United States
Immigration Act of 1924 The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern ...
(Oriental Exclusion Act) banned most immigration from Asia. The quota for most Asian countries is zero. Public opinion in Japan is outraged by the insult. * 1927, in the infamous case of
Lum v. Rice ''Lum v. Rice'', 275 U.S. 78 (1927), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the exclusion on account of race of a child of Chinese ancestry from a public school did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United St ...
the Supreme Court found that states possess the right to define a Chinese student as non-white for the purpose of segregating them in public schools. * 1930, Anti-Filipino riot occurred in Watsonville, California. * 1933, Filipinos are ruled ineligible for citizenship barring immigration. ''
Roldan v. Los Angeles County ''Roldan v. Los Angeles County'', , 18 P.2d 706, was a 1930s court case in California confirming that the state's anti-miscegenation laws at the time did not bar the marriage of a Filipino and a white person. However, the precedent lasted barely a ...
'' found that existing California
anti-miscegenation laws Anti-miscegenation laws or miscegenation laws are laws that enforce racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalization, criminalizing interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of different R ...
did not bar Filipino-white marriages, but the state quickly moved to amend the law and made it so that Filipinos could no longer marry White people. * 1935, Tydings-McDuffie Act gives "Commonwealth" status to the Philippines hence allowing immigration of Filipinos; Philippines independence is scheduled for 1946 * 1940,
Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...
was born November 27, 1940, in the
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
area of
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.


1941-1999

* 1941, Japanese navy attacks Pearl Harbor; FBI arrests pro-Japanese community leaders in Hawaii and U.S. * 1941, Japanese army invades Philippines; Japanese residents support the invaders * 1941–1945 Filipino resistance movement, working closely with U.S. Army, fights the Japanese invaders * 1942, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
signs
Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain ...
on February 19, ordering the
internment of Japanese Americans Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
. The action uprooted more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent on the U.S. West Coast; similar actions take place in Canada. * 1943, Japanese-American soldiers from Hawaii join the U.S. Army 100th Battalion arrive in Europe. * 1944, U.S. Army 100th Battalion merges with the all-volunteer Asian Americans of Japanese descent
442nd Regimental Combat Team The 442nd Infantry Regiment ( ja, 第442歩兵連隊) was an infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment is best known as the most decorated in U.S. military history and as a fighting unit composed almost entirely of second-gene ...
* 1945, 442nd Regimental Combat team awarded 18,143 decorations including 9,486 Purple Heart decorations becoming the highest decorated military unit in United States history * 1946, the
Luce–Celler Act The Luce–Celler Act of 1946, Pub. L. No. 79-483, 60 Stat. 416, is an Act of the United States Congress which provided a quota of 100 Filipinos and 100 Indians from Asia to immigrate to the United States per year, which for the first time allow ...
of 1946 grants naturalization opportunities to Filipino Americans and Indian Americans (which included present-day Pakistanis and Bangladeshis) and re-established immigration from the Indian subcontinent and the Philippines. *1947–1989, Strong American interest in Asia during Cold War, especially Korea and Vietnam. *1947,
Wataru Misaka Wataru Misaka (December 21, 1923 – November 20, 2019) was an American professional basketball player. A point guard of Japanese descent, he broke a color barrier in professional basketball by being the first non-white player and the first p ...
a
Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
was the first player of color and first American of
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
descent and the first non-
Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...
person to play in the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA), known then as the
Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...
(BAA) making him the person that broke the professional basketball color barrier the same year that Baseball player
Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...
broke the Baseball color barrier. * 1948, Olympic divers
Vicki Draves Victoria Manalo Draves (' Manalo; December 31, 1924 – April 11, 2010) was a Filipino American competitive diver who won gold medals in both platform and springboard diving at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Draves became the first woman t ...
& Sammy Lee became the first
Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
to win an Olympic gold medal for the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.

* 1951, '' The Gallery of Madame Liu Tsong'' the first U.S. television series starring an
Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
series lead was launched on the now defunct television network DuMont."Film reveals real-life struggles of an onscreen 'Dragon Lady'
." January 3, 2008. Retrieved: January 27, 2010.
The lead actress of the series was
Anna May Wong Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese-American actress to gain intern ...
the first female Asian American movie star and the first Chinese American movie star. * 1952 Walter–McCarran Act nullifies all federal anti-Asian exclusion laws and allows for naturalization of all Asians. * 1956,
Dalip Singh Saund Dalip Singh Saund (September 20, 1899 – April 22, 1973) was an Indian-American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from California's 29th congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party. He was the fi ...
(1899–1973) first Asian to be elected for Congress; he is a Sikh from California * 1957, Japanese American
James Kanno James Kanno (December 22, 1925 – July 15, 2017) served as the first mayor of Fountain Valley, California from 1957 to 1962. He was one of the first mayors of Asian descent in the United States. Biography Kanno was born in an unincorporated ...
is elected mayor of
Fountain Valley, California Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California. The population was 57,047 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The area encompassing Fountain Valley was originally inhabited by the Tongva people. Europea ...
. * 1962, Professional
American Football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
player
Roman Gabriel Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Jr. (born August 5, 1940) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was the second overall pick in the 1962 NFL Draft and played for the Los Angeles Rams for eleven seaso ...
, was the first Asian-American to start as an NFL quarterback. * 1962,
Daniel K. Inouye Daniel Ken Inouye ( ; September 7, 1924 – December 17, 2012) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. Beginning in 1959, he was the first U.S. representative f ...
of Hawaii elected for the US Senate; he wins reelection in 1968, 1974, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2004, and 2010 * 1962, Wing Luke the first Asian American to hold elected office (Seattle City Council) in the State of Washington * 1963
Rocky Fellers
a Filipino American boy band is first Asian American to hit Billboard 100The Rocky Fellers, ."Killer Joe" reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1963, No. 1 in both New York and Los Angeles, CA. * 1964, Grace Lee Boggs author and social activist, met with Malcolm X and unsuccessfully attempted to convince him to run for the United States Senate. * 1964, Senator Hiram Fong of
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
becomes first Asian American to run for President of the United States, as a favorite son candidate in his state's primary. He is also the first person from Hawaii to run for president, and runs again in 1968. * 1965, Yuri Kochiyama, human rights activist and Longtime friend to Malcolm X, on February 21, 1965, the day of his X's assassination, at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, she ran to him after he was shot and held him in her arms as he lay dying. * 1965, Patsy Mink, Patsy T. Mink of Hawaii becomes the first woman of color elected to Congress. * 1965, John Wing Jr., John Wing serves as Mississippi's first Chinese American mayor; he serves as mayor of Jonestown, Coahoma County, Mississippi, Jonestown, Mississippi, through 1973. * 1965, Luck Wing serves four terms as the Mayor of Sledge, Mississippi with a population of 600. Wing served as mayor and significantly changed the Chinese American experience in the Mississippi Delta. * 1965, a group of mostly Filipino farm workers go on strike against growers of table grapes in California a strike which became known as the famous Delano grape strike they were led by the famous Filipino American activists and labor organizers Philip Vera Cruz and Larry Itliong. * 1970s–1980s, Asians Americans created their own distinct genre of jazz and launched a musical movement based around it. * 1971, Norman Mineta, Norman Y. Mineta elected mayor of San Jose, California; becomes first Asian American mayor of a major US city; Herbert Choy nominated supreme court justice. * 1972, Patsy Mink co-authors and sponsors the Title IX, Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act and gets it effectively passed on June 23 the act was for the prohibition of gender discrimination in the U.S. education system or other federally funded institutions. In the same year, Mink also becomes the first Asian American woman to run for President of the United States, participating in the Oregon Democratic Primary. * 1973, Ruby Chow became the first Asian American elected to the King County Council in Washington State * 1974, George Ariyoshi, George R. Ariyoshi elected governor of Hawaii * 1974, Eduardo Malapit elected mayor of Kauai, the first Filipino American mayor in the United States. * 1976, S. I. Hayakawa, Samuel Ichiye (S. I.) Hayakawa of California and Spark Matsunaga of Hawaii elected as US Senators * 1977–1978, In June 1977 Reps. Frank Horton (New York politician), Frank Horton of New York (state), New York and Norman Mineta, Norman Y. Mineta of California introduced a United States House of Representatives resolution to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate a month later by Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga. President Jimmy Carter signed a joint resolution for the celebration on October 5, 1978. * 1978, Ellison Onizuka, Ellison S. Onizuka becomes the first Asian American astronaut. * 1980s–present, Asian Americans have made dramatic advances as students and faculty in higher education, especially in California. There have been sharp debates regarding the existence of discrimination against high-performing Asians. * 1980, Congress creates Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to investigate internment of Japanese Americans; in 1983 it reports Japanese American internment was not a national security necessity * 1982, Murder of Vincent Chin, Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, was beaten to death in Highland Park, Michigan near Detroit. His murder became a rally point for Asian Americans. Vincent Chin's murder is often considered the beginning of a pan-ethnic Asian American movement. * 1988, President Ronald Reagan signs Civil Liberties Act of 1988 apologizing for Japanese American internment and provide reparations of $20,000 to each victim * 1989, Michael Chang was the first Chinese American to win the French Open, and reached a career best ranking of world No. 2 in 1996. * 1990, George H. W. Bush signed a bill passed by Congress to extend Asian-American Heritage Week to a month; May was officially designated as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month two years later. * 1992, Eugene Chung is a former American football offensive lineman who played in the National Football League from 1992 to 1997. * 1992, May was officially designated as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. * 1992, Hae Jong Kim elected Bishop of United Methodist Church; Paull Shin elected for Washington State Senate; Jay Kim becomes first Korean Americans, Korean American elected to Congress (CA-41); 1992 Los Angeles riots, LA Riots of April 1992. * 1993, Bobby Scott (politician), Bobby Scott is elected to Congress from Virginia's 3rd congressional district. Scott is of African American and Filipino American descent, and is the first member of the United States Congress of Filipino ancestry. * 1994, Ben Cayetano is elected Governor of Hawaii, becoming the first Filipino Americans, Filipino American to be elected governor of a state. * 1996, Gary Locke is elected governor of Washington state. When he was elected in 1995 Locke became the first—and to date the only—Chinese American to serve as the governor of a state, holding the post for two terms. * 1999, Gen. Eric Shinseki becomes the first Asian American U.S. Army chief of staff. * 1999, David Wu is elected as Congressman for Oregon 1st District


21st century

* 2000, Norman Mineta, Norman Y. Mineta. Democratic Congressman, appointed by President Bill Clinton as the first Asian American appointed to the U.S. Cabinet; worked as Commerce Secretary (2000–2001), Transportation Secretary (2001–2006). * 2000, Angela Perez Baraquio became the first Asian American, first Filipino American, and first teacher ever to have been crowned Miss America. * 2001, Elaine Chao was appointed by President George W. Bush as the Secretary of Labor, serving to 2009. She is the first Asian American woman to serve in the Cabinet. * 2002, less than a month after the death of Rep. Patsy Mink, Congress passed a resolution to rename Title IX the "Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act. *2003, Ignatius C. Wang is an American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco from 2002 to 2009. * 2008, Cung Le, first Asian American to win a major mma title by defeating Frank Shamrock via TKO in Strikeforce. * 2008, Bruce Reyes-Chow, 3rd generation Filipino and Chinese American, was elected as the List of Moderators of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, moderator of 2 million members of the Presbyterian Church (USA). * 2008, Tim Lincecum, a starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, is selected as an All Star for the Major League All Star Game. Lincecum, who is half-Filipino, also won the Cy Young award as the most successful pitcher in the National League in 2008. Lincecum is the first Asian American to be selected as the Cy Young winner. Lincecum also won the Cy Young again in 2009 and led the Giants to a World Series victory in 2010. * 2009, Steven Chu, co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics, is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Energy—thereby becoming the first person appointed to the US Cabinet after having won a Nobel Prize. He is also the second Chinese American to become a member of Cabinet (after Elaine Chao). * 2009, Joseph Cao, a Republican, is the first Vietnamese American and person born in Vietnam elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, from Louisiana's 2nd congressional district; he was defeated for reelection in 2010. * 2009, Judy Chu is the first Chinese Americans, Chinese American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. * 2009, Gary Locke is appointed by President Obama to serve as the Secretary of Commerce. * 2009, Dr. Jim Yong Kim is appointed as President of Dartmouth College, becoming the first Asian American president of an Ivy League School. * 2010, Immigration from Asia surpassed immigration from Latin America. Many of these immigrants are recruited by American companies from college campuses in India, China, and South Korea. * 2010, Daniel Inouye is sworn in as President pro tempore of the United States Senate, President Pro Tempore making him the highest-ranking Asian-American politician in American history. * 2010, Far East Movement is the second Asian American band to top the Billboard 100, second only to The Rocky Fellers, Rocky Fellers with its song "Like a G6". The song was number one on two separate weeks in November 2010. * 2010, Jeremy Lin is the first American-born Taiwanese to become an NBA player. Lin was a star basketball player for Harvard University and excelled at NBA pre-draft camps. Lin is currently a player for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. * 2010, Jean Quan is elected as Mayor of Oakland, California. Quan is the first Asian American woman elected mayor of a major American city. Quan is Oakland's first Asian American mayor. * 2010, Ed Lee is appointed as Mayor of San Francisco, California. * 2010, Ed Wang was the first full-blooded Chinese player to both be drafted and to play in the NFL. * 2011, Gary Locke becomes U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. * 2013, Nina Davuluri became the second Asian American and first Indian American to be crowned as Miss America. She is the second Asian American following Angela Perez Baraquio in 2000. * 2015, Bobby Jindal, List of governors of Louisiana, Governor of Louisiana (2008—present), becomes the first Indian Americans, Indian American to run for President of the United States, and is the first Asian American to run a nationwide Bobby Jindal 2016 presidential campaign, campaign to seek the United States Presidency. * 2016, Kamala Harris was elected to the United States Senate from California, and is the first Indian American to serve as a United States Senator. * 2016, President-elect Donald Trump announces his intention to nominate Nikki Haley to serve as List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Nations, United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Haley is confirmed January 2017 and is the first Asian American and Indian American to serve as United Nations Ambassador. * 2017, Elaine Chao was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the Secretary of Transportation. *2017, Simon Tam (musician), Simon Tam wins a unanimous case at the Supreme Court for Matal v. Tam (the right to register The Slants' trademark). *2018, Noel Francisco was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the Solicitor General. *2019, Kamala Harris becomes first Indian American woman to Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign, campaign for the United States. *2021, Kamala Harris is sworn in as the first Multiracial Americans, Multiracial American, Indian Americans, Indian American,
Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
, African Americans, African American, and female Vice President of the United States.


See also

* East Asia–United States relations *
Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
* Asian immigration to the United States, Asian American immigration history * Asian Americans in United States politics, Asian American political history * Military history of Asian Americans * Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Histories of specific ethnic/national subgroups: * History of Chinese Americans, Chinese American history * Cambodian Americans#History, Cambodian American history * History of Filipino Americans, Filipino American history * Hmong Americans#History, Immigration history of Hmong Americans * Indian Americans#Progress, Indian American history * History of Japanese Americans, Japanese American history * Korean Americans#History, Korean American history * Vietnamese Americans#History, Vietnamese American history


Further reading


Reference books

* Chen, Edith Wen-Chu, and Grace J. Yoo, eds. ''Encyclopedia of Asian American Issues Today'' (2 vol, 2009
excerpt and text search
* Huang, Guiyou, ed. ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature'' (3 vol. 2008
excerpt and text search
* Japanese American National Museum. ''Encyclopedia of Japanese American History: An A-To-Z Reference from 1868 to the Present'' (2nd ed. 2000) * Kim, Hyung-Chan, ed. ''Dictionary of Asian American History'' (1986) 629pp
online edition
* Lee, Jonathan H.X. and Kathleen M. Nadeau, eds. ''Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife'' (3 vol. 2010) * Lee, Jonathan H.X. ''History of Asian Americans: Exploring Diverse Roots'' (2015) * Ng, Franklin. ''The Asian American Encyclopedia'' (6 vol., 1995) * Oh, Seiwoong, ed.. ''Encyclopedia of Asian-American Literature'' (2007) * Okihiro, Gary Y. ''American History Unbound: Asians and Pacific Islanders'' (University of California Press, 2015). xiv, 499 pp. *


Surveys by scholars

* Chan, Sucheng. ''Asian Americans: an interpretive history'' (Twayne, 1991). * Fuchs, Lawrence H. ''Hawaii Pono: An Ethnic and Political History'' (1997) * Lee, Shelley Sang-Hee. ''A New History of Asian America (''2014) * Okihiro, Gary Y. ''The Columbia Guide to Asian American History '' (2001
online editionexcerpt and text search
* Okihiro, Gary Y. ''Margins and Mainstreams: Asians in American History and Culture'' (University of Washington Press, 2014) * Ronald Takaki, Takaki, Ronald ''Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans'' New York: Little, Brown, 1998. *


Historiography

* Chan, Sucheng. "The changing contours of Asian-American historiography", ''Rethinking History'', March 2007, Vol. 11 Issue 1, pp 125–147; surveys 100+ studies of defining events; Asian diasporas; social dynamics; cultural histories. * Chan, Sucheng. "Asian American historiography," ''Pacific Historical Review,'' Aug 1996, Vol. 65#3 pp. 363–99 * Espiritu, Augusto. "Transnationalism and Filipino American Historiography," ''Journal of Asian American Studies,'' June 2008, Vol. 11#2 pp. 171–184, * Friday, Chris. "Asian American Labor and Historical Interpretation," ''Labor History,'' Fall 1994, Vol. 35#4 pp. 524–546, * Gregory, Peter N. "Describing the Elephant: Buddhism in American," ''Religion and American Culture,'' Summer 2001, Vol. 11#2 pp. 233–63 * Kim, Lili M. "Doing Korean American History in the Twenty-First Century," '' Journal of Asian American Studies,'' June 2008, Vol. 11@2 pp 199–209 * * Lee, Erika, "Orientalisms in the Americas: A Hemispheric Approach to Asian American History," ''Journal of Asian American Studies'' vol 8#3 (2005) pp 235–256. Notes that 30–40% of the Chinese and Japanese immigrants before 1941 went to Latin America, especially Brazil, and many others went to Canada. * Ngai, Mae M. "Asian American History—Reflections on the De-centering of the Field," ''Journal of American Ethnic History,'' Summer 2006, Vol. 25#4 pp 97–108 * Okihiro, Gary Y. ''The Columbia Guide to Asian American History'' (2001
excerpt and text search
* Okihiro, Gary Y. ''Common Ground: Reimagining American History'' (2001
excerpt and text search
* Tamura, Eillen H. "Historiographical Essay," ''History of Education Quarterly,'' Spring 2001, Vol. 41#1 pp. 58–71 * Tamura, Eillen H. "Using the Past to Inform the Future: An Historiography of Hawaii's Asian and Pacific Islanders," ''Amerasia Journal,'' 2000, Vol. 26#1 pp. 55–85


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asian American History Asian-American history, Immigration to the United States