Chinese Immigration Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Chinese Immigration - Assignment Example The vast open spaces, the lack of social and class distinctions, the dynamic tempo of our growth, the westward progression, and the mobility of the population promoted the acceptance of the newcomer2. In times of crisis such as wars or economic depressions, the moving equilibrium might be disturbed. Immigrants’ movements created tensions around the presence of the foreigner, but at least until the latter decades of the nineteenth century, these tensions were usually dissolved by accommodation on a new level without restrictive legislation. The American Constitution made the United States the first national state to proclaim the principle that there should be no religious test for office holding. Furthermore, only the President was required by the Constitution to be native-born. The Federal government, as a matter of policy, utilized the principle of religious freedom to stimulate immigration. A guarantee of religious freedom had been included in the ordinance for governing the Northwest Territory, partly in the hope that it would stimulate migration into that region3. Similar to other immigrants, See’s a grandmother and her family occupied a low paid job and low social class position4. She worked at a Chinese underwear factory. It is not surprising that the changes in American society after 1890 affected attitudes toward the immigrant and that a strong movement for the restriction of immigration.