TOPIC 6.8 Immigration in the Gilded Age (& 6.2 Westward Expansion)
The Transcontinental Railroad and the Chinese Immigrants that Made America Great
Antiracist APUSH in partnership with Immigrant History Initiative
KC-6.2.II.A The building of transcontinental railroads…promoted economic growth and created new communities and centers of commercial activity
KC-6.1.II.B.ii The industrial workforce expanded and became more diverse through internal and international migration.
Objective 1: Students will be able to explain the push-pull factors that brought Chinese immigrants to the United States
Objective 2: Students will be able to explain how 19th-century Chinese immigrants helped to make America great.
The Immigrant History Initiative and Antiracism in the US history classroom:
“We believe in the power of storytelling to empower and drive change. Our mission is to fundamentally change how we learn, talk, and think about race, migration, and social justice as a global society. We started the Immigrant History Initiative to celebrate and highlight the centrality of immigrant experiences to the American identity.” - Julia Chang Wang and Kathy Lu
The Immigrant History Initiative is led by founders Julia Chang Wang and Kathy Lu, two Yale Law School graduates. As children of immigrants, they grew up knowing next to nothing about their heritage in the United States. The recent resurgence of overt political xenophobia prompted them to think deeply about the importance of immigration in shaping our nation. They created curriculum designed for an extracurricular program for Chinese American students. Their resources are invaluable to any student of American history and Antiracist APUSH has partnered with the organization to tailor their curriculum to fit the objectives and key concepts of both APUSH and any standard American history survey course.
Notes
The American Pageant, the most widespread APUSH textbook, provides great detail about cultural and economic push-pull factors that led to European migration to the United States but is notably silent about these topics concerning Asian migration. The heart of the lesson is a mini-DBQ that prompts students to evaluate visual and written sources to learn about unique push-factors involved in initial Chinese migration to the United States. The lesson starts with a brief review of the significance of the completion of the railroad and various push-pull factors that bring immigrants to the United States. It is helpful if students have read about the railroad prior to this lesson, though it is not necessary. Thanks again to Julia and Kathy at Immigrant History Initiative for access to their resources!