Read the text. Then answer the questions.

Chinese Immigrants and American Culture

Many Chinese immigrants came to the United States in 1849. They were looking
for gold during the California Gold Rush. Many of these Chinese immigrants also
helped to build a railroad in the mid-1800s. The railroad connected different parts of
the United States. It changed the way of life for many Americans. But, in the late
1800s, Chinese immigrants faced many prejudices. Life became harder for
Chinese immigrants because of new immigration laws.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, prejudice against Chinese
immigrants was growing. Some Americans thought Chinese immigrants were
taking away their jobs. Then in 1882 a federal law was passed. This law stopped
Chinese workers like those who built the railroad from entering the country. This
law stopped Chinese immigration for many years. And the Chinese immigrants
living in the United States could not become American citizens. But many of the
Chinese railroad workers stayed in California. Some Chinese immigrants found
jobs in farming and fishing. Others started businesses, such as laundries, grocery
stores, and restaurants.
The immigration laws allowed some Chinese business owners to go to China
and bring in Chinese workers. This made it possible for some Chinese businesses
in the United States to grow. Then, in 1915, restaurants were added to the list of
businesses that allowed Chinese workers to enter the United States. Soon the
number of Chinese restaurants in the United States increased. Before that time,
many Chinese immigrants worked in laundries. But restaurant jobs paid better,
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education

so many Chinese immigrants became restaurant workers.

Later, in 1943, a new law allowed 105 Chinese immigrants into the country
each year. And in the years following World War II, more Chinese immigrants
were allowed into the country because many Chinese Americans served as U.S.
soldiers and pilots.
Even though prejudices against the Chinese still existed, some people were
able to succeed in creative fields, such as film and architecture. James Wong Howe
was born in China in 1899. He came to the United States as a young child in the
early 1900s. When he was a teenager, he was an assistant to a photographer in
Los Angeles. Soon afterward he became a cameraman in movies. By the 1920s,
he was a cinematographer, or a director of photography. A cinematographer is
responsible for the camera crews and the way the movie looks.

GO ON
Unit Assessment Grade 11 • Unit 3 145
 Anna May Wong was born in 1905 in Los Angeles, California. Her father ran
a laundry business. Wong was a popular actress in the early and mid-1900s. But
she faced many prejudices from directors. They did not want to cast Asian women
as the stars in their films.
I. M. Pei was born in China in 1917. He came to the United States when he
was 17 to study architecture. Pei has designed many buildings around the world.
Some of his well-known buildings include the East Building of the National
Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and the Grand Louvre in Paris.
In 1965, a major change happened in the immigration laws. Congress passed
the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. For the first time, many countries,
including China, could send up to 20,000 immigrants a year to the United States.
As a result, large numbers of Chinese families and families from all over Asia
could now come to the United States.
During the twentieth century, Chinese immigrants and their children had
made many contributions to the arts and sciences in the United States. They
became an important part of American culture.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education

GO ON
146 Grade 11 • Unit 3 Unit Assessment