ABOUT THIS BOOK

A comprehensive survey, Asian American History places Asian immigration to America in international and domestic contexts, and explores the significant elements that define Asian America: imperialism and global capitalist expansion, labor and capital, race and ethnicity, immigration and exclusion, family and work, community and gender roles, assimilation and multiculturalism, panethnicity and identity, transnationalism and globalization, and new challenges and opportunities. It is an up-to-date and easily accessible resource for high school and college students, as well as anyone who is interested in Asian American history. Asian American History:

Covers the major and minor Asian American ethnic groups. It presents the myriad and poignant stories of a diverse body of Asian Americans, from illiterate immigrants to influential individuals, within a broad and comparative framework, offering microscopic narratives as well as macroscopic analysis and overviews.

Utilizes both primary and secondary sources, employs data and surveys, and incorporates most recent scholarly discourses.

Attractive and accessible by incorporating voices and illustrations of the contemporaries and by using straightforward language and concise syntax, while maintaining a reasonable level of scholarly depth.

Special features: Each chapter features Significant Events, Sidebars incorporating primary sources or scholarly debates, Review Questions, and Further Readings to aid and enhance student learning experience. Bibliographies, charts, maps, photographs and tables are included.

Written by a preeminent historian with four decades of teaching, research, and publishing experiences in Asian American history, it is the best book on the subject to date.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

HUPING LING, professor emerita of history at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, served as the executive editor in chief for the Journal of Asian American Studies from 2008 to 2012. A prize-winning author, she has authored or edited over thirty books and published over two hundred articles on Asian American studies.

REVIEWS

"This is an excellent introduction to Asian Americans. It is thorough and thoughtful, especially because it includes the diversity of the many communities who make up this fast-growing population. This would be easy to teach from and learn from. It offers a solid historical foundation for further discussion in the classroom, and it belongs on the syllabus."

— Frank H. Wu, President of Queens College, City University of New York

"Asian American History is a well-documented, comprehensive textbook. Major themes of the Asian American historic experience--racism and resistance, work, and family--as well as the rich, ethnic particularities of each group are integrated to offer a full picture of our communities. Further, Ling covers emerging themes, such as new community formations and transnational shifts, to address the pressing issues of Asian Americans."

— Russell Jeung, professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University, California, and co-founder of

"Huping Ling’s Asian American History is an important contribution to the growing scholarship that examines the collective experiences of Asian American communities in the U.S. Utilizing the latest source materials, interdisciplinary methodologies, and a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data, this study provides an indispensable account of both historical and current events."

— Rudy P. Guevarra Jr., author of Becoming Mexipino: Multiethnic Identities and Communities in San Diego (Rutgers University

“Professor Huping Ling's book is an important read that provides us with a concise understanding of the multiple dimensions of Asian American history. Important key terms, timelines, primary sources, and study questions provide important tools for deepened understanding and application.”

— Harvey Dong, coeditor of Mountain Movers: Student Activism & the Emergence of Asian American Studies

"Huping Ling’s Asian American History offers a nuanced perspective to bridge the past and present over the span of more than 250 years in the making and remaking of Asian America. It shows how generations of Asian immigrants and their native-born offspring strive to become an integral part of the American nation — an invaluable resource for educators, scholars, and anyone interested in understanding multicultural America."

— Min Zhou, Distinguished Professor of Sociology & Asian American Studies, UCLA

"Enchanting, meticulous, and informative, Asian American History offers the most updated, all-encompassing portrayal of Asian American history since the 1760s. Its transnational perspective, interdisciplinary approach, incorporation of new scholarship, fascinating stories, and user-friendly features make it one of the finest textbooks on the history of Asian Americans."

— Philip Q. Yang, author of Asian Immigration to the United States

“Asian American History builds on and extends the research of scholars in recent decades, including pioneers like Ronald Takaki, Sucheng Chan, and Roger Daniels. It offers encyclopedic coverage and insightful analyses of both broad historical and cultural backgrounds of Asian immigration and vital issues concerning Asian Americans. Readers will also have ample opportunity to hear personal stories and direct voices from individual Asian Americans. Its clear organization, lucid style, and impeccable research make this volume a welcome resource for scholars and a valuable textbook for high-school and college classes on the history and experiences of Asian Americans.”

— Yong Chen, author of Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ix

PART I Coming to America, 1765-1840s

1 ROOTS OF ASIAN MIGRATION TO AMERICA 2
Cultural Heritage of Asian Migrants 3
Global Context for Asian Migration 10
Asian Context and Patterns of Migration 14
Roots of Asian Migration to America in Historical Perspective 25

2 RESTRICTIONS AND RESISTANCES 28
Racial Prejudice 31
Economic Sanctions 32
Physical Violence 35
Exclusion Laws and Policies 40
The Enforcement of Exclusion Laws 42
Protests against Exclusion and Discrimination 50
Asian Immigration Restrictions and Resistance in Historical Perspective 56

PART II Asian American Experiences, 1840s-1965

3 LABOR 60
Sugar Plantations, Mines, and Railroads 62
Urban Niche Economy 69
Niche in Agriculture 85
Labor in Historical Perspective 88

4 DEFINING HOME AND COMMUNITY 92
Domesticity and Innovative Family Formations 94
Changing Gender Roles 110
The Second-Generation "Dilemma" 113
Ethnic Community Building 116
Asian Immigrant Home and Community in Historical Perspective 125

5 WORLD WAR II: A TURNING POINT 130
Changing Public Mood 132
In Military Services 134
Home Front 137
End of Exclusion 139
Japanese Internment 140
Asian Americans and World War II in Historical Perspective 156

PART III Contemporary Asian Americans, 1965-2020s

6 NEW WAVES OF IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 162
A More Gender-Balanced Society 164
Effects of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 169
Southeast Asian Americans 174
Plights and Potentials of Undocumented Immigrants 185
"The Quiet Migration": Transnational Transracial Adoption 194
New Waves of Immigrants in Historical Perspective 200

7 MOVING UPWARD 206
Educational Attainments 207
New Patterns of Employment and Economic Potentials and Constraints 213
Political Incorporation 222
Myth and Reality of "Model Minority" 229
Asian American Upward Mobility in Historical Perspective 232

8 NEW FORMATIONS OF ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES 236
Urban Enclaves (1850s) 238
Transnational Urban and Suburban Communities and Cyber Communities (1990s) 254
Asian American Communities in Historical Perspective 264

PART IV The Future of Asian America, 2020s–

9 THEORIZING ASIAN AMERICA: SIGNIFICANT THEORIES AND ISSUES 270
Asian American Movement and the Construction of Pan-Asian Ethnicity 272
Challenges of Asian American Identities in Recent Decades 275
Asian American Panethnicity in Historical Perspective 293

10 THE FUTURE OF ASIAN AMERICA UNDER GLOBALIZATION 298
China Rise / Asian Rise versus the U.S. Decline 298
Importance of Global Collaboration and Various Prescriptions 305
New Trends of Migration and Assimilation under Globalization 307
The COVID-19 Pandemic and Asian American Communities 314
Asian Americans under Globalization in Historical Perspective 320

CHRONOLOGY 323
NOTES 333
INDEX 000