Farhang Hesami
Document 17-1

A. Summary
This article includes an appeal written by a Chinese merchant named Pun Chi to Congress asking help against the anti-Chinese sentiments which was growing, especially in the West. In the first part of the appeal Chi talks about how American ship-masters went to China and encouraged people to immigrate to California during the Gold Rush. He mentions that those Americans would tell them about the beauty of Americans kind and friendly manners. But, when they came to the West they faced a complete different situation. He complains about the brutal violence against their race and that they would not have the basic human rights with no guilt.
Pun Chi has addressed 6 major issues in this appeal, which we can read 4 of them in this article. In first part, he talks about the virtue and morality. That people of China would value the virtue a lot and it is not right to be evil to them. He believes Chinese are very kind heart people and it is not important if they are poor. Wealth with no morality is worth nothing. He also mentions Jesus Christ and the importance of virtue in Christianity. In the next parts of the appeal he writes about pf the perpetual vexations of the Chinese. He asks that why his people should be the target of verbal and physical violence. He also questions the justice system. In that time Chinese would not have the right to have testimony at courts and Chi sees that as a reason for whites giving themselves the right to harm the Chinese. In the last part of the appeal he talks about the persecution of the Chinese miners. He brings their issues like financial abuse. Physical injuries or even death by the collectors. B. In chapter 17 we study about the West and the diversity of people in this region of the nation. The gold rush and mining was a great reason for moving to the West. Different race s like the Indians, Latinos, Japanese, blacks, Mormons and also Chinese were living in West. More than 20000 Chinese had moved to California in the early 50s for mining. But the Americans would want to keep California for Americans and would not let the Chinese to work at mines. But there were more Chinese moving to California. So they started to take other jobs like railroads. In this chapter we also realize that Chinese and other Asians did not have the right to become citizens because they would consider as a threat to American labor. Even later after the Pun Chi appeal, we have the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. Which would stop Chinese immigration. Therefore we can understand the situation of Chinese in West in that period of history and it is more clear that why the Chinese population dropped dramatically in that time. C. As someone who has recently moved to United States from another country, this article made me think about the situation of those Chinese immigrants and the tough life that they had in that period of time. Before coming to California they had heard a lot of good things about living there from the American ship-masters but when they moved they noticed that the life they would imagine was not the same that they faced. They would do hardest works but still treated unfair. It brings this question to my mind that what the reason of inviting them to move was. Did Americans at that time just wanted to abuse them? I realized that the Chinese population of the West were mostly males and I could imagine how hard their lives were, with leaving their families for a better future but becoming a target for violence, not having basic human rights and even losing their lives. It also makes me think about the long road that this nation has come so far that for example Chinese and Asians are considered one of the most successful races in the country.