People have often chosen to leave their homeland and start a new life in another country. The USA has been a dream country for people from many countries. For example, thousands of Chinese people left their homes to work and live in the USA in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Chinese people had many reasons to leave the country. Some of these reasons were wars in China, poverty, new opportunities to travel to other countries and people’s desire to become wealthy in the land of gold.
The situation in China was very difficult in the second half of the nineteenth century. People did not have jobs and they did not have enough money to feed their families. The population was growing but there were not enough jobs for everyone. Young men had families and they had to earn money to buy food for their children and their parents. Those men tried to leave villages and traveled to big cities to find a job. When they failed to find a job, they were ready to continue their search for new opportunities.
It is necessary to note that there was some trade between China and the USA. Chinese sailors went to the USA and Chinese merchants also traveled to the USA. Those people told other people about the USA and different legends were created. American merchants lived in China and Chinese people saw how wealthy Americans were. Moreover, it was possible to travel to the USA as many ships sailed to America quite often. Chinese men could not miss that opportunity and they went to the USA to find jobs and get money.
Of course, lots of Chinese people were dreaming about American gold as it was the period of the Gold Rush. Chinese people went to the USA to find gold and become wealthy. However, in the majority of cases, they started working at railroads construction. Notably, this was still better than going back to China as they had a job and they got some money.
Apart from the Gold Rush, Chinese people were also forced to leave the country as there were a lot of wars. People did not like the government and started numerous rebellions. Lots of people were killed and many people had to leave China to escape from the rulers. Of course, those people chose the USA as that was the country of new opportunities that was the country where anyone could become wealthy. People from many countries believed in that and this belief became a legend.
It is important to add that Chinese immigrants went to the USA to work temporarily. They wanted to earn some money and go back to China. However, the vast majority of those who came to the USA settled in that country. One of the main reasons for that was comparative American stability. Admittedly, Chinese immigrants had to face many problems. They had to work hard and they were not accepted by the local people. However, it was still better than the life in China as the wars in the region did not stop and people still could not find work there.
In conclusion, it is possible to state that Chinese immigration was caused by instability in China. Chinese people did not have jobs and they did not have enough money to live. They had to leave the country to look for new opportunities in the USA. They chose the USA as that was the country of lots of opportunities and many people believed they could start a new and better life in the USA.