Rathna Begum DB2

From the excerpt of Lee, in the reading, “The Making of Asian America” it was interesting to read about the Europeans perspective on Asia and Asians in general. Europeans viewed Asia as the opposite of Europe filled with exotic and new wonders that they thought was very different from their own homes. Spain was motivated by the explorer Marco Polo and his travels throughout Asia and the Middle East. For example, in the article it says, “By the dawn of of the European age of exploration and conquest, in the fifteenth century, wealthy Europeans have developed a growing taste for Asian imports such as spices, silks, and sugar, and the demanded more.” The trip from Asia to America were accompanied by Asian servants who were treated to poor conditions like less pay, half the rations promised by the Spanish crew members, and they even died in the cold weather. It is surprising to find out that Asians traveled and came to Latin America before migrating to North America. According to the text, Los Chinos meant the first Asians to arrive in Acapulco during the 1580’s. They formed a community and migrated from the west coast to the east coast of Mexico City. Some people took jobs as merchants, laborers, shoemakers, barbers, and craftsmen in order to support themselves and their families. In the film, it showed how the British managed to colonize and invade most of Asian countries while different groups like Chinese were negatively affected by it. The presence of Chinese people gave a rise to violence against them including riots which caused them to flee for their own safety. Compared to modern times, Americans are not that different from back then especially when the immigrants are from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.