The Asian American Experience

ABC-CLIO’s The Asian American Experience: The American Mosaic offers a critical examination of the social, political, and economic forces that shaped the experiences of Asian Americans in distinct eras of American history. Developed with extensive support from Asian American scholars and historians, the database explores the rich and varied experiences of Asian Americans, including Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Island and indigenous groups.

This authoritative database offers a deep and diverse selection of primary sources, student skill-building activities, and perspective essays that foster critical thinking in young learners. Comprehensive reference libraries provide students with the tools for in-depth explorations of important issues like the role of discrimination in the Asian American experience and its effect on civil liberties, the economic impacts of immigration and labor, and how political and cultural representation has evolved through the years.

Features:

  • A diverse variety of primary sources that includes images, audio clips, documents, and videos addressing multiple dimensions of Asian American culture and history
  • Perspective essays on issues of enduring importance to the Asian American experience designed to provoke critical thinking in young learners
  • An interdisciplinary approach to discerning the historical and present-day experiences of those with Asian and Pacific Island ancestry in the United States
  • Advanced citation tools (including search and save) to support productive student research

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The Opening of Asian Cultures to the West, 1500-1800s

  • European Powers in Asia
  • China and the Opium War
  • Japan Opens to the West

Western Influences and Colonization, 1500s-1900s

  • India under British Rule
  • Korea: Arrival of Foreign Influences
  • The Philippines: Spanish and American Colonization

Early Accounts of Asians in America, 1500-1800s

  • St. Malo: First Filipino Settlement

Chinese Immigration, 1840s-1900s

  • Gold Rush
  • San Francisco’s Chinatown
  • Transcontinental Railroad

Hawaii, Crossroads of the Pacific, 1850-1900s

  • Early Asian Communities in Hawaii

The Road to Exclusion, 1860-1882

  • Chinese Exclusion

Defining Citizenship and Identity, 1890s-1900s

  • U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark: Confirming U.S. Citizenship as a Birthright
  • Early Asian American Literature

Immigration and Obstacles, 1900s-1930s

  • Japanese Immigration
  • South Asian Immigration
  • Angel Island
  • Immigration and Citizenship in the 1920s

Agricultural Development and Representation, 1900s-1930s

  • West Coast Agriculture
  • Asian Americans in Film: The Silent Era to the 1980s

World War II and Japanese Incarceration, 1939-1945

  • World War II
  • Japanese Incarceration

Repeal of Exclusion Laws, 1940s-1950s

  • Luce-Celler Act

The Korean War and Postwar Migration, 1950-1960s

  • The Korean War

Immigration Policy Changes, 1965

  • The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

Collaboration and Activism, 1965-1970s

  • The Delano Grape Strike and Boycott
  • The Asian American Movement and Civil Rights Activism
  • Contemporary Literature: Shift Toward Modern Themes

Refugees from Southeast Asia, 1970s-1980s

  • Vietnam War and Postwar Migration
  • Cambodian, Laotian, and Hmong Immigration

New Immigration and Stereotypes, 1970s-2000s

  • Contemporary Asian American Immigration and Populations
  • Myth of the Model Minority

Tensions, 1980s-1990s

  • Vincent Chin and the Asian American Community
  • Los Angeles Riot

9/11 Backlash and Political Representation, 2000-2020s

  • 9/11 Backlash
  • Political Representation

Global Pandemic and Increase in Representation, 2020-Present

  • Asian Americans in Sports
  • COVID-19 and Growing Anti-Asian Sentiment
  • Asian American Representation in Pop Culture

Created explicitly for middle and high school students, each database includes:

  • A comprehensive reference library from more than 230,000 primary sources, including audio, video, photographs, illustrations, maps, and rich media
  • A standards-based curriculum updated every day by a team of subject matter experts and supported by an exhaustive range of instructional material
  • An expansive library of model commentaries from noted scholars to help foster critical thinking by exposing students to multiple points of view
  • An educator support center with helpful, professional development tools plus educational resources like discussion points, activities, and lesson plans

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