262. Resources For A Great Classroom Day: Immigration

Dave Wang, “The US Founders and China: The Origins of Chinese Cultural Influence on the United States,” Education About Asia 16 no. 2 (2011): 5–11 (reprints for educational purposes are granted with the permission of the Association for Asian Studies, Inc.).

“In his work of over several years, Dr. Dave Wang has explored Chinese culture and the early development of the United States, particularly the efforts of eminent colonists, including the founding fathers, who worked hard to draw nourishments from traditional Chinese Civilization. Dr. Wang has written recently an excellent article titled "The US Founders and China: The Origins of Chinese Cultural Influence on the United States," useful for the Chinese-American community and teachers and students interested in their roots in early America. It is a must-have resource for education about Asia. ( Permission to use has been granted b: Peggy Creswell, Managing Editor, Education About Asia. 302 Pfeiffer Hall, Dept. 2222 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, TN 37403. Phone (423)425-2118, Fax (423)425-5441. Website: http://www.asian-studies.org/EAA/ (Above paragraph is from this link.

261. China's Needs of American Ginseng and Its Infulence on American Social Development

Much has been written about American Ginseng’s contributionsto United States’ effort to open direct trade with China, but its impact on the social development has been neglected. It should be noted that American Ginseng had helped change American society in the early period of the republic. For example, the Westward expansion was promoted by the pioneers who looked for exploitable natural resources and new commercial opportunities. Driven by the need of gathering enough Ginseng worthy for the journey of long distance to China, Ginseng diggers and traders were soon found in the Appalachian Mountains and other areas where Ginseng was readily available. After gathering them together, the merchants would transport the herbs from the interiors of Pennsylvania and Virginia to Philadelphia, New York, or Boston. “This proved to be an important educational influence, since it was almost the only way in which the pioneer learned what was going on in the East.” As a result, the huge masses of Ginseng diggers, traders, and transporters changed the society. “Mobility of population is death to localism, and the westernfrontier worked irresistibly in unsettling population. The effect reached back from the frontier and affected profoundly the Atlantic coast and even the Old World.

260. The Earliest Contact Between Chinese Culture and North America

   The connection between China and North America can be traced the inception of the American colonies in May of 1609. British colonists, sent by the Virginia Company landed on the north bank of a river they named James Fort (later to be renamed Jamestown), for they believed the river’s headwaters to be “the shortcut to China.” The choosing of Jamestown as the landing spot was not a chance decision, but was made in accordance with instruction given by the Virginia Company. Even the “decisive and stern leadership” of John Smith (1580-1631) was not given “the authority to override” the instruction from the Company, which believed that the James River could lead the colonists to “a shortcut to China.”