First proposed as a 1week event in 1977. the celebration was expanded to a full month in 1990. May was chosen because of its unique significance in the history of Asian Americans. May 7. 1843. marked the first recorded immigration of Japanese to the United States. May 10. 1869. marked the completion of the transcontinental railroada feat that would not have happened when it did without the labor of Chinese immigrants. The Asian and Pacific American population has a rich history in this country. especially in the Pacific Northwest. In my State. records show the arrival of Asian immigrants as early as the 1860s. while some scholars even speculate that centuries before. Chinese explorers sailed down the Alaskan coast to what is now Washington State. Today. there are over 14 million Asians and Pacific Americans living in the United States. representing 5 percent of the population.
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