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Effects of the Chinese exclusion act
Effects of the Chinese exclusion act
What was the impact of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
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Though the Congress passed many constitutional amendments guaranteeing civil rights, Chinese immigrants were still segregated and discriminated against. Eventually in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, prohibiting any Chinese or Mongolian individuals from entering California. This act required Chinese who were not laborers to provide certification to show they were qualified to immigrate, defining deniable as skilled/unskilled laborers, and employed in mining. This made it extremely difficult for the Chinese to prove qualification to enter the state. In 1943, Congress had finally revoked this
law.
Many came for gold and job opportunities, believing that their stay would be temporary but it became permanent. The Chinese were originally welcomed to California being thought of as exclaimed by Leland Stanford, president of Central Pacific Railroad, “quiet, peaceable, industrious, economical-ready and apt to learn all the different kinds of work” (Takaki 181). It did not take long for nativism and white resentment to settle in though. The Chinese, who started as miners, were taxed heavily; and as profits declined, went to work the railroad under dangerous conditions; and then when that was done, work as farm laborers at low wages, open as laundry as it took little capital and little English, to self-employment. Something to note is that the “Chinese laundryman” was an American phenomenon as laundry work was a women’s occupation in China and one of few occupations open to the Chinese (Takaki 185). Chinese immigrants were barred from naturalized citizenship, put under a status of racial inferiority like blacks and Indians as with “Like blacks, Chinese men were viewed as threats to white racial purity” (188). Then in 1882, due to economic contraction and racism Chinese were banned from entering the U.S. through the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese were targets of racial attacks, even with the enactment of the 1870 Civil Rights Act meaning equal protection under federal law thanks to Chinese merchants lobbying Congress. Chinese tradition and culture as well as U.S. condition and laws limited the migration of women. Due to all of this, Chinese found strength in ethnic solidarity as through the Chinese Six Companies, which is considered a racial project. Thanks to the earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco, the Chinese fought the discriminatory laws by claiming citizenship by birth since the fires
In by reading the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, I gained a perspective of the people and culture of China. This book showed the analysis of Chinese saw and the background of Chinese history.
One particular ethnic group that suffered severe discrimination was the Chinese people. They first came to America for several reasons. One of them was the gold rush in California in 1849, in which they were included in a group of immigrants called the “Forty-Niners” (179). From gold mining, they switched to other jobs with resulted in the rise of anti-Chinese sentiments. People felt that Chinese people were taking the jobs away from them, because Chinese people worked for much smaller salaries that businesses preferred. This mindset gave way to the creation of The Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882, which prohibits more Chinese immigrants from coming to America. In addition, the act states “no State or court of the United States shall admit Chinese to citizenship”. Like the Naturalization Act, the Chinese Exclusion Act was created to hinder Chinese people from becoming citizens so that America could remain homogenously white (186). It also aimed to stop Chinese people from establishing a bigger community in the country in hopes of eliminating the threat of competition to their white counterparts (186). Like African-Americans, Chinese people were considered racially inferior and have struggled to prove that they were worthy to be called true Americans, rather than
Correspondingly, Limerick goes into a substantial amount of detail and evidence for each group. When discussing the Asian Americans, Limerick notes that they were predominantly located in the state of California and were seen as a problem. California government, society and culture were fearful of the effects they were to have on American growth and ideas. Overall, based upon something that Limerick notes, it is very obvious that almost all of society were in favor of Chinese exclusion, 150,000 to 900 (p.
This is over five times as many immigrants deported from Ellis Island2. A large percentage of Chinese were expelled from the country because of alleged medical diagnoses. Asian immigration to Angel Island was met with copious amounts of xenophobia. Not only because the government wanted to keep the Chinese out of the country, but also by the American people that saw Asian immigrants as not being able to different and not being able to assimilate into American society under any
As gold discoveries slowed down and the Civil War gradually came to an end, the First Transcontinental Railroad was finally completed between Omaha and Sacramento. Over time, unemployment began rising across the country, especially in California, where a vast majority of Chinese immigrants resided in. The welcoming of Chinese immigrants slowly began to wear off as the white working class perceived a threat to their livelihood that these immigrants could potentially cause, leading to an increase in racial tensions. These growing tensions culminated in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and eventually closed U.S. borders to all Chinese laborers, with the exception of ethnic Chinese individuals. This paper highlights the significant impact of large-scale Chinese immigration to California during the Gold Rush, the lasting contributions made by the Chinese towards Western ...
Many scenarios have shown racialized groups in different ways including the Asian/ Asian Americans. The Chinese Exclusion Act started a racialized group where the Chinese could not come to the United States. The Quota System significantly reduced European immigration, and all immigration for East Asia was banned by the National Origins Act. These Asians were being judged on their nationality onscreen through stereotypes. From white wages and standards of living being threatened, the Asians began being racialized through stereotypes on screen and off screen.
In today’s America, many are well aware that anyone born on American soil is a legal citizen; however, there were some instances where Americans of Chinese descent were not entitled to their rights as citizens. In the Look Tin Sing Case (1884) a man named Look Tin Sing, born in California, was not allowed to reenter the U.S. after his trip to China because he did not have the paperwork required of Chinese immigrants at that time. Even though he was technically an American citizen, officials did not agree and the problem was not solved until it went to court. A similar case was called U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) where Wong Kim Ark was also born in the U.S. but was denied re-entry after returning from his trip to China. As seen in document 2,
This movement proposed that individuals of East Asian descent are a danger to the Western world socially, economically, and culturally. Violence against Asians escalated to the extent that race riots often broke out, leading to the deaths of many Chinese as well as Japanese (Lee 135). The introduction of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 cemented the pre-existing xenophobic mindset when it became the first legal U.S. document to prevent immigration of a certain ethnicity. As a result, Chinese were banned from immigration and legal residents were denied their citizenship. Though surrounded by anti-Asians, Asian Americans found allies who initiated a countermovement. Lawyers and Christian organizations stood in solidarity with the marginalized group by serving as attorneys as well as advocating for Asian American equality. Such allies included lawyers Thomas Riordan, George McGowan, and Alfred Worley who aided Chinese immigrants in court (Lee 161). These allies proved the most helpful since Asian Americans were vulnerable; some could not understand English enough to defend themselves in court while others did not understand the complicated legislative language. White Christian leaders were also important allies because their prestige brought “moral loftiness to their work” (Lee 163). These leaders were often influential in their church and by aiding Asians, they also encouraged their
White people believed that the labor force should be composed primarily of Whites. As the fight for labor intensified in the West, the government decided that it was time to take action not only as a result of what was going on in the West but also because the Chinese were fraudulently entering the United States. Unfortunately for the Chinese, the action that was taken by the government favored the White population. The government passed two acts that would limit the actions taken by the Chinese. President Arthur passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. This act was the first of its kind in American history where congress decided to fully section off a certain race on the grounds of the Chinese endangering the well being and order of other localities. When passed, the act was dated to stand for ten years. When the ten years were up, Congress passed another act to follow up on the Chinese Exclusion Act, known as the Geary Act. Not only was the Geary Act a follow up but it also added other restrictions upon the Chinese minority. For the Chinese people already residing within the borders of the United States, this was terrible news. Not only were they being shunned from the rest of society, but this also became a deciding and influential factor for Chinese immigrants to be committed of crimes much similar to the unjust accusations Song Lee
The earliest form of racial discrimination against Asian Americans was encountered during the California Gold Rush. The Gold Rush attracted Chinese immigrants who came to California to fill the high demand for laborers. However, as more and more Chinese immigrated to California and the lower-paying labor jobs were filled, the Chinese began filling higher-paying positions typically held by Whites. As a result, an anti-Chinese Movement was formed followed by the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which prevented any additional Chinese immigration into the United States. Essentially, Chinese were discriminated against by the Whites due to fear of the Chinese taking over their jobs. After World War II, the federal government ended the 1882 ban on Chinese immigration and gave citizenship to Chinese Americans born abroad (Charles and Guryan 507).
Starting in the mid-19th century, Chinese immigrants began to move to the United States, most often to escape poverty and start their lives anew. Even though Chinese immigrants were only a small portion of those moving to the United States, Caucasian Americans, from average citizens to the government, reacted negatively to their arrival. For example, in 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the country for ten years; the law was later extended and not repealed until 1943 (“Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts”). However, this did not end the dispute. The Chinese resisted, and opposing voices only grew louder. An influx of Chinese immigration to the United
Looking forward, it was only after 1949 when China sided with Allies during the outbreak of WWII that the Chinese Exclusion Act was revoked and the open racism towards Chinese Canadians simmered down. Things started looking better for the Chinese Canadians as they were given rights, citizenship and could vote. This was due to the fact that many Chinese Canadians were enlisted and sent overseas to fight in WWII, representing Canada. Though it may seem like Canadian society has progressed into a multicultural, accepting place the blatant racism of the 1800-1900s still survives to this day ingrained from the years of racial exploitation. On the other hand, today the government wants no part in the racism dished out, rather works towards ignoring
Millions of immigrants over the previous centuries have shaped the United States of America into what it is today. America is known as a “melting pot”, a multicultural country that welcomes and is home to an array of every ethnic and cultural background imaginable. We are a place of opportunity, offering homes and jobs and new economic gains to anyone who should want it. However, America was not always such a “come one, come all” kind of country. The large numbers of immigrants that came during the nineteenth century angered many of the American natives and lead to them to blame the lack of jobs and low wages on the immigrants, especially the Asian communities. This resentment lead to the discrimination and legal exclusion of immigrants, with the first and most important law passed being the Chinese Exclusion Act. However, the discrimination the Chinese immigrants so harshly received was not rightly justified or deserved. With all of their contributions and accomplishments in opening up the West, they were not so much harming our country but rather helping it.
These immigrants were just as scared and hopeful as the millions processed through Ellis Island but faced even greater persecution. Beginning in the 1850s, young Chinese men immigrated to California during the Gold Rush. Many supplied cheap labor to the Central Pacific Railroad Company. During the Railroad boom of 1865, Central Pacific had a hard time holding onto workers as railroad construction was physically demanding and dangerous leading to a high attrition rate among workers. Most of the early workers were Irish but later Chinese laborers began to fill the vacancies on the railroads. After the Central Pacific railroad connected with the Union Pacific Railroad in Utah, the now unemployed Chinese labor force returned to California where they began to compete with the Irish and other whites for low paying jobs. In 1887 during the Long Depression, tensions became so severe that a large mob of white men waged a two day pogrom against Chinese immigrants living in San Francisco. The result of this bout of ethnic violence lead to four deaths and $100,000 in property damages. Anti-Chinese sentiment quickly spread throughout the state and the rest of the country and ultimately resulted in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in