Chinese Exclusion Act Of 1882

An Essay Outlining the Reasons that American Citizens Supported and Ultimately Passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

In 1848, after the Mexican-American War of 1846 ended, gold was found in the newly formed state of California. Over the next two years, a steady influx of miners hoping to find gold began entering the United States from foreign lands. A large amount of these people were Chinese, attracted to the prospect of finding gold, so much that they even began calling California 金山(Transliteration: Jin Shan), meaning Gold Mountain. By 1850, much of the easily found gold has dissipated, and Americans began attempting to drive out foreigners so they could take as much of the gold as they could possible get at, and the California State Legislature passed a Foreign Miners Tax. The tax stated that foreign

miners would have to pay $20.00 (Which is equal to almost 30 times as much in today’s economics) per month as long as they were engaged in the business of mining. The aforementioned tax caused a revolt amongst the miners in 1851, causing it to be repealed, before being reinstated once again in 1852, with Section 6 stating that "The amount to be paid for each license shall be at the rate of four dollars per month, and said license shall in no case be transferable." The tax was eventually repealed again in 1867.

As economic problems arose in the 1860s and 70s, many Americans lost their jobs. As a result, many of them began to blame immigrants, specifically the Chinese, for their lack of work. The Workingman’s Party of California led the majority of the Anti-Chinese movement throughout the west. The party was led by Dennis Kearney, whose hypocrisy (something we still see in today's racist and anti-immigrant people) was evident in that he himself was an immigrant from Ireland. This hypocrisy was noted by Frank Pixley, founder and publisher of The Argonaut, who stated “When an organization, composed almost entirely of aliens, who are themselves here by the sufferance of a generous hospitality, band themselves together in defiance of the law to drive out a class, who, however objectionable, have the same legal rights as themselves, it is an act of insolent audacity that ought to move the indignation of every honest man.” Despite such attacks, Kearney continued rallying for his racist values, stating in one speech to the workingmen of San Francisco (Document C) “The danger is, that while we have been sleeping in fancied security, believing that the tide of Chinese immigration to our state had been checked and was in a fair way to be entirely stopped, our opponents, the pro-China wealthy men of the land, have been wide-awake and have succeeded in reviving the importation of Chinese slave labor.” and ending each of his speeches with his party's slogan: “The Chinese must go!” Eventually, he gained enough support to get the Chinese Exclusion Act passed on 6 May 1882.

This anti-Chinese sentiment grew from the racism and hatred in America that exists to this day, and, as is the human tradition, when the going gets tough, blame it on a group, such as a race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or religion, that has nothing to do with the problem, or are suffering more than you. This philosophy can be found throughout human history, the holocaust, the Salem witch trials, Joseph McCarthy (and various McCarthyists), racism against African Americans, Ayn Rand and others who disliked Native Americans (“They had no right to a country merely because they were born here and then acted like savages. The white man did not conquer this country. [...] Since the Indians did not have the concept of property or property rights--they didn't have a settled society, they had predominantly nomadic tribal "cultures"--they didn't have rights to the land, and there was no reason for anyone to grant them rights that they had not conceived of and were not using.”), and of course, the more modern fear of Muslim refugees and immigrants, or the blaming of one political party for your failure to create actual healthcare. We can see this throughout history, and will continue to see it for years to come.

Another reasons why Americans supported the statute was because in general popular culture, they were being fed stereotypes and false ideas as to who the Chinese were. In one play, “The Chinese Must Go,” written by Henry Grimm (Document A), an epitome of the genre of farce, two Chinese characters, Ah Coy and Sam Gin are presented as being two hoodlums who couldn't even pronounce words properly, discussing their superiority over Europeans. These stereotypes generally had little to no basis in fact, as is true of many stereotypes, and was yet another outlet of American racism. In fact, research has shown that due to difficulties (discrimination, theft, lack of tools, &c.) Chinese generally profited less than Europeans during the gold rush.

Though the anti-Chinese movement was started in the west, residents of Washington Territory generally were less supportive of the act, in fact, smuggling Chinese workers who had taken advantage of Canada’s more relaxed immigration regulations in through the San Juans became a common activity in the islands.

Unfortunately, humans have always been opposed to change, and the United States has never especially liked accepting large numbers of people like they did during the time period, and this caused many anti-foreigner riots throughout the US, including the Seattle Riot of 1886, as a mob attempted to round up as many Chinese as possible and remove them from the city. The riot resulted in the removal of 200 Chinese, at least one death and three serious injuries.

In the end, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed due to the lack of work Americans faced, and the tradition of blaming a minority that has nothing to do with your problem. It was passed due to the American opposition to change and the stereotypes found in American propaganda. Overall, it was passed due to the strong hold that racism and ethnocentrism has had upon this country since its

founding.

All one has to do is to look at modern politics to see that the roots of ethnocentrism are still here. It's hard to believe how much Americans hate immigrants, despite the fact that they themselves ARE IMMIGRANTS. Continually, we have seen how this ethnocentrism works, we will attempt to take one step forward, to better ourselves and our American ideals of equality, and the ethnocentric people pull us two steps backwards. Though this has always been the case, it has taken some time for this ethnocentrism to find an outlet, one that would pander to it, one whose ego and lust for power would be perfect so that, as we took ten steps forwards, in electing our first black president, it could take us twenty backwards, in electing our first orange president.

The only true natives of this land have been the victims of marginalization, persecution and genocide, and the only true mitigating evidence, is that this land that we stole has become a land of freedom, a land of immigrants and refugees from around the world. We have become great, and the only reason we have done so is because of such people. As the poet Emma Lazarus once wrote: “Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”