The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

An example of how strong anti Chinese sentiment was through this graphic cartoon
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-argument-of-nationality-excited-mob-we-dont-want-any-news-photo/514693720?esource=SEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect

 The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is viewed as the “first significant law restricting immigration to the United States”. While it is understandable that the Americans had strong apathy against the Chinese immigrants, the hostility between China and the United States was only resolved as recently as in World War II when diplomacy was necessary. The Chinese Immigrants did not come in “hordes” as often described, in fact, they only made up about 0.002% of the US population. Despite their small numbers, the general sentiment was anti Chinese because the claim was that they were polluting the white culture of America and stealing jobs from those who needed it more.

The Chinese came in search of labor in order to send money back to their family in China. What differed was their view that they would be able to seek gold, especially during the gold rush and found that the expenses of coming to America were quite higher than anticipated. The Chinese had to take up whatever job was offered to them in order to pay off their loans while still trying to accomplish the “American dream”. This resulted in them taking relatively low paying jobs such as becoming gold miners, factory workers and then working in agriculture. On the west coast, the Chinese were first hit with discrimination through declining wages. The Chinese were still incredibly important to American industrialism. For example, the Golden Gate Bridge employed Chinese immigrants to help with its construction.

Strong anti Chinese sentiment only increased over time. As the years went by, the Chinese were able to become more successful entrepreneurs, increasing hostility between the whites and Chinese. Cartoons portraying and crudely poking fun of the Chinese were published and some were as horrifying as almost lynching the Chinese, similar to what happened with blacks during the time of Jim Crow.Today, we still see the influence of the immigrants through the Chinatowns awe have in the US. These Chinatowns conjured an image in the average American as a pace for prostitution, gambling and smoking opium, stereotypes that were pushed onto the Chinese. With this anti Chinese view, diplomacy between the Chinese and American government turned awry and especially so in the 1850s.

California’s government passed a series of regulations during the 1850s and 1870s to restrict Chinese access by requiring the works to have a special license to work and be in the US. This completely violated the treaty of Burlingame Seward which offered Chinese immigrants in the US and American immigrants in China. This treaty was in the interest of trade between the two countries and was initially celebrated. In 1879, another legislation was passed successfully, limiting to Chinese immigrants to fifteen per ship. President Rutherford B Hayes saw how this violated the treaty and therefore weakened the relationship with China so he asked China for assistance. They agreed to limit immigration to the US but that was not enough. In 1880, the Angell treaty was passed where the United States restricted immigration. While it was not a travel ban, it made it incredibly hard to travel to the US. Finally, in 1882, the official Chinese Exclusion act was passed, suspending immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years. If the Chinese were in America for any reason, they had to carry with them a certificate that indicated why they were here whether it was for labor, politics or education.

In 1888, the Scott act was passed in the US which was aimed at preventing re entry to the US if an immigrant traveled to China (basically, they could not come back). In 1892, Congress renewed the exclusion act for ten more years and at this point, anger erupted in China. In 1905, Chinese merchants organized boycotts against American trade. The response was timid, Roosevelt saw the boycotts as harmful to America’s economy and after five months, the Chinese government was forced to end it. The Exclusion act was not repealed until as recently as 1943.

The long history of the Chinese and their struggle is still preserved in the US today. Large pockets of Chinese immigrants are especially apparent in San Francisco. Famous author, Laurence Yep recounts a Chinese immigrant boy’s struggle in his popular book “Dragon Wings”. Alongside the act, many Chinese traveled to Cuba in search of labor showing the spread of the Chinese immigrants. Ultimately, the goal was to seek a better life and see if America’s promises of opportunity were true.

https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=47

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/chinese-immigration

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/burlingame-seward-treaty

https://america.cgtn.com/2017/10/11/full-frame-close-up-chow-for-thought