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Chinese Exclusion Act Activity Chinese Exclusion Act Activity Inquiry Question What factors led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882? Read the Chinese Exclusion Act and examine the sources that illustrate views of Chinese immigrants during the late 19th century in the United States. Interpret what you see to explain how these views led to the passage of the 1882 act. Clarifying Questions When did Chinese immigrants come to the United States and where did they reside upon arrival? What was the Chinese Exclusion Act? Why did it target Chinese immigration specifically? What role did Chinese immigrants play in the late­19th­century economy in the U.S.? Vocabulary Chinese Exclusion Act: a law passed in 1882 that prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the U.S. and was the first legislation barring a specific ethnic group from coming to the U.S. as laborers. The act was finally repealed in 1943. organized labor: referred to the union organization that began to emerge in the U.S. in the 1870s and often developed to organize a specific type of skilled labor. transcontinental railroad: the first railway to link the east and west coast of the United States and was completed in 1869. Workingmen's Party of California: a political labor organization established in 1877 with a staunch anti­Chinese platform. Background Information In 1848, the discovery of gold in California drew thousands of hopeful prospectors to San Francisco and surrounding areas. Among the fortune hunters who migrated to California were a large number of Chinese immigrants, who also took jobs in the service industry— as cooks or launderers, for example—in the hopes of amassing some wealth to take back to China. When the gold rush dwindled, Chinese immigrants turned to farm work, railroad construction, or low­paying manufacturing jobs throughout the western U.S. in order to make a living. The 1870s brought an economic recession that saw increased competition for jobs usually taken by the Chinese, which led to sharp outcries against Asian immigrants. Many labor unions and unemployed workers blamed the Chinese for such problems as a lack of jobs and depressed wages, even accusing them of being racially inferior and morally corrupt. These sentiments manifested in anti­Chinese riots, as well as local and state restrictions targeting the Chinese. The intense economic pressure during this time, coupled with anti­Chinese sentiment, resulted in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This federal law virtually stopped Chinese immigration to the U.S. for nearly a century. Government Doc Author: U.S. Congress Description: This document includes excerpts from the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned Chinese immigrants from entering the United States or becoming U.S. citizens until its repeal in 1943. Date: 1882 Context and Things to Consider Note the sentence in the introduction of the act beginning "WHEREAS, in the opinion of the Government of the United States . ." What does this sentence assume about how "the coming of Chinese laborers" affects U.S. society? Think about the role of Chinese immigrants in working on railroad construction in the West. How did it influence the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act? Pay attention to who is exempt, or excluded, from the Chinese Exclusion Act and consider why that may be the case. Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), excerpt The Chinese Exclusion Act placed a ban on Chinese immigrants entering the United States or being naturalized as U.S. citizens for 10 years. It was enacted on May 6, 1882. The act was originally vetoed by President Chester Arthur, who eventually signed the law after some minor alterations. The Chinese had been entering the country in record numbers for several years previously, particularly in California. They were typically forced to work for extremely low wages and live in conditions of poverty. This was the first major legislation to be passed that banned immigration to the United States. The Geary Act (1892) would extend the provisions of this law for another 10 years. An act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese. WHEREAS, in the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof: Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the expiration of ninety days next after the passage of this act, and until the expiration of ten years next after the passage of this act, the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States be, and the same is hereby, suspended; and during such suspension it shall not be lawful for any Chinese laborer to come, or, having so come after the expiration of said ninety days, to remain within the United States.... Section 5. That any Chinese laborer mentioned in section four of this act being in the United States, and desiring to depart from the United States by land, shall have the right to demand and receive, free of charge or cost, a certificate of identification similar to that provided for in section four of this act to be issued to such Chinese laborers as may desire to leave the United States by water; and it is hereby made the duty of the collector of customs of the district next adjoining the foreign country to which said Chinese laborer desires to go to issue such certificate, free of charge or cost, upon application by such Chinese laborer, and to enter the same upon registry­books to be kept by him for the purpose, as provided for in section four of this act.... Section 7. That any person who shall knowingly and falsely alter or substitute any name for the name written in such certificate or forge any such certificate, or knowingly utter any forged or fraudulent certificate, or falsely personate any person named in any such certificate, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisoned in a penitentiary for a term of not more than five years.... Section 13. That this act shall not apply to diplomatic and other officers of the Chinese Government traveling upon the business of that government, whose credentials shall be taken as equivalent to the certificate in this act mentioned, and shall exempt them and their body and household servants from the provisions of this act as to other Chinese persons. Section 14. That hereafter no State court or court of the United States shall admit Chinese to citizenship; and all laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. Section 15. That the words "Chinese laborers," whenever used in this act, shall be construed to mean both skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/StudentActivity/2265158 Entry ID: 2251401 Reference Author: ABC­CLIO editorial staff Description: The article describes the anti­Chinese violence and legislation that arose in the 1870s­1880s and also includes the Chinese challenges to such discrimination. Context and Things to Consider Pay attention to the causes of much of the anti­Chinese violence in the 1870s. Note how anti­Chinese violence led to the Chinese Exclusion Act. Consider the ways in which Chinese immigrants challenged discriminatory laws. Were they successful in such efforts? Anti­Chinese Sentiment By the late 1860s­1870s, hostility toward Chinese had grown significantly. The successes experienced by Chinese immigrants first in mining and later in the railroad construction lead to increased hostility fueled by job competition. However, in addition to economic reasons, the whites in the West harbored animosity due to the cultural differences of Chinese immigrants, including differences in appearance, clothing, cultural beliefs, and religion. Despite the virulent anti­Chinese discrimination, Chinese immigrants used the legal system to challenge the widespread discrimination against them. Violence Against Chinese Immigrants The large influx of Chinese immigrants vying for jobs with white workers led to a rapid increase in violence against the Chinese in the 1870s. On October 24, 1871, after a white man was accidentally killed during a dispute between two Chinese men, an angry white mob rampaged through Los Angeles' Chinatown. When the Los Angeles race riot of 1871 ended, 19 Chinese men and boys were dead, either from being shot, lynched, or stabbed. In San Francisco, acts of violence against Chinese immigrants and businesses escalated throughout the decade. The leader of the Workingmen's Party of California, Irish­born Denis Kearney, continually stirred up violence against the Chinese community, leading to riots in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1877. Although Kearney was arrested later in the year, the Workingmen's Party became a major player in San Francisco politics over the next two years and helped pass several anti­Chinese laws. On the national level, the Greenback Party was lobbying for restrictions on Chinese immigration, and Congress responded to the pressures from the growing anti­Asian movement by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), which halted further immigration of Chinese into the United States for 10 years. Despite the ban, violence against Chinese Americans continued in the 1880s, most notably the massacre in Rock Springs, Wyoming in 1885. On September 2, a mob of white miners invaded the Chinese section of Rock Springs and opened fire on the Chinese population of about 600 people. By the time the violence ended, 28 Chinese were dead. The following February in Seattle, violence erupted when an anti­Chinese group tried to deport most of the city's Chinese community by forcefully loading them onto a steamship. Anti­Chinese violence was reported in several other western states during the 1880s, including Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon.
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