Chinese Exclusion Act

Context

Among the many people flocking to California in the 1840s and onward were large numbers of Chinese immigrants who took the long voyage from Asia to the West Coast of the United States to find work. Immigrating at high rates throughout the decades ahead, these men (for the great majority of Chinese immigrants were male) worked in the mines, on railroad construction, as farmers, and in cities. They helped build the western states and territories.

In the 1870s economic hard times hit the nation. Chinese laborers became targets of hostile campaigns mounted by labor leaders, fanned by political candidates, and supported by white workers. The Chinese were perceived to work hard for low wages. In the eyes of white workers that made them the enemies of good wages and secure jobs. The Chinese were thought to embody alien ways of living, thinking, and worshipping, which made them unsuited for inclusion in American society. On editorial pages and in political speeches, Chinese laborers were ridiculed and reviled. In some places whites violently opposed the presence of Chinese workers.

A movement to exclude Chinese laborers from entering the United States began during these times and quickly gained momentum. In the late 1870s, Congress took up the issue by commissioning fact finding and by holding debates. Legislation was drafted, but, for a time, treaties already existing between the United States and China stood squarely in the way of attempts to legislatively exclude Chinese laborers. By 1882 treaty amendments had removed those impediments because of a favorable political climate and diplomatic arrangements permitting a law to keep a group of people out of the country whose industry and ways of life offended the dominant culture. In April, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. On May 6, 1882, President Chester Arthur signed into law a bill that denied entry to the United States on the basis of race and ethnicity.