The Chinese Exclusion Act
Americans began trading with the Chinese sometime in the 1780s, when American merchants sought an alternative market for British tea. The administration of President John Tyler negotiated the 1844 Treaty of Wangxia, which gave the United States as many trading privileges with China as other foreign powers. In 1868, the Qing government appointed Anson Burlingame as their emissary to the United States. Burlingame sought support for equitable treatment for China and for Chinese immigrants. The 1868 Burlingame Treaty established formal friendly relations between the two countries, with the United States granting China most favored nation status. It was signed at Washington in 1868 and ratified at Beijing in 1869.
The first significant wave of Chinese immigration to America began with the California Gold Rush of 1848-1855. It continued with subsequent large labor projects like the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad. During the early stages of the gold rush, when surface gold was plentiful, the Chinese were tolerated, but as gold became harder to find and competition increased, animosity toward the Chinese and other foreigners increased. Most Chinese settled in cities such as San Francisco, and took up low end wage labor such as restaurant and laundry work. With the post Civil War economy in decline by the 1870s, anti-Chinese animosity became politicized by labor leader Denis Kearney and his Workingman's Party, and also by California Governor John Bigler, both of whom blamed the Chinese for depressed wage levels.
Not everyone was opposed to the Chinese presence. Many were opposed to the idea of excluding Chinese migrant workers from immigration, because they provided essential tax revenue which helped fund the state of California. But toward the end of the decade, the financial situation improved and attempts to legislate Chinese exclusion became more popular. In 1858, California Legislature passed a law that made it illegal for any person "of the Chinese or Mongolian races" to enter the state. This law was struck down by the State Supreme Court in 1862. As time passed and more and more Chinese migrants arrived in California, violence would often break out in cities such as Los Angeles.
In 1878 Congress decided to act and passed legislation excluding the Chinese. But this legislation was vetoed by President Hayes. In 1879, California adopted a new Constitution, which explicitly authorized the state government to determine which individuals were allowed to reside in the state, and banned the Chinese from employment by corporations and state, county or municipal governments.
Three years later, Congress tried again to exclude Chinese immigrants. Senator John F. Miller of California introduced another Chinese Exclusion Act that denied Chinese immigrants United States citizenship and banned their immigration for a twenty year period. The bill passed the Senate and House by overwhelming margins. But this act was also vetoed by President Chester Alan Arthur. Arthur, who as a young lawyer had defended a number of civil rights cases, concluded that the 20-year ban was a breach of the renegotiated Burlingame treaty that China and the US had tweaked in 1880. That treaty allowed only a "reasonable" suspension of immigration.
Eastern newspapers praised the veto, while it was condemned in the Western states. Congress was unable to override the veto, but it passed a new bill reducing the immigration ban to ten years. Although he still objected to this denial of citizenship to Chinese immigrants, Arthur signed the compromise measure into law on May 6, 1882, because he felt the 10 year ban to be more compatible with the treaty.
The Chinese Exclusion Act required the few non-laborers who sought entry to obtain certification from the Chinese government that they were qualified to immigrate. But this group found it increasingly difficult to prove that they were not laborers, because the 1882 act excluded “skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining.” Very few Chinese could enter the country under the 1882 law. The Act also affected those Chinese who had already settled in the United States. Any Chinese who left the United States had to obtain certifications for reentry, and the Act made Chinese immigrants permanent aliens and excluded them from U.S. citizenship.
Amendments made in 1884 tightened the provisions and made the law applicable to ethnic Chinese regardless of their country of origin. The Scott Act, passed in 1888, expanded upon the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting reentry after leaving the U.S.
Constitutionality of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Scott Act was upheld by the Supreme Court in Chae Chan Ping v. United States in 1889. The majority opinion stated that "the power of exclusion of foreigners is an incident of sovereignty belonging to the government of the United States as a part of those sovereign powers delegated by the constitution." The Act was renewed for ten years by the 1892 Geary Act, and again with no terminal date in 1902. When the act was extended in 1902, it required "each Chinese resident to register and obtain a certificate of residence. Without a certificate, he or she faced deportation."
One of the critics of the Chinese Exclusion Act was the anti-slavery Republican Senator George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts who described the Act as "nothing less than the legalization of racial discrimination." The Chinese Exclusion Act gave rise to the first great wave of commercial human smuggling.
The Chinese Exclusion Act did not address the problems that it was originally intended to cure. Chinese labor was quickly and eagerly replaced by the Japanese. However, the Japanese were later targeted in the National Origins Act of 1924, which banned immigration from east Asia entirely.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed by the 1943 Magnuson Act, during a time when China had become an ally of the U.S. against Japan in World War II. The Magnuson Act permitted Chinese nationals already residing in the country to become naturalized citizens. It also allowed a national quota of 105 Chinese immigrants per year. Large scale Chinese immigration did not occur until the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
On June 18, 2012, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution introduced by Congresswoman Judy Chu, that formally expresses the regret of the House of Representatives for the Chinese Exclusion Act. The resolution had been approved by the U.S. Senate in October 2011.
The first significant wave of Chinese immigration to America began with the California Gold Rush of 1848-1855. It continued with subsequent large labor projects like the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad. During the early stages of the gold rush, when surface gold was plentiful, the Chinese were tolerated, but as gold became harder to find and competition increased, animosity toward the Chinese and other foreigners increased. Most Chinese settled in cities such as San Francisco, and took up low end wage labor such as restaurant and laundry work. With the post Civil War economy in decline by the 1870s, anti-Chinese animosity became politicized by labor leader Denis Kearney and his Workingman's Party, and also by California Governor John Bigler, both of whom blamed the Chinese for depressed wage levels.
Not everyone was opposed to the Chinese presence. Many were opposed to the idea of excluding Chinese migrant workers from immigration, because they provided essential tax revenue which helped fund the state of California. But toward the end of the decade, the financial situation improved and attempts to legislate Chinese exclusion became more popular. In 1858, California Legislature passed a law that made it illegal for any person "of the Chinese or Mongolian races" to enter the state. This law was struck down by the State Supreme Court in 1862. As time passed and more and more Chinese migrants arrived in California, violence would often break out in cities such as Los Angeles.
In 1878 Congress decided to act and passed legislation excluding the Chinese. But this legislation was vetoed by President Hayes. In 1879, California adopted a new Constitution, which explicitly authorized the state government to determine which individuals were allowed to reside in the state, and banned the Chinese from employment by corporations and state, county or municipal governments.
Three years later, Congress tried again to exclude Chinese immigrants. Senator John F. Miller of California introduced another Chinese Exclusion Act that denied Chinese immigrants United States citizenship and banned their immigration for a twenty year period. The bill passed the Senate and House by overwhelming margins. But this act was also vetoed by President Chester Alan Arthur. Arthur, who as a young lawyer had defended a number of civil rights cases, concluded that the 20-year ban was a breach of the renegotiated Burlingame treaty that China and the US had tweaked in 1880. That treaty allowed only a "reasonable" suspension of immigration.
Eastern newspapers praised the veto, while it was condemned in the Western states. Congress was unable to override the veto, but it passed a new bill reducing the immigration ban to ten years. Although he still objected to this denial of citizenship to Chinese immigrants, Arthur signed the compromise measure into law on May 6, 1882, because he felt the 10 year ban to be more compatible with the treaty.
The Chinese Exclusion Act required the few non-laborers who sought entry to obtain certification from the Chinese government that they were qualified to immigrate. But this group found it increasingly difficult to prove that they were not laborers, because the 1882 act excluded “skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining.” Very few Chinese could enter the country under the 1882 law. The Act also affected those Chinese who had already settled in the United States. Any Chinese who left the United States had to obtain certifications for reentry, and the Act made Chinese immigrants permanent aliens and excluded them from U.S. citizenship.
Amendments made in 1884 tightened the provisions and made the law applicable to ethnic Chinese regardless of their country of origin. The Scott Act, passed in 1888, expanded upon the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting reentry after leaving the U.S.
Constitutionality of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Scott Act was upheld by the Supreme Court in Chae Chan Ping v. United States in 1889. The majority opinion stated that "the power of exclusion of foreigners is an incident of sovereignty belonging to the government of the United States as a part of those sovereign powers delegated by the constitution." The Act was renewed for ten years by the 1892 Geary Act, and again with no terminal date in 1902. When the act was extended in 1902, it required "each Chinese resident to register and obtain a certificate of residence. Without a certificate, he or she faced deportation."
One of the critics of the Chinese Exclusion Act was the anti-slavery Republican Senator George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts who described the Act as "nothing less than the legalization of racial discrimination." The Chinese Exclusion Act gave rise to the first great wave of commercial human smuggling.
The Chinese Exclusion Act did not address the problems that it was originally intended to cure. Chinese labor was quickly and eagerly replaced by the Japanese. However, the Japanese were later targeted in the National Origins Act of 1924, which banned immigration from east Asia entirely.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed by the 1943 Magnuson Act, during a time when China had become an ally of the U.S. against Japan in World War II. The Magnuson Act permitted Chinese nationals already residing in the country to become naturalized citizens. It also allowed a national quota of 105 Chinese immigrants per year. Large scale Chinese immigration did not occur until the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
On June 18, 2012, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution introduced by Congresswoman Judy Chu, that formally expresses the regret of the House of Representatives for the Chinese Exclusion Act. The resolution had been approved by the U.S. Senate in October 2011.