Earlier Laws Limiting Immigration from China

Prior to the passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, there were already significant efforts at limiting immigration from China.

·       In 1870, Congress approves the Naturalization Act, barring Chinese from obtaining U.S. citizenship. The Act also prevents immigration of Chinese women who have marital partners in the United States. Chinese and Japanese men must show evidence in support of a woman’s moral character in the case of prospective and actual wives of Chinese and Japanese descent.
The Chinese American population represents 63,199 out of a total U.S. population of 38.5 million. They represent close to half of the male labor force in California.

·       In 1875, Congress passes the Page Law, which bars Chinese, Japanese  and “Mongolian” prostitutes, felons and contract laborer from immigrating to the U.S.

·       In 1878, a federal district court in California rules Chinese ineligible for naturalized citizenship.

In 1880, the United States and China sign a treaty that allows the U.S. to limit Chinese immigration.

A Chinaman's Chance

The expression of “A Chinaman’s Chance” means there is little chance. The origin is not clear but there is one plausible explanation. Chinese migrant workers in Western U.S. were sent into mines and construction sites to ignite dynamite, with unpredictable results. They were also lowered over cliffs by rope and Boatswain’s chairs to set dynamite to clear massive rocks and other obstructions to make way for the railroad construction. If they were not lifted back up before the blast, the consequences would be serious injury or even death.

Building the Transcontinental Railroad and Other Railroads

The photo above is Iron Road Pioneers, a statue by Elizabeth MacQueen, placed on January 18, 2003 in front of the AMTRAK Rail Road Station in San Luis Obispo, California. Photo courtesy of Central Coast Chinese Association.

The unveiling and dedication ceremony was held on January 18, 2003 in front of AMTRAK station in San Luis Obispo, California. The bronze sculpture is to honor Chinese immigrants who built railroads in the United States with sweat, blood and tears.

Chinese laborers were recruited to build railroads in the U.S. They played a key role in the building of railroads in the U.S. and Canada The best known is the western portion of theTranscontinental Railroad  stretching from Sacramento in California to Promontory Summit in Utah.  The completion of this section joined the East Coast with the West. In its first year of operation, the railroad brought 142,000 people to the West from the East . Chinese railroad workers laid the last rail and drove the last  spike that united the rails on the Transcontinental Railroad.

The railroads were built under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions that resulted in many deaths.  Deaths of the Chinese laborers were not reported, or memorialized as if they were nameless. Adding insult to injury, Chinese were not invited to the ceremony marking the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. They were not mentioned in newspapers and none were present at the celebration. You can read about the Chinese railroad workers in Portraits of Pride Book II published by Chinese American Historical Society of Southern California.

Some of the other railroads built with significant contribution from Chinese laborers are :

Northern Pacific Railroad joining Seattle with Duluth, Minnesota.
Southern Pacific Railroad, joining Los Angeles with New Orleans.
Canadian Transcontinental Railroad.
Railroads in Tennessee and Alabama

Gold Rush

Gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, California, in 1849. At this time Southeastern China was mired in poverty and ruin caused by the Taiping Rebellion. The first wave of Chinese came to the United States which continued until 1876. Census showed that in 1876 the Chinese in the United States numbered 151,000 of whom 116,000 were in the state of California. 

Chinese were refered to as Chinamen or China Boys. They worked willingly as cooks, laundrymen, and servants. They filled a need for the early California settlers.
"Chinamen" were welcomed, and in demand as  laborers, as carpenters, and as cooks. Their knowledge in agricultural endeavors in draining and tilling the rich tule lands were much appreciated. Governor McDougal referred to "Chinamen" as “one of the most worthy of our newly adopted citizens.” 

You can read more about the Chinese workers during the Gold Rush at www.sfmuseum.org/hist6/chinhate.html. This cartoon is courtesy of the above mentioned URL. You can also see a video on the same topic at www.pbs.org/becomingamerican/ce_timeline.html