Chinese+Exclusion+Acts

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943) “[Chinese] are of a different race and possess an entirely different civilization, and in my opinion are incapable of being brought into assimilation in habits, customs, and manners with the people of this country.” (Senator Eli. M. Saulsbury from Delaware—1882)
 * ~ Number ||~ Section ||
 * 1 || Background ||
 * 2 || The Act ||
 * 3 || Effects ||
 * 4 || Repeal ||

__**BACKGROUND**__ The Chinese first started immigrating to the US during the 1850s, when gold was discovered in California, and later worked on the Transcontinental Railroad. Once the railroads were built, the Chinese were out of jobs, and Americans were worried about the competition for jobs. Americans used the Chinese as a scapegoat for the hard economic times. Americans that felt hatred towards the Chinese pushed the government to pass anti-Chinese legislation, and eliminate the Chinese from the country. The Chinese that did live in the US were forced to live in Chinese-only communities known as Chinatowns, and could only have certain jobs like laundry mats or fisheries.

__**THE ACT: Promoting Discrimination Nation-Wide**__ California Senator John F. Miller proposed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was then signed by President Arthur in 1882. This Act was the first major restriction on immigration to the U.S, and the only act in U.S history to target a single ethnic group. The Act stated that no skilled or unskilled laborer/ miner from China could enter the U.S. Chinese merchants, students and government officials with valid reasons could enter the U.S, but they were subject to brutal immigration inspection and inhumane and discriminatory treatment. All Chinese in the United States were affected by the Chinese Exclusion Act, not just those in China trying to immigrate to the U.S, because the Act not only restricted immigration, it also encouraged and enflamed anti-Chinese groups who wanted to expel the Chinese that were already in America. Two amendments to the Act in the 1880s stated that if a Chinese resident left the country, they were not allowed reentry. The Act was originally intended to last ten years, but the Geary Act of 1892 extended the restrictions for another ten years. The Geary Act also added a requirement for Chinese immigrants to prove their right to be in America through various tests and to register to stay in the country. In 1902 the Chinese Exclusion Act was extended indefinitely. In 1905, the Supreme Court decided that a Chinese person could not appeal an immigration decision to the courts, denying even Chinese-Americans citizens due process of law. This tragic state of affair continued until World War II, when the U.S opened its eyes and saw China as an ally.

__**EFFECTS**__ Because of all the anti- Chinese legislation, there were only 61,639 Chinese- American residents by 1920. By 1940, there were 28 Chinatowns; however, after the repeal, there were only 16 by 1955. Chinese responded to the discrimination by opening businesses that weren’t competing with the Americans, such as restaurants and laundries. The Chinese who had been kicked out of the US due to the Geary Act, and other Chinese that had not been in America yet, used false immigration papers, and lied, saying they were the sons or daughters of Chinese American families that were legally living in the US. Chinese immigrants that lied to get into the country were called “Paper Sons.” Sometimes the frustration of the immigration restrictions became unbearable, and the frustrated Chinese immigrants would kill themselves.

__**REPEAL**__ Madame Meiling Soong, wife of Chinese political leader Chiang Kai-Shek, was invited by President Franklin Roosevelt for a cross country tour of the US in 1942. Meiling quickly attracted many American supporters, and was able to change they way Americans viewed the Chinese. Meiling's cross country tour was successful, and she became the second woman and first Chinese woman ever to be invited to speak to a session of Congress. Again, Meiling succeeded at impressing her audience. Washington Senator Warren Magnuson was so moved, he proposed a bill to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act. The bill was widely accepted, and passed in 1943. The repeal, called "The Magnuson Act," not only abolished the exclusion, but also provided a quota for how many new immigrants could enter the US, and gave Chinese Americans the right to naturalization. The Magnuson Act marked the end of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

__**BIBLIOGRAPHY**__ Benson, Sonia, and Sarah Hermsen. //U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac Volume 1.// Detroit: U.X.L, 2004. Print.

Benson, Sonia, and Sarah Hermsen. //U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac Volume 2.// Detroit: U.X.L, 2004. Print.

Chang, Iris. The Chinese in America: a Narrative History. New York: Viking, 2003. Print.

Levinson __,__ David, and Melvin Ember. //American Immigrant Cultures Builders of a Nation [A-J].// New York [u.a.: Macmillan Library Reference USA [u.a., 1997. Print.

Perl, Lila. //To the Golden Mountain: the Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad.// New York: Benchmark, 2003. Print.

Shane, C. J. The Chinese. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2005. Print.

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