Chinese Immigration and the Exclusion Act

Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah, 1869

During the Civil War, the north passed laws that helped industry, because the Southern representatives couldn’t block them Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act of 1863: the government would give railroad companies free land and loan them money to build the transcontinental railroad. Afterward, the railroad companies were supposed to sell the land on both sides of the track and pay back the government but they never did that. Two companies competed to get the most land and money: Union Pacific (built tracks from East to West) and Central Pacific (built tracks from West to East). On May 10, 1869, the Central Pacific railway met the Union Pacific Railway in Promontory Point, Utah, marking the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Two groups who were discriminated against, the Irish and the Chinese, found jobs constructing the Railroad. The Chinese built from the Pacific towards the interior, using explosives to blast through mountains to form tunnels.

Create a hypothesis: What happened between the 1860s, when Chinese were welcomed, and 1882, when they were excluded?

Evaluate the documents and fill in the graphic organizer With each document, try to answer the question “based on this document, why did many white Americans support the Chinese Exclusion Act?”

What factors contributed to the Chinese Exclusion Act? Write at least 2 pages using academic language and full sentences. You must have a thesis statement Your thesis statement should set up the argument that you are making. When I read your thesis, I should know the rough outline of the rest of your paper. Use each document at least twice. If you quote from the document, your analysis of the quote should be at least as long as the quote. Say which document you got the quote from, Example “In Henry Grimm’s “The Chinese Must Go”, Grimm argues that ……”

What factors contributed to the Chinese Exclusion Act? – period 3AB Write at least 1 page using academic language and full sentences. You must have a thesis statement Your thesis statement should set up the argument that you are making. When I read your thesis, I should know the rough outline of the rest of your paper. Use each document at least twice. If you quote from the document, your analysis of the quote should be at least as long as the quote. Say which document you got the quote from, Example “In Henry Grimm’s “The Chinese Must Go”, Grimm argues that ……”