1848

Gold discovered at Sutter’s Mill, California; many Chinese immigrate to mine for gold 1848

1850

Portsmouth Plaza San Francisco’s Chinatown was born in the vicinity of the plaza. Mayor Geary & a committee of San Franciscans officially welcomed 300 “China Boys,” presenting them with Christian literature translated into Chinese 1850

Foreign Miner’s Tax targets Chinese and Mexican miners A $3 dollar tax imposed on each foreign born miner to be legally licensed to mine for gold. *$3 dollars (1850) = $92.30 (2013) 1850

1852

Population of Chinese in America YearPopulation ,000

1854

California Court rules that Chinese cannot give testimony in a court of law 1854

1860

Population of Chinese in America YearPopulation , ,933

1865

Central Pacific Railroad Co. recruits 15,000 Chinese workers to construct the Western component of the Transcontinental Railroad 1865

1868

US. Government signs Burlingame Treaty with China establishing formal friendly relations between both nations. Immigration between the two countries is encouraged 1868

1869

Chinese workers help complete the first Transcontinental Railroad 1869

“Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Source: Harper’s Weekly Date: Nov. 20, 1869 Artist: Thomas Nast Joining the Thanksgiving Day feast of hosts Uncle Sam (carving the turkey on the far-right) and Columbia (seated on the far-left) are Americans from all over the world: German, Native American, French, Arab, British, African, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and Irish. Behind Uncle Sam is a large picture of Castle Garden, the main immigrant depot in the United States, with the inviting label reading “Welcome.” Drawn after passage of the 15 th amendment intended to guarantee that federal voting rights could not be denied on the basis of race.

Population of Chinese in America YearPopulation , , ,199

1870

Strike Breakers Chinese workers brought to North Adams, MA to break a laborer strike of shoemakers. The Chinese produced more and better quality shoes at cheaper wages in one month than the shoemakers. 1870

1871

The Chinese Question Source: Harper’s Weekly Date: Feb. 18, 1871 Caption: Columbia.--"Hands off, gentlemen! America means fair play for all men.“ With Reconstruction underway and the slave trade abolished, US shippers and companies turned to the Chinese as an alternate source of low-wage labor. Chinese were often blamed for lowering wages of non-Chinese workers even though the Chinese did not know how much their counterparts were paid.

1873

Panic of 1873 Financial market collapse, due in part to overspeculation in railroads, leads to major economic depression -Wages fall 25% -Unemployment rates rise to 14%

Acts of anti-Chinese violence increases as the number of unemployed workers rise

”When the Chinese question is settled, we can discuss whether it would be better to hang, shoot, or cut the capitalists to pieces. In six months we will have 50,000 mean ready to go out... and if ‘John’ [the Chinese] don’t leave here, we will drive him and his aborts [sic] into the sea… We are ready to do it… If the ballot fails, we are ready to use the bullet.” -Denis Kearney, 1877 Leader of the Workingman’s Party of California

1878

Federal Court rules Chinese ineligible for naturalized citizenship 1878

1880

Population of Chinese in America YearPopulation , , , ,465

California Civil Code Section 60 passed, prohibits marriages between white persons and "negros", "mulattos", or "Mongolians“(Chinese/Asians) 1880

“Welcome to All!” Source: Puck Date: April 28, 1880 Artist: J. Keppler *note the Chinese immigrant at the far right The sign to the left of Uncle Sam reads: "Free education, free land, free speech, free ballot, free lunch." The sign near the center of the image reads: "No oppressive taxes, no expensive kings, no compulsory military service, no knouts or dungeons."

Anti-Chinese riot in Denver, Colorado initiated by Irish laborers 1880

1882

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 signed into law Prohibits Chinese immigration. Immigration from China drops from 40,000 to 23 in one year. Burlingame Treaty reversed.

1885

Massacre of the Chinese at Rock Springs, Wyoming Source: Harper’s Weekly Date: Sept. 2, 1885 Irish, Scandinavian, English and Welsh immigrants working at the Union Pacific coal mines attack Chinese miners who were offered work for lower wages. The Chinese did not know the wages of other non-Chinese immigrants when recruited by Union Pacific managers. The company had already reduced all miners wages to maintain the railroad’s profitability.

1890

Population of Chinese in America YearPopulation , , , , ,488

1898

Boycotts of Asian owned businesses spread across the country in the wake of successful passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act 1898

1900

Population of Chinese in America YearPopulation , , , , , ,863

A Chinese Perspective 1903 Excerpt from Lee Chew’s The Biography of a Chinaman