1. GOLD RUSH AND THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT
CHINESE IMMIGRATION

2. GOLD!!
On January 24, 1848, gold was discovered in California at Sutter’s Mill.
By 1849, people were coming to California from all over the world to look for gold.
These migrants were known as “forty-niners”

3. CHINESE IMMIGRANTS Reasons:
In 1848, Chinese immigrants began coming to America.
Reasons:
War
Famine
A poor economy in southeastern China
Between , about 24,000 young Chinese men immigrated to California.

4. CHINESE IMMIGRANTS Americans did not welcome the Chinese.
California placed a high monthly tax on all foreign miners
Chinese workers were targets of violent attacks in the mining camps
The legal system offered little protection

5. CHINESE IMMIGRANTS
Year after year, more immigrants came from China to America. Some still hoped to find gold.
Others just wanted a job:
Many opened their own businesses
Restaurants
Laundries
Central Pacific Railroad Company

6. CHINATOWN
The largest and oldest Chinese community in the United States is the Chinatown area of San Francisco
San Francisco grew rapidly
Population jumped from 800 in March of 1848 to more than 25,000 by 1850.

7. RESENTMENT
Workers of other nationalities who could not find jobs that paid well began to resent the Chinese workers.
Blamed Chinese for taking jobs
Blamed Chinese for keeping the pay rate low
Some states began to pass laws that discriminated against Chinese and Asian immigrants

8. EMPLOYMENT
After the gold rush ended, many Chinese immigrants found work elsewhere:
Farm laborers
Low-paying industrial jobs
Railroad construction

9. PACIFIC RAILWAY ACTS
As more Americans moved west, the need to send goods and information from the East to the West increased.
The federal government passed the Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864.
Gave railroad companies loans and land grants
Railroads hired many immigrants, many of them Chinese

10. DISCRIMINATION
Chinese workers who worked on the railroad were treated differently:
Were paid less
Were given the most dangerous jobs
Were given the longest working hours
However, they could earn much more money working for the railroads than back in China.

11. THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT
In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act.
It restricted immigration from China into the United States for the next ten years.
Banned Chinese laborers, both skilled and unskilled
Banned miners

12. THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT
Other restrictions:
Chinese immigrants already in the United States were not allowed to leave and re-enter the country.
Chinese immigrants already living in the United States were not allowed to become citizens.

13. EFFECTS
The law had devastating effects on Chinese communities in America:
Chinese men who had come to America to work could not go home to visit their families
They could not bring their wives to America
Since they were not citizens, they could not own their own land or register mining claims.

14. REAUTHORIZATION
The Chinese Exclusion Act had broad support from labor unions and other groups.
Other people criticized the act, calling it legalized discrimination
In 1892, it was reauthorized for another ten years by the passage of the Geary Act.
In 1902, it was again reauthorized – this time with no ending date.

15. END OF EXCLUSION
It was only when our country became involved in World War II that the Chinese Exclusion Act was finally repealed.
China was an ally of ours in the war
The Magnuson Act was passed in 1943 to finally repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act, but there were still limits on immigration
Finally in the 1960’s, the exclusion of Chinese immigration was completely ended

16. QUESTIONS!
1. What event sent people from all over the world to California in ?
THE GOLD RUSH
What was happening in China that caused many people to emigrate from there?
WAR, FAMINE, POOR ECONOMY

17. What did California do to discourage foreigners from mining for gold?
TAXED THEM
Why did the Chinese stay in America even though conditions were not the best?
THEY COULD EARN MORE MONEY THAN IN CHINA

18. What was the Chinese Exclusion Act?
A LAW THAT RESTRICTED IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA TO THE UNITED STATES
How did World War II affect the immigration of people from China to America?
IT LED TO THE REPEAL OF THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT SINCE CHINA WAS AN ALLY OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE WAR

19. EXIT TICKET!
Do you think that a law like the Chinese Exclusion Act could be passed today? Why or why not?
Write your answer on a sheet of paper
Must be at least 4 sentences