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Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• Bell Ringer:
– AHPPA Step 1: Identify the Problem
• Answer the following questions in your notebook:

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• In your own words, what does this law do and/or who does it apply to?
• Why would the federal government focus on Chinese immigrants?
• What features makes Chinese people very different than European people?
• Would you feel safer if the federal government restricted immigration of
Muslims today?

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• By the mid 1800's, a seething anti-Chinese sentiment among the working classes was developing.
• Chinese immigrants became scapegoats for economic hardships because of their race and culture, willingness to work for lower wages and unwillingness to unionize with non-Chinese.

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• Anti-Chinese agitation eventually convinced Congress to pass a national
Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.
• Following is the preamble and the first article of the Act…..

• Preamble. Whereas, in the opinion of the
Government of the
United States the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof:
• Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
– That from and after the expiration of ninety days next after the passage of this act, and until the expiration of ten years next after the passage of this act, the coming of
Chinese laborers to the United
States be, and the same is hereby, suspended; and during such suspension it shall not be lawful for any Chinese laborer to come, or, having so come after the expiration of said ninety days, to remain within the United States.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882.
Photo Credit: British Columbia Archives

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• Following the passage of this act, many incidents of deadly violence and ethnic cleansing occurred against the Chinese .

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• Chinese women and children wait at the Angel Island Immigration
Station.
Photo Credit: California Historical Society