GOLD RUSH AND THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT
CHINESE IMMIGRATION
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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”
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CHINESE IMMIGRANTS
 In 1848, Chinese immigrants began coming to
America.
 Reasons:
 War
 Famine
 A poor economy in southeastern China
 Between 1848-1853, about 24,000 young
Chinese men immigrated to California.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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EMPLOYMENT
 After the gold rush ended, many Chinese
immigrants found work elsewhere:
 Farm laborers
 Low-paying industrial jobs
 Railroad construction
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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QUESTIONS!
1. What event sent people from all over the
world to California in 1848-1849?
 THE GOLD RUSH
2. What was happening in China that caused
many people to emigrate from there?

WAR, FAMINE, POOR ECONOMY
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3. What did California do to discourage
foreigners from mining for gold?

TAXED THEM
4. Why did the Chinese stay in America even
though conditions were not the best?

THEY COULD EARN MORE MONEY THAN IN
CHINA
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5. What was the Chinese Exclusion Act?

A LAW THAT RESTRICTED IMMIGRATION FROM
CHINA TO THE UNITED STATES
6. 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
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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
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