Chinese Exclusion Act

The First Chinese Exclusion Act

On May 6, 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first immigration act in U.S. history that targeted a specific ethnic minority group, was passed by Congress to deny entry to the United States to all laborers from China for a period of 10 years. It also indicated that immigrants from China were not eligible for citizenship. By “Chinese laborers,” the Chinese Exclusion Act meant both skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining. It should be kept in mind, however, that upper-class Chinese individuals, such as merchants, government officials, teachers, and the like, were exempt from the exclusion.

The passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act was a reaction to the rapidly growing number of Chinese immigrants to the United States, although they represented less than 0.2% of the total population by 1890. The early Chinese immigrants who arrived on the West Coast in the 1840s had been well received by Americans. Many of them were wealthy, successful merchants, along with skilled artisans, fishermen, and hotel and restaurant owners. These Chinese immigrants thus gained favor not only from business employers but also from the government and the public.

Between 1851 and 1860, more than 41,000 Chinese immigrants were recorded as arriving in the United States, attracted by the California gold rush at a time when China was in a state of great turmoil due to political and religious rebellions. During the 1860s, the Central Pacific Railroad's great demand for a labor force created another significant wave of Chinese immigrants. The arrival of 64,301 new Chinese workers was recorded during this period of time, of whom a majority were on 5-year labor contracts for building the railroad tracks through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and across Nevada. After the railroad's completion in 1869, the flow of Chinese immigration continued to grow. By 1890, there were 106,488 Chinese immigrants in the United States, most of them in California and other West Coast states.

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