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New World
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Transcontinental Railroad
The Chinese immigrants, almost 95% male, also worked on the Transcontinental Railroad in the later 1800’s. By agreeing to lower-paying wages than other workers, and by enduring the rough and dangerous working conditions, they were largely responsible for laying down the tracks for the western railways, in one of the greatest engineering feats of the 19th century. It was completed in 1868, at a breakneck pace -
Period: to
Chinese Immigrate to US
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Anti-Chinese violence
With the completion of the railroad and end of the gold strikes, Chinese immigrants became targets of a decade-long wave of violence and discrimination in western cities such as Los Angeles. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Denied citzenship to ppl born in China and stopped immigration of Chinese laborers. -
The Chinese Exclusion Act
The U.S. Congress passed The Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, riding the popular anti-Chinese fervor and fear of overpopulation by the Chinese (More than 322,000 Chinese came to the United States between 1850 and 1882). This is a major turning point for America, which had previously welcomed all immigrants, but was closing the door to Chinese laborers. Offenders were faced with imprisonment or deportation, and American citizenship was denied to any Chinese immigrants already in the U.S. This ac -
Act to Prohibit the Coming of Chinese Persons into the United States (or the Geary Act)
The next significant exclusionary legislation was the Act to Prohibit the Coming of Chinese Persons into the United States in May, 1892, known as the Geary Act. This allowed Chinese laborers to travel to China and reenter the United States, but its provisions were more restrictive than preceding immigration laws, requiring Chinese to register and secure certificates as proof of their right to be in the United States. Imprisonment or deportation were penalties -
immigration restriction league
sought to impose to impose a literacy test on all immigrants