preview

Chinese Exclusion Act and Immigration Problems in the United States

Better Essays

In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress. This act exiled Chinese laborers from arriving in the United States. This was the first time ever that a specific ethnicity was banned from immigrating to the U.S.A. Racism against the Chinese was strong, so the ban remained for ten years, but was eventually made “permanent”. However, China soon became a war ally in World War II, so the ban was repealed in 1943. There are many issues concerning immigration and racism that still plague the United States today. For example, many people are still prejudice against groups of immigrants. Mexicans are often discriminated against. In this essay I will use internet resources, in-class documents, my knowledge of social studies, and …show more content…

Part of the economic problem, most Americans felt, was that during the times between 1873 and 1875, over thirty thousand immigrants arrived here from China. The Chinese were blamed for job shortages, and were attacked many times in various ways. Newspapers wrote racist articles about the Chinese, and also showed cartoons depicting the Chinese as rogues. In 1873 the stock markets crashed and a record number of people became unemployed. Although the Chinese really played no role in the stock market, they were still blamed. In 1877 riots in San Francisco against the Chinese took place. The Workingman’s Party also declared that the Chinese must go, and that they said they would not accept the wages that were paid to the Chinese. They felt that because the Chinese worked for such low wages, they were forcing white men into taking huge pay cuts or being replaced by a Chinese laborer who worked for much less. Ten Chinese were murdered in what is now titled the Snake River Massacre. A mob chased Chinese people out of Denver’s Chinatown, burning buildings as they went. They even hanged one man. In 1881 leprosy spread to Hawaii. The Chinese were blamed for this too. The first Chinese Exclusion Act was signed the following year, banning Chinese laborers from entering the United States. Congress had finally given in to the racist thoughts that filled most Americans. They too now felt that America was better off not being a melting pot. If you did not match the roots of

Get Access