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N0KFQ > TODAY 12.03.14 18:04l 75 Lines 3587 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 15085_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 12
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<OK0NBR<OK2PEN<OK0NMG<N0KFQ
Sent: 140312/1603Z 15085@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.58
Mar 12, 1888:
Chinese laborers excluded from U.S.
Agreeing to cooperate with a policy unilaterally adopted by
Congress six years earlier, China approves a treaty forbidding
Chinese laborers to enter the United States for 20 years.
In the 1850s, large numbers of Chinese immigrated to the American
West. Most came from the Pearl River Delta region of South China,
where famine and political instability made if difficult for them
to support the large extended families thought to be essential to
happiness and success. When exaggerated reports of the California
Gold Rush reached China, thousands of Chinese men booked passage
for California. In contrast to many of the other immigrants to
the American West, few of the Chinese immigrants intended to
settle permanently in the U.S. They planned instead to work in
the gold fields only until they had saved enough money to return
to China and support their families.
Few Chinese, however, found wealth in the U.S. In order to pay
for their passage across the Pacific, many Chinese immigrants
became indentured servants. Arriving in America with a heavy load
of debt, they were forced to work until they had paid back their
debt. Chinese and Anglo employers alike took advantage of their
plight, paying the immigrants just enough to keep their hopes
alive but not enough to free them from debt.
By 1880, just over 100,000 Chinese lived in the United States,
the majority of them in California. Most came in hopes of
striking it rich in the gold fields, but they quickly learned to
make money in whatever way they could. Despite the prevalence of
local and state laws prohibiting them from owning certain mining
properties or entering into specified businesses, many Chinese
succeeded in finding niches. Groups of Chinese immigrants would
occasionally band together and transform old mining claims,
abandoned by Anglos, into paying operations. Others prospered in
businesses like laundries or restaurants, which most Anglo men
considered menial "women's work."
Inevitably, the success and distinct culture of the Chinese
immigrants made them an easy target for xenophobic Anglos.
Wherever they went, however, the Chinese were treated with
growing resentment. By the 1880s, many working-class Anglos began
to accuse the Chinese of depriving them of jobs and undermining
early efforts to unionize the western mining industry. Blatant
racism fed Anglo hatred. One San Franciscan argued that God
intended the Chinese to remain only in China, for "they are not a
favored people, they are not to be permitted to steal from us
what we have."
The American government responded to these fears by limiting
Chinese immigration with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the
first time that the U.S. excluded immigrants based on race and
nationality. Significantly, the Exclusion Act only excluded
Chinese laborers. The U.S. continued to welcome merchants, who
promised to help Americans maintain lucrative trading ties with
the vast Chinese population, and professionals who offered
valuable skills. Immigrants from no other nation received such
discriminatory treatment.
Six years later, the Chinese government agreed to the fundamental
principles of the Exclusion Act. Under pressure from the U.S.,
the Chinese signed a treaty on this day in 1888 agreeing not to
allow any laborers to immigrate to America. Only in 1943, when
China became a valuable ally in the war against Japan, did the
U.S. finally abandon this blatantly racist policy.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Using Outpost Ver 2.8.0 c42
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