Chinese citizens have a long history of being discriminated in the United States, dating back to the 1800s. During the mid to late 1800s, vast amounts of Chinese workers immigrated to America for riches, to escape the economic hardships of Britain after the Opium War, and the view of America as a place free of intolerance. Those reasons, including the California Gold Rush, sparked the Chinese desire to travel to America and settle on the West Coast. However, anti-Chinese sentiments arose, which led to actions like Chinese immigrants having no ability equal to testify against white people as told by the California Supreme Court. Racism in the United States was the primary motivation for the discriminatory actions against Chinese immigrants in the middle to late 1800s.

Although the Chinese were initially welcomed to California, anti-Chinese sentiments grew and discriminatory laws were passed against them. Around the 1850s, California introduced the Foreign Miner Tax which targeted all foreigners (citation?). However, the Foreign Miner Tax mainly focused on Chinese miners who had to pay more than any other foreign race. Erika Lee’s novel The Making of Asian America tells us that “In 1870, the state had collected $5 million in taxes from the Chinese alone, an amount that equaled a quarter to half of California’s entire revenue” (Lee 92). Resentment against Chinese laborers arose from American, Irish, and German laborers because of the belief that the Chinese were “stealing their jobs.” In the court case People vs Hall of 1854, the California Supreme Courts rules that the Chinese could not testify for or against white people because the court reasoned that the Chinese were “inferior” to them (citation?). The Chinese may have competed with white people for labor which led to the laws against them, but there were other low paid workers of different races that were not similarly discriminated against, such as the Hispanics and other Asian races. In the 1870s, San Francisco passed the Queue Ordinance or the Pigtail Ordinance. This forced any Chinese wearing a queue (a hairstyle characterized by a long ponytail, traditionally worn by Chinese men) have it cut off. After the Queue Ordinance was passed, many Chinese were arrested and promptly had their queues cut off (citation?). Americans saw the queue as unmanly and uncivilized, but to the Chinese it was a way to return to their roots. The queue was seen as a way to return to China because China was under the Qing Dynasty, which forced Chinese males to have queues. Any Chinese found without a queue within China was liable to execution. Other discriminatory California laws include Chinese children being prohibited from entering schools in the state, special taxes specifically for Chinese fisherman and workers in fisheries, Commutation Tax law, and Foreign Miners License Law (citation?). These laws directly discriminated against the Chinese and put them under unfair treatment. However, this was only the beginning as more drastic actions began being taken against the Chinese.

 One of the more drastic actions taken against the Chinese, as previously stated, was outright physical violence. One famous incident was the Chinese Massacre of 1871, where two Chinese companies were fighting and a policeman got caught in the thick of it was accidentally fatally shot. Due to this, a crowd of 500 ransacked and attacked any building with Chinese residents. This resulted with nineteen Chinese men and boys dead, either lynched or shot, including a renowned doctor known as Dr. Gene Tong (citation?). This hate crime caused by white people led to more innocent lives being taken. Another famous incident was the Rock Springs Massacre of 1885, wherein foreign white miners attacked Chinese miners. 28 Chinese miners were killed and fifteen of them were wounded and driven out of Wyoming (citation?). The foreign miners attacked the Chinese because of the same belief that the Chinese are “stealing their labor.” The final Chinese massacre to ever occur in America was the Hells Canyon Massacre, where 34 Chinese miners were killed by thieves. Even though there were Chinese witnesses, they couldn’t testify because of the discriminatory laws that were already in effect, resulting in the trial being completely ignored (citation?). Other Asian races may have been around the same time as the Chinese, but none of them were assaulted like the Chinese were. Around the 1870s to 1890s, there were many cases of American mobs attacking, pillaging the homes of, and kicking the Chinese out of their state. In more radical situations, arsons would take place, resulting in multiple Chinese towns being burned to the ground, making their Chinese residents homeless (citation?). The rising anti-Chinese attitudes started out subtle, becoming more extreme as violence fueled the anti-Chinese sentiments leading to federal laws being passed to prevent the Chinese from entering the United States.

Federal laws that targeted Chinese immigrants came as a product of increased anti-Chinese sentiments. Due to laws from California and violent attacks from other states against the Chinese, the government took notice of the anti-Chinese sentiments and decided to pass federal laws that restricted the Chinese even further. One of the first federal laws to restrict the Chinese from entering the United States was the Coolie Trade Act of 1862. It prohibited coolie labor and U.S involvement in coolie trade. Coolie was a derogatory term for Asian laborers, primarily Chinese laborers in this situation. Congress also passed the Page Act of 1875 which forbade Asian prostitutes and Asian laborers from coming to the United States. More laws were passed to limit Chinese immigration, like the Scott Act of 1888 which prevented Chinese laborers from coming back to the United States if they returned to China, unless they had debt or family within the United States, and the Geary Act which required all Chinese people to carry certificates or else they could face deportation or a year at labor (citation?). With anti-Chinese sentiments near its peak, the federal laws made the Chinese feel oppressed and question why they were the only ones targeted, and no other races were targeted such as the Irish, Germans, or Swedes, etc. Although there were multiple federal laws against the Chinese, none would turn out to be as significant as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

The most profound act against the Chinese was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which later became the most prominent anti-Chinese federal law. The bill was first introduced by Senator John F. Miller who said the Chinese were a threat to America and came from a “degraded and inferior race.” Miller also claimed that removing the Chinese was for the “public good” of America. Other senators joined in and compared them to “animals”, “beasts”, and “rats.” They also believed the Chinese were “uncivilized” (citation?). There was little to no opposition against the bill, which led to the Chinese Exclusion Act being passed. It was argued that labor competiton led to the Chinese Exclusion Act, yet there were other races such as the Japanese, Korean, Hispanic, and Filipino laborers that did not face the same discrimination as the Chinese. It was America’s first immigration law that restricted immigration solely based on race. The Chinese Exclusion Act, which lasted for 10 years, prevented Chinese laborers from entering the U.S and prohibited the Chinese from obtaining naturalized citizenship. Once the Chinese Exclusion Act expired, Congress passed the Geary Act to extend it for another 10 years until it became permanent in 1902 (citation?). Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Chinese became one of the first kinds of illegal immigrants. The Chinese government and its citizens were outraged, but could not do anything to stop the United States from enforcing the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the peak of anti-Chinese views before those sentiments decreased and eventually disappeared in the mid-1900s.

There are many other reasons that could be argued led to discriminatory actions against Chinese immigrants, but racism was the most prominent. The majority of people would argue that the discriminatory actions were a product of economic hardships and the competition for labor, but the Chinese were not the only low paid and efficient workers out there. Hispanic laborers also were paid low wages and were productive workers, but they did not have to undergo the discrimination the Chinese faced. Other Asian races including the Japanese, Koreans, and Filipinos also traveled to America for work, yet they did not face anything nearing the kind of discrimination faced by the Chinese. Although Miller reasoned that competition for white labor was why he introduced the Chinese Exclusion Act, it was mainly racism that caused him to introduce the bill. He called the Chinese “degraded and inferior” while other senators joined and compared the Chinese to “beasts” and “rats.” Labor competition could have been one underlying cause of anti-Chinese laws and actions, yet racism lies as the core reason for any of the discriminatory actions happening.

Anti-Chinese sentiments already existed in America, which grew even more as Chinese immigrants came to America, resulting in actions against them. California instigated laws because of the belief that whites were superior to other races, even though they were first welcomed. This belief spread throughout the country, which led to federal laws against the Chinese, with the biggest one being the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese Exclusion Act marked the end of the Chinese within America because of the ideology that the Chinese were uncivilized compared to Americans. Today in our society, Chinese discrimination still exists, however it is more subtle and subdued compared to the racism that the Chinese faced in the 1800s.