Chinese immigration to the United States began around 1848 at the start of the California Gold Rush. The Chinese were leaving a homeland ravaged by famine and extreme poverty. They were welcomed by western Americans who employed them in gold and metal mining operations. They were paid very little and performed the most menial of tasks. During the construction of the Pacific railway many Chinese coolies (unskilled manual laborer) worked the exhausting, dangerous and often life threatening job of track laying. After the completion of the Pacific railroad, workers from the east began to move to the west coast and competed with the Chinese immigrants for jobs. As tensions between the whites and Chinese mounted acts of violence and open hostility towards the Chinese became more commonplace. In 1871 a riot broke out in Los Angeles and fifteen Chinese were hung. After the incident the Supreme Court determined that the Chinese were ineligible for citizenship. In 1876 both the Republican and Democratic parties added anti-Chinese propaganda to their party platforms. In 1875 a federal was adopted which banned the importation of Chinese woman for "immoral purposes." In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed by President Chester A. Arthur. It prohibited the the immigration of Chinese laborers. In 1894 a new treaty was negotiated which excluded all Chinese laborers for ten years but also allowed returning immigrants back into the country as long as they had family members or $1,000 worth of property in the U.S.
Though the Chinese accounted for less than 1% of California's population they were seen as a grave threat to the working American. Propaganda campaigns encouraged in many cases by labor unions painted the Chinese immigrant as a cheap, filthy animal with no morality. The cartoon on the left depicts the Chinese as a many tentacled octopus strangling American society. The Chinese were reluctant to accept Western culture and the English language because they viewed their heritage as more sophisticated and enduring than America's. This mindset did not help them in their struggles with discrimination and racism. Though the few that made lives for themselves were able to gain some success by establishing, family run businesses like laundry mats and restaurants.
A Century Later
A hundred years later Americans with Chinese heritage live primarily on the West Coast and in the Northeast.