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Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

From American Governance
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 restricted Chinese immigration and set the tone for US immigration policy for approximately the next sixty years. In the American West from the 1860s through the 1890s, Chinese Americans were wrongly accused of causing the economic downturn of the frontier and depressed wages. The act, signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur, was a response to economic fears and ethnic prejudice. Stating in its preamble that “the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof,” the act was the first to specifically target an ethnic group's immigration into the United States. Designed to last only ten years, the act was later extended in 1892 by the Geary Act and indefinitely in 1902. Whereas previous legislation had limited entry into the country of Chinese laborers (specifically targeted at restricting immigration to California after the Gold Rush), the Exclusion Act targeted the entire…
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Full text Article Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

From Encyclopedia of Chinese-American Relations
Previous to the discovery of gold in California in late 1840s, there was minimal Chinese immigration into the United States. But over the next two decades, the states along the Pacific coast would attract approximately 60,000 Chinese immigrants. Some were undoubtedly attracted by the gold itself, …
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Full text Article CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT

From The Reader's Companion to American History
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. Those on the West Coast were especially prone to attribute declining wages and economic ills on the despised Chinese workers. Although the Chinese composed only .002 percent of the…
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Full text Article Chinese exclusion

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
policy of prohibiting immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States; initiated in 1882. From the time of the U.S. acquisition of California (1848) there had been a large influx of Chinese laborers to the Pacific coast. They were encouraged to emigrate because of the need for cheap labor, and…
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Full text Article Chinese Exclusion Act

From Milestone Documents in American History: Exploring the Primary Sources That Shaped America
The Chinese Exclusion Act (National Archives and...
Author U.S. Congress Date 1882 Type Legislative Significance Barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States, an act that would come to have profound, adverse effects on Chinese communities Overview Whether or not the United States is a melting pot—a mixing of diverse racial and ethnic…
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In 1882, in response to the vociferous insistence of California's anti- “coolie” clubs and Irish immigrant Denis Kearney's Workingmen's Party of California, Congress passed the first law in U.S. history to ban explicitly the further immigration of a particular racial or ethnic group. Known as the…
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© LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS...
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 restricted Chinese immigration and set the tone for US immigration policy for approximately the next sixty years. In the American West from the 1860s through the 1890s, Chinese Americans were wrongly accused of causing the economic downturn of the frontier and…
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Full text Article Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882

From Encyclopedia of North American Immigration
Also known as: “An Act to Execute Certain Treaty Stipulations Relating to Chinese” 1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first measure to specifically exclude an ethnic group from immigrating to the United States. It formed the basis of American anti-Asian immigration policy and was not repealed…
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Full text Article Chinese Exclusion Act

From Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History
Chinese immigrant Dale Ching visits the restored...
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a law passed by Congress on May 6, 1882, that halted the immigration of Chinese laborers for a period of 10 years and denied naturalization to existing Chinese immigrants. Following an economic downturn in the late nineteenth century that left many out of work and…
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Full text Article Chinese Exclusion Act

From The Schlager Anthology of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era: A Student's Guide to Essential Primary Sources
First page of the Chinese Exclusion Act (Our...
Author U.S. Congress Date 1882 Type Legislative Signifigance First immigration legislation that specifically restricted immigration based on race and class Overview In the late 1800s, when a movement developed to stop the influx of Chinese laborers into the United States, Congress responded by…
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Full text Article Chinese Exclusion Act

From The Schlager Anthology of Westward Expansion: A Student's Guide to Essential Primary Sources
First page of the Chinese Exclusion Act (Our...
Author U.S. Congress Date 1882 Type Legislative Signifigance As the first piece of legislation designed specifically to exclude a certain nationality from the United States, banned the immigration of most Chinese from the country Overview In the late 1800s, when a movement developed to stop the…
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