Transcript PowerPoint: Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

Amy Barok
Proctor High School
[email protected]
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• Bell Ringer:
– AHPPA Step 1: Identify the Problem
• Answer the following questions in your notebook:
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• In your own words, what does this law do
and/or who does it apply to?
• Why would the federal government focus
on Chinese immigrants?
• What features makes Chinese people very
different than European people?
• Would you feel safer if the federal
government restricted immigration of
Muslims today?
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• By the mid 1800's, a seething anti-Chinese
sentiment among the working classes was
developing.
• Chinese immigrants became scapegoats
for economic hardships because of their
race and culture, willingness to work for
lower wages and unwillingness to unionize
with non-Chinese.
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• Anti-Chinese agitation eventually
convinced Congress to pass a national
Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.
• Following is the preamble and the first
article of the Act…..
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• Preamble. Whereas,
in the opinion of the
Government of the
United States the
coming of Chinese
laborers to this
country endangers
the good order of
certain localities
within the territory
thereof:
• Be it enacted by the Senate
and House of Representatives
of the United States of America
in Congress assembled,
– That from and after the
expiration of ninety days next
after the passage of this act,
and until the expiration of ten
years next after the passage
of this act, the coming of
Chinese laborers to the United
States be, and the same is
hereby, suspended; and
during such suspension it shall
not be lawful for any Chinese
laborer to come, or, having so
come after the expiration of
said ninety days, to remain
within the United States.
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882.
Photo Credit: British Columbia Archives
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• Following the passage of this act, many
incidents of deadly violence and ethnic
cleansing occurred against the Chinese.
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
• Chinese women and children wait at the Angel Island Immigration
Station.
Photo Credit: California Historical Society