Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

In 1852, China faced a massive crop failure that was brought on by massive floods as well as droughts. This created a condition in which Chinese peasants had to flee from their farms as well as the country in search of work as well as good living conditions. It was at this time that Gold was discovered in the Sacramento Valley in California. In a bid to join the Gold Rush, thousands of Chinese immigrants found their way into the United States. Violence broke out between the Chinese immigrants and the white miners as the state of California issued a foreign miners tax that targeted the Chinese, crime, and violence escalated during the time. A ruling made in 1854, People v. Hall ruled that the Chinese were not approved to give evidence in court, which made it difficult for them to seek justice, thus faced discrimination at work (Meade).

The ruling was drawn from the Angell Treaty of 1880 that approved the regulation of immigrants from China. This authorized the United States to shelve Chinese immigration that lasted for over ten years. The reasoning for the ruling was that there were many undocumented immigrants from china and that the nation had to ensure measures were taken to bring about accountability. The Exclusion Act is among the most significant immigration policies in history, as it is noted to have set the standard for other American immigration policies. The act ensured that Congress did adopt new regulations and requirements that allowed on nationality. The Exclusion Act signified that the American political system would not be fair on immigrants as they were seen as economic threats towards the locals.

Scott Act 1888

With the Chinese Exclusion Act being in place, problems came up with the enforcement of the law, which prompted Congress to get rid of the status of “returning laborers.” This had earlier been recognized through the “certificate of return,” where over 20,000 Chinese workforce who held these certificated found themselves stuck outside the USA after they had been assured to be exempted from the laws of exclusion (Meade). Some of the Chinese workers presented a challenge to the law in court in a case Chae Ping v. the U.S. citing that the “certificates of return” had to be observed as part of a committed agreement involving the U.S. government and the workers who were now facing exclusion. The U.S. Supreme Court did uphold the law as it cited that it did hold plenary power over the U.S. government when it came to immigration matters. Bu this wasn’t enough to take care of the immigration problem; thus, the Scott Act was introduced as it voided all certificates held by Chinese and also banned any Chinese from returning to the country.

The ruling was derived from the Chinese Exclusion Act as it was an extension to ensure that the immigration problem was solved once and for all. The act did leave thousands of immigrants stranded at the border of the United States. The significance of the legislation is that it gave meaning to the term “Chinese” to mean anyone who is of Chinese descent despite their nation of birth, citizenship or even nation of residence. It meant that being of Chinese ancestry was enough to keep them out of the country.

Work Cited

Meade, Edwin R. “The Chinese Question: A Paper Read at the Annual Meeting of the Social Science Association of America, Held at Saratoga, N. Y, Sept. 7th, 1877.” New York: Arthur & Bonnett, stationers, 57 Liberty street, 1877. 20 pp. 8 (1877): 293-302.