CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT OF 1882
Passed by U.S. Congress in 1882 and signed
into law by President CHESTER A. ARTHUR, the
Chinese Exclusion Act (22 Stat. 58) created a
ten-year MORATORIUM on the immigration of
Chinese laborers into the United States. The Act
represents the first law ever passed by Congress
that denied entry to the United States on the
basis of race or ethnicity. Congress indefinitely
extended the act in 1902 and made it permanent
in 1904. However, it was repealed in its entirety
in 1943, when China became an important ally
to the United States against Japan. However, its
residual effect on Chinese-American relations
continued far beyond.
Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States
began during the 1850s’ Gold Rush, which
eclipsed a period of great poverty in China. Chinese
laborers flocked to California, where they
soon became an exploited workforce because
even the meager wages they earned in California
represented far more than they could have
earned in their homeland. By the 1870s, clear
resentment existed among American miners,
who felt their own wages were being held down
by the industrious Chinese. U.S. miners also felt
that the laborers were sending too much gold
back to China, believing the natural resource
should stay within the United States. Moreover,
the Chinese were beginning to prosper in the
laundry business, particularly in overcrowded
San Francisco, where Victorian tastes and cultures
approved of such domestic indulgences.
Mounting political pressure resulted in heated
debate, and final passage of the act occurred on
May 6, 1882.
Under the provisions of the act, immigration
of Chinese laborers to the United States was
suspended for ten years. Chinese laborers
already in the country were permitted to
remain, even following temporary absences, but
were barred from naturalization. Illegal immigrants
were to be deported. Non-labor Chinese
students, teachers, merchants, or those “proceeding
to the United States from curiosity”
were permitted entry. The act expressly defined
“Chinese laborers” as “both skilled and unskilled
laborers and Chinese employed in mining.”
Additional provisions of the act levied heavy
fines on those who would bring in or “aid and
abet” any Chinese person unlawfully within the
United States.
Under the Geary Act (making the act permanent),
other provisions were added to require
Chinese residents in the United States to register
and obtain a certificate of residence. This act
required that they be photographed and submit
photograph copies with local police. Moreover,
they had to carry identification with them at all
times. The federal government paid for all
related costs associated with compliance.
Following an influx of general post-war
immigrants during the 1920s, Congress began to
implement quotas and requirements pertaining
to national origin. By 1943, Congress repealed
all exclusion acts, instead leaving in place a
yearly limit of 105 Chinese. Further, Congress
gave foreign-born Chinese naturalization rights
of citizenship. The so-called origin system (with
several subsequent modifications) continued to
control immigration until the passage of the
Immigration and Nationality Amendment Acts
of 1965, Pub. L. No. 89–836, 79 Stat, 911.
FURTHER READINGS
American Federation of Labor. 1902. Some Reasons for Chinese
Exclusion. Meat v. Rice. American Manhood against
Asiatic Coolieism, Which Shall Survive? Senate Document
No. 137, 57th Congress, 1st Session.Washington,
DC: Government Printing Office.
“Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.” Excerpted from Teaching
with Documents: Using Primary Sources from the
National Archives. Available online at documents.gov> (accessed June 2, 2003.)
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. 22 Stat. 58. Available online at
(accessed June 2, 2003).
