Chinese Restriction, Violence, and Exclusion in the United States

Many early Chinese immigrants to the United States during the 1850s worked as traditional gold miners, but as gold mining declined in significance, an increasing number were employed as laborers for large scale construction projects such as railroads, roadways, and in agriculture. When Chinese exclusion legislation was passed in the 1880s, Chinese immigrants became the first to experience immigration controls based on race and social class. The legislation defined and controlled who could enter and reside within America’s borders, creating the theoretical underpinning for immigration policy in America and shaping debates about the role of immigrants as “resident aliens” that have carried on to the present. The story of Chinese immigration played out through interrelated social, political, and business contexts culminating in an environment of restriction, violence, and exclusion.