History Lesson: The Story of Chinese Exclusion in America

An Exclusion era ad against immigrant labor. 1882. (Library of Congress)

Since the news has been filled with our country's current immigration crisis, I thought it would be appropriate to share the story of America's very first federal immigration ban, stretching all the way back to 1882. I'm talking about the Chinese Exclusion Act.

The Chinese Exclusion Act, signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur, forbade all Chinese laborers from entering the United States and barred all Chinese immigrants already residing in the country from being naturalized as citizens. It was the culmination of decades of discrimination against Chinese immigrants. When the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed 61 years later in 1943, the damage had been done: Thousands of families had been permanently split apart, while anti-immigration sentiment and hostility towards foreigners would endure for generations.

When I discovered the history of this legislation, I decided to create a website about it for National History Day, an annual academic competition. This project was the result of a nine-month research process that truly paid off when it qualified for the national competition in Washington D.C. this June.
​
I hope you will learn something about the first Chinese immigrants in this country as well as how we've established our identities as Americans since then. 

View the Website Here

Did you know? The first Chinese immigrants were instrumental builders of the Transcontinental Railroad, which connected the country from California to Iowa. 1852. (Library of Congress)

A memorial plaque at Angel Island, where incoming Chinese immigrants were detained. (AIISF)

Author: Claire Cao