Discrimination and Violence Against Chinese Americans in the 19th Century
Brief Background
The legacy of the Asian diaspora in the U.S. is woven into the fabric of the nation and tells the story of discrimination, resistance, and advocacy for equal rights. This summary discusses the widespread discrimination and violence that Chinese immigrants faced in the 19th century, as seen in examples from the transcontinental railroad construction and U.S. laws.
Transcontinental Railroad
The first major influx of Chinese immigrants arrived in the U.S. during the California Gold Rush from 1848 to 1855.[1] In 1862, the U.S. Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, authorizing the construction of the first transcontinental railroad to connect the East Coast with the West Coast. From both sides of the country, the Union Pacific was built west from Omaha, NE, and the Central Pacific was built east from Sacramento, CA, meeting at Promontory, UT, in 1869.
As the construction began, railroad companies faced a considerable labor shortage, as only a few hundred white laborers wanted to work to construct the transcontinental railroad.[2] To make up for the significant labor shortage, the railroad companies reluctantly hired Chinese workers. About 15,000 to 20,000 Chinese immigrants endured back-breaking labor for years until the railroad was complete. The construction caused hundreds of Chinese deaths from explosions, landslides, accidents, and disease. In 1867, about 90 percent of the workers were Chinese. Two years earlier, Leland Stanford, president of Central Pacific, former California governor and founder of Stanford University, told Congress that without the Chinese workers, “it would be impossible to complete the western portion of this great national enterprise, within the time required by the Acts of Congress.”[3]
Discriminatory Laws Against Asian Immigrants
Right after the transcontinental railroad's completion in the 1870s, the U.S. entered an economic recession. Despite the significant contributions of Chinese railroad workers, white Americans’ fears about and hostility toward non-white immigrant labor became a driving force to keep Chinese immigrants out of the country.[4] Discrimination against the Chinese in the 1870s wasn’t new; since the arrival of significant numbers of Asian immigrants in1850s, both federal and state governments issued various racially discriminatory laws. The system that perpetrated injustice against Chinese immigrants extended to immigrants from other countries, often with less economic means. Some of the discriminatory laws against Asian immigrants during the 19th century include:
U.S. State Governments
Systemic Discrimination and Violence in Society
Under systematic discrimination against Asian Americans in the 19th century, numerous Asian immigrants, especially Chinese, were victims of violence and property damage or loss. The below two massacres that occurred in the western U.S. demonstrate injustice committed against Chinese immigrants:
Although progress has been made since the 19th century to counter discrimination against marginalized groups in the U.S., normalizing discrimination — such as shifting discriminations or projecting various fears to diverse groups of marginalized U.S. populations — persists today. In addition to more commonly discussed factors such as race and gender, normalization of discrimination stems from a wide spectrum of issues ranging from a job market, wars, or even a virus (such as COVID-19). Lessons learned from the history of Asian immigration to the U.S. remind people today that normalizing discrimination is one of the root causes of violent human rights violations. We can stay on the right side of history by choosing to use these lessons as guidelines to stand against all forms of discrimination and advance human rights of all.
Submitted by Sung Sohn
[1] PBS, “Chinese Immigration,”https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/chinese-immigration/#:~:text=Chinese%20immigrants%20first%20flocked%20to,Americans%20were%20considered%20cheap%20labor.
[2] Lesley Kennedy, “Building the Transcontinental Railroad: How 20,000 Chinese Immigrants Made It Happen,” History.com, April 23, 2024, https://www.history.com/news/transcontinental-railroad-chinese-immigrants
[3] Ibid.
[4] National Park Service, “Chinese Labor and the Iron Road,” https://www.nps.gov/gosp/learn/historyculture/chinese-labor-and-the-iron-road.htm#:~:text=Nativist%20fears%20about%20non%2Dwhite,1882%20to%2090%2C000%20by%201900.
[5] Los Angeles Public Library, “Los Angeles Massacre in 1871,” https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/chinese-massacre-1871.
[6] An offensive term referring to people usually in or from the Far East hired for low or subsistence wages.
[7] Zinn Education Project, “Sept. 2, 1885: Rock Springs Massacre,” https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/rock-springs-massacre/#:~:text=On%20Sept.,On%20the%20morning%20of%20Sept.
The legacy of the Asian diaspora in the U.S. is woven into the fabric of the nation and tells the story of discrimination, resistance, and advocacy for equal rights. This summary discusses the widespread discrimination and violence that Chinese immigrants faced in the 19th century, as seen in examples from the transcontinental railroad construction and U.S. laws.
Transcontinental Railroad
The first major influx of Chinese immigrants arrived in the U.S. during the California Gold Rush from 1848 to 1855.[1] In 1862, the U.S. Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, authorizing the construction of the first transcontinental railroad to connect the East Coast with the West Coast. From both sides of the country, the Union Pacific was built west from Omaha, NE, and the Central Pacific was built east from Sacramento, CA, meeting at Promontory, UT, in 1869.
As the construction began, railroad companies faced a considerable labor shortage, as only a few hundred white laborers wanted to work to construct the transcontinental railroad.[2] To make up for the significant labor shortage, the railroad companies reluctantly hired Chinese workers. About 15,000 to 20,000 Chinese immigrants endured back-breaking labor for years until the railroad was complete. The construction caused hundreds of Chinese deaths from explosions, landslides, accidents, and disease. In 1867, about 90 percent of the workers were Chinese. Two years earlier, Leland Stanford, president of Central Pacific, former California governor and founder of Stanford University, told Congress that without the Chinese workers, “it would be impossible to complete the western portion of this great national enterprise, within the time required by the Acts of Congress.”[3]
Discriminatory Laws Against Asian Immigrants
Right after the transcontinental railroad's completion in the 1870s, the U.S. entered an economic recession. Despite the significant contributions of Chinese railroad workers, white Americans’ fears about and hostility toward non-white immigrant labor became a driving force to keep Chinese immigrants out of the country.[4] Discrimination against the Chinese in the 1870s wasn’t new; since the arrival of significant numbers of Asian immigrants in1850s, both federal and state governments issued various racially discriminatory laws. The system that perpetrated injustice against Chinese immigrants extended to immigrants from other countries, often with less economic means. Some of the discriminatory laws against Asian immigrants during the 19th century include:
U.S. State Governments
- California Crimes and Punishments Act of 1850 — This law prevented Asians (defined as Chinese, Mongolian, and Indian) from testifying in court against whites, making them vulnerable to abuse and injustice. Four years later, in the 1854 case People v. Hall, the California Supreme Court rejected the testimony of Chinese immigrants who witnessed George Hall, a white man, murdering a Chinese miner Ling Sing.
- Interracial Marriage Ban Between Asians and Whites — In 1861, Nevada became the first state to pass a law preventing interracial marriage between Asians and whites. Thirteen other states passed similar laws.
- Page Act of 1875 — The Page Act restricted immigration of Asian women — in particular, Chinese women — to the U.S., under the racist assumption that Chinese women were entering the country to pursue prostitution. This law lasted until its repeal in 1974.
- Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 — This act prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years. The exclusion was extended in 1892 for another ten years, called the Geary Act. The exclusion lasted until 1943, two years after China became a member of the Allied Nations during WWII.
Systemic Discrimination and Violence in Society
Under systematic discrimination against Asian Americans in the 19th century, numerous Asian immigrants, especially Chinese, were victims of violence and property damage or loss. The below two massacres that occurred in the western U.S. demonstrate injustice committed against Chinese immigrants:
- Los Angeles Massacre in 1871[5] — A feud between leaders of two Chinese associations over a kidnapping of a young Chinese woman turned into a shooting between Chinese men. Robert Thompson, a popular former saloon owner, was killed while assisting two police officers after the shooting. Hearing of Thompson’s death, a mob of 500 rioters violently killed nineteen Chinese men and boys. The manslaughter charges of all rioters convicted were overturned and the defendants were never retried. Editorials from the Los Angeles News and The Los Angeles Star condemning Chinese immigration and attacking the Chinese as inferior and immoral began in 1869 and are related to normalizing racially motivated attacks against the Chinese. The newspapers continued their editorial attacks against the Chinese by forming the Anti-Coolie[6] club in 1876.
- Rock Springs Massacre in 1885 — Over a dispute about working at a preferable area of a mine, white miners killed twenty-eight Chinese miners, wounded fifteen others, and forced hundreds of the remaining Chinese miners out of town, setting fire to Chinese homes and other buildings.[7]
Although progress has been made since the 19th century to counter discrimination against marginalized groups in the U.S., normalizing discrimination — such as shifting discriminations or projecting various fears to diverse groups of marginalized U.S. populations — persists today. In addition to more commonly discussed factors such as race and gender, normalization of discrimination stems from a wide spectrum of issues ranging from a job market, wars, or even a virus (such as COVID-19). Lessons learned from the history of Asian immigration to the U.S. remind people today that normalizing discrimination is one of the root causes of violent human rights violations. We can stay on the right side of history by choosing to use these lessons as guidelines to stand against all forms of discrimination and advance human rights of all.
Submitted by Sung Sohn
[1] PBS, “Chinese Immigration,”https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/chinese-immigration/#:~:text=Chinese%20immigrants%20first%20flocked%20to,Americans%20were%20considered%20cheap%20labor.
[2] Lesley Kennedy, “Building the Transcontinental Railroad: How 20,000 Chinese Immigrants Made It Happen,” History.com, April 23, 2024, https://www.history.com/news/transcontinental-railroad-chinese-immigrants
[3] Ibid.
[4] National Park Service, “Chinese Labor and the Iron Road,” https://www.nps.gov/gosp/learn/historyculture/chinese-labor-and-the-iron-road.htm#:~:text=Nativist%20fears%20about%20non%2Dwhite,1882%20to%2090%2C000%20by%201900.
[5] Los Angeles Public Library, “Los Angeles Massacre in 1871,” https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/chinese-massacre-1871.
[6] An offensive term referring to people usually in or from the Far East hired for low or subsistence wages.
[7] Zinn Education Project, “Sept. 2, 1885: Rock Springs Massacre,” https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/rock-springs-massacre/#:~:text=On%20Sept.,On%20the%20morning%20of%20Sept.
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