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Andrew Lee
Mrs. Barbara Galler
Advanced Language Arts 8
25 February 2014
Impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act
Many Chinese immigrants falsely claimed American citizenship during the exclusion
eraIve considered this questionever since I learned that my American last name was
different, in spelling and meaning, from my Chinese last name Whats in a name? said Karen
Lew, a community anchor at the Museum of Chinese in America. She discovered that her
ancestors were forced to change their last names during the Chinese Exclusion Act to prevent
deportation. Most believe that the Chinese Exclusion Act was a mistake from the American
government. The Chinese Exclusion Act had an impact on not only the Chinese, but also most
Asians Americans lives.
In the year of 1848, a significant amount of gold was discovered in Sutters Mill. The
gold rush not only made Eastern American labors to come to the West, but also caused a large
amount of people in China to immigrate over in hopes of a fortune (Tien, Kelly). Chinese
workers then were willing to take jobs that no one else really wants to do, stated Munson Kwok,
president of the LA chapter of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (qtd. in Los Angeles
Times). As stated in Menlos Sun Server, when the American economy became unstable during
the Panic of 1873, labors thought that the "working and low-paid" Chinese were receiving more
money than they should, therefore reducing the non-Chinese workers wages. The Chinese
eventually became scapegoats for the economic downfall, and the non-Chinese workers started
propaganda against the Chinese, making cartoons and slogans like Mark the man who would
crush us to the level of the Mongolian slave. Immigration taxes and laundry-operation fees were
passed to limit Chinese population (Menlos Sun Server). Ultimately, President Chester A.
Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act into law in 1882. The ban was intended to last 10 years,
but it was extended indefinitely, then made permanent in 1902. However, during World War II,
the Chinese and the American became allies. To increase morale of the Chinese soldiers, the act
was repealed by the Magnuson Act of 1943, also known as the Repeal Chinese Exclusion Act of
1943 (Tien, Kelly). Even though the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed, it had a major impact
on the lives of Asians associated with America at the time.
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The Chinese Americans were discriminated upon in the United States. Some thought
other groups faced less discrimination, that they "merged into American society with fewer
problems. Some people also thought the Chinese American community faced difficulties
expanding because of the Chinese Exclusion Act (Tien, Kelly). Many new acts based on the
Chinese Exclusion Act were enacted later, some thought the new acts were even stricter than the
original (Tien, Kelly). The Geary Act of 1892 allowed Chinese Americans to travel across China
and America as long as if they had proper identifications. If one did not have the proper
certificates, they will either be imprisoned or deported (National Archives). Unfortunately, the
San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 destroyed municipal buildings that stored city records.
Without the proper paperwork to prove their citizenship and their Chinese ancestry, the Chinese
Americans would be considered illegal aliens. Therefore, they were forced to change their last
names (Lew, Karen).
The Chinese government was not happy about the new act, however, a plethora of other
acts were enacted that not only affected the lives of Chinese Americans, but also many other
ethnic groups around the world. The Scott Act of 1888 dictated that one cannot travel back to
America if they had been to China. The Chinese government considered this a direct insult.
The prohibition was expanded to Hawaii and the Philippines in 1902 (US Department of State).
Later, the United States government enacted the 1917 Immigration Act, which denied Asian
Indian entry (Wing, Bob). Less than 10 years later, Canada passed the Chinese Immigration Act
in 1923, nearly 20 years after the Chinese Exclusion Act was enacted. It was described as
"Canadas Chinese Exclusion Act" by Chinese Canadian communities. Prior to 1923, Canada
placed the Head Tax, a fee charged to every Chinese people traveling in and out of Canada (Tien,
Kelly). A year after, the United States enacted the Immigration Act of 1924, which was intended
to limit Japanese population, however, it also affected Koreans since they are under Japanese
colonial administration (Wing, Bob). Chinese merchants responded to these new acts by
organizing an anti-American boycott, the boycott received unofficial support from the Chinese
government; however, President Roosevelt convinced the Chinese government to stop the
boycott. The boycott ended after five months (US Department of State).
Even though Chinese Americans were discriminated and had very limited rights, one man
decided go against all odds and spoke out. In 1890, Wong Kim Ark, a 21-year old at the time,
visited his parents in China (IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law). Upon his return on 7/26/1890,
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he was denied entry due to the fact that "he was not a citizen" due to his Chinese ancestry. Wong
Kim Ark filed a lawsuit towards the American government. The district attorney argued that "by
reason of his race, language, color and dress, a Chinese person" therefore "the said Wong Kim
Ark is not entitled to land in the United States. The lawsuit eventually reached the Supreme
Courts. One of the Justices statement was Even though Wong's parents were Chinese citizens
and were "subjects of the Emperor of China," they've established their citizenship in America
before Wong was born. Theyve also stated that Wong had never claimed citizenship outside of
America and that he left America with the intention of coming back, also, he was a law abiding
citizen and had not committed any crimes. In the end, his citizenship was reinstated (United
States VS Wong Kim Ark). In 1998, the government tried to pass a bill, titled HR7, which
"would deny U.S. citizenship to children born in the United States of undocumented immigrants,
foreign students without an immigrant visa and anyone else who is here legally but without
permanent status, such as refugees." The bill ultimately did not pass, some thought it was a
reminder of how the Chinese Exclusion Act impacted the lives of immigrants (San Francisco
Examiner).
The Gold Rush had made a considerable amount of Chinese to come to America,
however, they became scapegoats as the cause of the Panic of 1873. The non-Chinese workers
thought they deserved more salary than the Chinese. The Chinese Exclusion Act of passed in
1882 (Tien, Kelly). The Act led to various new acts that limited Asian populations in the United
States. As a result of that, Chinese-American relationships worsened. One Chinese American
spoke out and sued the American government, and his citizenship was reinstated (United States
VS Wong Kim Ark). However, that was not the case for many other Chinese Americans. Some
of them were deported, some of them were imprisoned, and some of them were forced to change
their last names. The Chinese Exclusion Act had an impact on many ethnic groups all around
Asia.





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Works Cited
"Chinese Exclusion Act." Menlo's Sun Server. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
"Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts - 18661898 - Milestones - Office of the
Historian." Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts - 18661898 - Milestones -
Office of the Historian. US Department of State, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
"Chinese Immigration and the Chinese in the United States." National Archives and Records
Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Lew, Karen L. "A Personal Story of the Impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 The Museum of
Chinese in America." The Museum of Chinese in America. N.p., 8 Mar. 2008. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Tian, Kelly. "Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences." Undergraduate Research
Journal for the Human Sciences. University of Chicago, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
United States v. Wong Kim Ark. United States Reports 169. Northern District of California. 28 Mar.
1898. United States v. Wong Kim Ark - 169 U.S. 649 (1898). N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
"UNITED STATES v. WONG KIM ARK." United States v. Wong Kim Ark. The Oyez Project at IIT
Chicago-Kent College of Law, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Wing, Bob. "Crossing Race and Nationality: The Racial Formation of Asian Americans, 1852-
1965." Monthly Review 7 (2005): 1. ELibrary. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Wong, William. "The Citizenship of Wong Kim Ark." San Francisco Examiner 08 Apr. 1998, Second
Edition ed., News sec.: A-19. Print.
Yokoi, Iris. "CHINATOWN Exclusion Law's Effect Examined." Los Angeles Times 12 Dec. 1993: n.
pag. Print.