Canada 's Initial Reception Of Chinese Immigrants

In 1896 to 1919 Canada was in a time of social change, this included racism, immigration, and other factors contributing. Immigrants came from all over the world, this included USA, Europe, and Asia. People from the Americas were looking to settle in big cities like Toronto because of the affordable electricity, which was part of Canada's urbanization and economic uprise. people in Europe settled in the prairies to farm, we wanted them because they were known to be hardy and could farm in harsh conditions. People from Asia were coming to Canada to work on the most treacherous parts of the railroad. There was plenty of discrimination against the Chinese people, this can be characterized by the head tax placed on the Chinese. It started at $50 and then went to

The United States has had tension with Asian immigrants since the first wave of migration in the 1840’s, and in 1882 the United States declared a Chinese Exclusion which was to keep all Chinese from migrating into the United States. For the Chinese already in the U.S this created worry and tension. With the Chinese people no longer being welcome the freedom for the Chinese inside which was already not much was even more condensed. The little equality that they had was taken away and they were excluded, and looked down upon everywhere they went. They had trouble living and socially because of the prejudice they were facing. An example of the Chinese struggle before the exclusion act would be the Chinese Lynching that took place in 1871. In Los Angeles a mob captured men and in this case a 12 year old boy and hung them all at a Spanish hacienda because of the citizens strong discrimination against

The only existing element that was protecting their survival and businesses was the Canadian law. Under the protection of the law, by paying their debts to the country, they were successful in establishing an honest business and commenced the construction of the first Chinatown in Alberta. However, the only element that prevented Chinese Canadians to overpopulate and flourish the Canadian economy further was the Chinese Exclusion Act. This had sparked one of the biggest impacts of Chinese Canadians, which was towards the Canadian law. After adequate input from prominent Chinese Canadian pioneers and landowners, the government and city construction planners had finally allowed the construction of another Chinatown to proceed. This aggravated an outrage across surrounding white communities, provoking undemocratic proposals to pass laws such as forcing all Chinese community members to be photographed and fingerprinted for identification. Although some bills failed to pass, one that marked a historical time period in 1923 was the Chinese Exclusion Act, causing thousands of infuriated Chinese Canadians to send telegrams to the Chinese Minister in London and generals in Canada in behalf of their disapproval. Eventually the campaign consequenced in a failure to propose a wrecking amendment, impacting the lives of many Chinese men without families in the

In 1965, the last legal barrier to Chinese immigrants fell with the signing of a new law that ended immigration quotas based on race. In the 19th and early 20th centuries the story of the Chinese in America was primarily a legal drama, played out on the nation’s borders and in courts. After the new immigration law went into effect, it became a personal story told by one individual and by one family at a time.

In the early immigration, the Fraser River gold rush is perhaps the largest event. It was an overall positive event, and the Chinese were a large part of the business of the time. They were entrepreneurial and established themselves selling things that were important to the miners, importing goods, growing food, and building infrastructure. Stores similar to the Wong Toy & Co. one would’ve existed then. The head tax period was obviously dominated by the creation of the Chinese Head Tax, similar to other anti-Chinese taxes throughout the world. This was a major step backwards in Chinese Canadian history, and the backwards thinking of it all was best illustrated as they continued to immigrate along the very railroad they helped build. Canada

Around the mid-19th to early 20th centuries, British Columbia was in a period of economic explosion. Those who were willing to work hard could find many opportunities. At this time, gold was found in British Columbia and Canada became dependent on workers to finish making the transcontinental railway. Many lumbering, coal mining and fishing business were not experiencing enough growth to match the needs of the society. This portrayed Canada as a place of opportunity and settlement for Asians whose homelands were becoming overcrowded. Sadly, the early pioneer years were extremely difficult for Asian immigrants due to the extensive racism and barriers keeping them from full participation of the Canadian

One of the first significant pieces of federal legislation aimed at restricting immigration was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese laborers from coming to America. Californians had agitated for the new law, blaming the Chinese, who were willing to work for less, for a decline in wages.The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. Those on the West Coast were especially prone to attribute declining wages and economic ills on the despised Chinese workers. Although the Chinese composed only .002 percent of the nation’s population, Congress passed the exclusion act to placate worker demands and assuage prevalent concerns about maintaining white “racial purity.”

Canada is a country built on immigration, mainly British at first, but from all over the world afterwards. Chinese immigration to Canada dates back to the period of the gold rush when they were recruited to mine. In the 1880's, the Chinese population increased after Canada joined the confederation and extra labour was required to build a cross-country railway. Due to the poor economy in China, many Chinese were willing to migrate and work for low wages. The Canadian government seized this opportunity and allowed the companies working on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to import Chinese immigrants. With a drive for completion a significant number of Chinese were recruited. In order to control this increase in immigration, the

Chinese Exclusion Act was a law that passed by Congress on May 6 of 1882, that halted the immigration of the Chinese laborers for a span of 10 years and denied neutralization to the existing Chinese in the United States. Following an economic crisis in the late 19th century that left many without jobs and slowed down the expansion of the Western States, many Chinese immigrants laborers were blamed for the falling of wages and lack of employment opportunities. The Chinese laborer faced violence, social isolation, and discriminatory laws that was included in the passage of the exclusion act. Although the act had little effect on the U.S’s economy beyond the Chinese community, it set a lasting effect for immigration policy, it was the first U.S law the refusal to admit members of a specific ethnic group or nationality. Since Chinese immigration was helping the U.S’s economy bloom. Why the sudden stop of only one ethnic group coming to the U.S? What social, economic, and political caused the Chinese Exclusion Act?

The first Chinese immigrants flooded to America, in the hopes of “striking gold” during the California Gold Rush of 1849. Unfortunately, the citizens of California greeted these newcomers with many unfair laws. Beginning with the Foreign Miner’s License Tax Law of 1850, the Chinese experienced nothing but bigotry from the citizens who surrounded them. This inequality peaked when President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, barring the immigration of Chinese workers for ten years. During that time, the immigration of Japanese in search of work rapidly increased. These immigrants also faced racial discrimination, from their ineligibility for citizenship to the laws prohibiting Japanese from owning land. The full

The Chinese Exclusion Act was established in 1882, in which the first time United States prevent a group of immigrants with nationality (Lee 4), marked United States’ from welcoming nation to an enclosed and discriminative nation, has monumental impact on each Chinese immigrants and culture of the entire American Chinese community (6). The poor conditions and lack of opportunities in the 19th century China and the Chinese’s hope of accumulating wealth to support their families in China fostered the huge influx of Chinese immigrants to United States. The discovery of gold in California also fuelled many Chinese’s dream of fast wealth (112). Due to the need for mass labour stemming from industrialization and high productivity of Chinese labours, employers would enthusiastically hire Chinese labour, which in turn sparked the increasing competition with the local workers and a growing anti-Chinese sentiment (114).

In the 1800’s, immigrants from different areas of the world began coming more frequently to the United States. With these immigrants, came the Chinese. After some time, an Exclusion Act was passed by the United States to keep the Chinese from immigrating. This happened in 1882 and was even extended in 1892. This act was supported in being passed because the Chinese were taking many jobs from the Americans, and also because the Chinese brought conflicting cultural elements to America.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923 was a terrible thing the Canadian parliament did that showed a bad side if Canada.The Chinese Immigration Act, 1923, known today as the Chinese Exclusion Act, was an act passed by the Parliament of Canada. The Chinese Exclusion Act effectively closed off Chinese immigration to Canada.The Chinese Exclusion Act was terrible because only Chinese people were singled out completely from entering on the basis of race. Secondly, the act was borderline unfair to every person of Chinese descent as it ruined family and economic life for people of Chinese descent living in canada at the time. Finally, it promoted racism in the Canadian government, as they all thought it was a resounding success, and did not think they were doing anything wrong.

After World War Two, Canada’s immigration policy changed. From World War Two to the 1960s, Canada’s immigration policy was restrictive and the government still favoured European and American immigrants because they were more likely to adapt to the Canadian society. The government did try to limit the number of other immigrants. By 1947, the Chinese Exclusion Act was revoked by the federal government. This was a step in the right direction to make Canada’s immigration policy to be more reasonable. By 1962, Canada removed regulations on immigrants from Africa, Asia and other countries. Under Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada’s immigration policy became “colour-blind”

When thousands of Chinese migrated to California after the gold rush the presence caused concern and debate from other Californians. This discussion, popularly called the “Chinese Question,” featured in many of the contemporary accounts of the time. In the American Memory Project’s “California: As I Saw It” online collection, which preserves books written in California from 1849-1900, this topic is debated, especially in conjunction with the Chinese Exclusion Act. The nine authors selected offer varying analyses on Chinese discrimination and this culminating act. Some give racist explanations, but the majority point towards the perceived economic competition between