The Chinese Exclusionary Act and its Effect

In the late 19th century, the face representing the visage of illegal and unwanted immigration was distinctly Chinese. The government’s stance towards Chinese immigration was initially favorable with the ratification of the Burlingame Treaty that gave the immigrants the inalienable right to change their home and allegiance. However, the United States government eventually used various federal policies to severely restrain immigrants of Chinese descent from immigrating to the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (Act of May 6, 1882, ch. 126, 22 Stat. 58) was the product of decades of progressively increased racism and hostility towards the Chinese that began during the initial migration of many Chinese Immigrants during the gold run of the mid 1800’s. The U.S. anti-Chinese laws were not the only anti-Chinese legislation in the world, Australia and Canada also had such legislation. Although the act was initially only intended to last ten years, it was eventually extended and given permanent applicability during the start of the twentieth century. The exclusion would impact Chinese immigration to the United States all the way up until the middle of World War II, when the status of China as an important ally for the United States in the Pacific Theater made such a policy untenable.