Because very few white men were willing to engage in the grueling work of the railroad and instead, preferred working in the hills mining for gold, at least 50 percent of the labor was performed by Chinese immigrants. By 1865, the rail-roads realized they had a major labor problem. When it called for 5,000 construction workers, few Californians answered the call. Most white men were unwilling to work in the snows at $35 per month and preferred mining.
Charles Crocker who headed the construction part of the Central Pacific tried an experiment and used Chinese workers on the heaviest of the work, finding that they worked quickly, tirelessly, accepted less money (between 60 to 90 percent what the whites were offered), and were willing to accept a lower standard of living in terms of housing and food. By the end of the year, the Chinese composed two-thirds of the Central Pacific's labor force. Somewhere between 10,000-12,000 were eventually employed to build the RR - many of whom were recruited directly from China. When their task was completed, many moved to San Francisco and established a Chinatown within the city limits. Chinatown was a small square block between F and E Streets, bounded by 3rd and 4th Streets. It was located in the heart of what is now the business and tourist district of Old Town Eureka. The Chinese did not give up their customs or religion. They celebrated their holidays and interacted with each other within their distinct community. For the most part, they kept to themselves. There, they clustered in relative safety from the anti-Chinese sentiment that was growing across the nation and the state.
California had the largest Chinese population in the nation by the 1860s. The Chinese were pulled to America by promises of working hard, acquiring wealth, and possibly of returning home with their fortunes. But they were also pushed to the U.S. due to natural disasters largely in China's southeastern Kwantung provinces where persistent drought and floods made it hard to maintain a satisfactory quality of life. Most Chinese immigrant were men who couldn’t afford their passage so they entered California on the credit-ticket system. Upon arrival in California, they worked to pay off the cost of their ticket.
Upon arrival in California, the Chinese worked in laundries, domestic service in white households, fishing, heavy construction work - and other jobs that white laborers will unwilling to do. Gradually, a small percentage of Chinese began to work in industries already occupied by white labor, especially clothing manufacturing, shoe-making, and cigar-making. Thus, they encountered resistance from white workers who could not compete with the Chinese because they were not willing to live as cheaply. Many white California began to resent the fact that most Chinese did not appear to be assimilating into American life. They continued to live in Chinatowns, speak their language, eat their own foods, and practice their strange religion. Anti-Chinese sentiment grew and with it grew demands for the California legislature to respond.
In 1852 California's Foreign Miner's Tax imposes $3 monthly tax for non-native-born citizens of the US (the Chinese) and those becoming citizens under the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo (the Mexicans). The tax was enforced by tax collectors who kept part of the fee for themselves, were allowed to take property of those who failed to pay, and often used extreme violence in their collection methods. Commutation Tax requires ship-masters to prepare a list of foreign passengers, and ship owners to post a $500 bond for each, which could be commuted by paying a tax of $5 to $50 per passenger.
The 1854 People v. Hall California Supreme Court decision overturned the murder conviction of a white man convicted on the eyewitness testimony of Chinese workers, finding that "Chinese and other people not white" could not testify in court against whites. In 1863 Chinese individuals are prohibited from testifying in California criminal or civil court cases.
By 1855 California legislature levies a $50 tax on every ship bringing immigrants "ineligible for citizenship." The California Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional in 1857. It increases the Foreign Miners' License Tax to $6 per month, with increases set for $2 each subsequent year. The State legislature repeals the law and establishes the tax at $4 per month.In 1858 California legislature passes "An Act to Prevent the Further Immigration of Chinese or Mongolians to this State" forbidding Chinese individuals from landing in California except during weather-related emergencies. When Californian Supreme Court declares the law unconstitutional in 1862 the legislature passes "An Act to Protect Free White Labor Against Competition with Coolie Labor and to Discourage the Immigration of Chinese to the State of California." Requires a tax on laborers who were not working in agriculture.
The California Legislature tries to pass a Chinese Police Tax that levied a $2.50 fee on all Chinese living in the state that the California Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional by the end of the year.
In 1863 Chinese children are excluded from public schools. In 1882 San Francisco Schools Policy establishes a separate school for the Chinese. Sacramento followed the example in 1893. San Francisco School Board in 1905 issues a decree that all persons of Asian ancestry must attend segregated schools in Chinatown by stating, "Our Children should not be placed in any position where their youthful impressions may be affected by association with pupils of the Mongolian race."
In 1866 California legislature passes "An Act for the Suppression of Chinese Houses of Ill-Fame" which made Chinese brothels illegal. The law makes it possible for a landlord to discriminate against potential Chinese occupants upon the suspicion that prostitution might take place in the premises while "Mongolian" women immigrating to California must prove they are of good character. California legislature imposes steep fines up to $5000 on individuals who imported Chinese into the state without a "certificate of good character." California Supreme Court declares the law unconstitutional.
The 1870s saw that the Chinese represent 20% of California's labor force, although they constitute only .002 percent of the entire US population. The 1880 California Chinese population reaches 75,000. The Workingmen's Party, comprised of white workers and white poor, focuses on the elimination of Chinese labor in California. The new party convinces San Francisco's office of the Cigarmakers' International Union to distribute a circular across the western US that listed manufacturers who employed Chinese, "Which is a great injury to our white working men and women." The union asked readers to boycott these firms and began to attach special labels to their products proclaiming "Made by white labor," or "Made by white men." 1878 saw the California legislature bar Chinese individuals from owning real estate and the Federal Circuit Court in San Francisco rules that Chinese are ineligible for naturalized citizenship. Then 1879 Second California Constitution passes with two new articles that discriminate against the Chinese: Chinese immigrants were denied the vote in California; and state and local public works agencies were forbidden to employ a Chinese laborer. The California legislature in 1880 prohibits marriage between a white person and a "negro, mulatto, or Mongolian."
February 6 1885 Eureka City Councilman, David C. Kendall is accidentally fatally shot by a stray bullet fired by rival Chinese tong members. 20 Chinese are arrested. Vigilantes propose to massacre "every Chinaman" in the city. The next day all Chinese citizens in Eureka are loaded onto two steamers bound for San Francisco. A gallows is erected in the middle of Chinatown with a sign stating, "Any Chinaman seen on the street after 3:00 will be hung to this gallows." Arcata adopts an anti-Chinese resolution declaring, "We, the citizens of Arcata and vicinity, wish the total expulsion of the Chinese from our midst. We endorse the efforts of Eureka to exclude all Chinese settlements in the city and environs." Ferndale passed a similar resolution several days later. Crescent City decides to "remove all Mongolians from our midst."
1891 The California legislature passes a law stating that "the coming of Chinese persons into the State, whether subjects of the Chinese Empire or otherwise" is prohibited but again the California Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional.
The Asiatic Exclusion League is organized in 1905 by delegates from 67 organizations who met in San Francisco to begin plans to press for legislation to halt all Japanese immigration. Before the end of the decade, the League began lobbying or an Photo of cover of Humboldt Daily Standard newspaper in 1906 declaring "Chinese Must Go."amendment to Constitution that would deny citizenship to American-born Asians.
In the late 19th Century federal policies discriminated against Asians, especially the Chinese with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Act prohibited U.S. entry to all Chinese people except teachers, students, merchants, tourists, and officials. This was the first - and only - federal law that restricted immigration based upon nationality and race. The Act was repealed in 1943. The Exclusion Act was one of the first formal federal acts to restrict and discriminate against immigrants. 1910 Angel Island is opened to enforce immigration Photo of Chinese being expelled from Humboldt County in October 1906laws during the Asian exclusion years. From 1910-1940, at least 175,000 Asian immigrants - mostly Chinese - were detained and interrogated at Angel Island. The average stay was 2 weeks; the longest was 2 years. Thousands were deported.
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