Chinese, Gold Rush the 1848 Term Paper

S. State Department that a new Sino-American treaty be drafted. In January 1887, negotiations began as American politicians were readying for the 1888 presidential election campaign. The U.S. originally wanted Chinese immigration suspended for 30 years, as well as a prohibition of all certified Chinese residents returning to America after visiting China. The Chinese agreed to suspend new emigration for 20 years and to forbid the return of Chinese-American laborers who visited China, unless they held property or financial claims or had family in the U.S. The Chinese government asked the U.S. government to provide better protection of resident Chinese and indemnities in cases of future outbreaks of anti-Chinese violence. Although negotiations were difficult, they finally had an agreement in March of 1888. The Bayard-Zhang Treaty prohibited Chinese immigration or the return of Chinese laborers to the U.S. For 20 years, unless the laborers had assets worth at least $1,000 or immediate family living in America. The U.S. government also agreed to protect Chinese people and property in America (Wunder, 1983)

Congress passed the Scott Act, signed by President Cleveland on October 1, 1888. This permanently banned the immigration or return of Chinese laborers to the United States and ended the exit visa process.Mass demonstrations in California celebrated the new law. About 20,000 Chinese, who had left the U.S. temporarily for China, were refused reentry. The Supreme Court upheld the Scott Act. Thus, despite the fact that the Chinese had worked hard and labored for many others when they were in the U.S., they were not acceptable to the prejudiced U.S. citizenship and had to leave.

References

Borthwick, J.D., 1857 Three Years in California. London, Edward Blackwood and Sons.

Espiritu, Y.L. 1997. Asian-American Women and Men: Labor, Laws and Love. Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham, MD

Fessler, L.W. 1983, Chinese in America: Stereotyped Past, Changing Present, Vantage Press, New York, New York.

McClain, C. 1994, in Search of Equality: The Chinese Struggle Against Discrimination in Nineteenth-Century America California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Peterson, R.H. "Gold! The Rush for California's Riches." Wild West Vol. 10, no.4, 50-55.

Quaife, M.M. 1949, Pictures of Gold Rush California, Chicago,….....