As part of the Tenement Museum’s 400 Years of Immigration History campaign on Twitter, MOCA tweeted and blogged about the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.
The first major wave of Chinese immigrants came to the United States following the 1849 California gold rush. The vast majority of the incoming Chinese were men who worked in labor-intensive industries like railroads, mines, and canneries. Because Chinese laborers were willing to work for lower wages than their European counterparts, companies often used the Chinese as strikebreakers. Labor competition led to resentment of the Chinese and political agitation to limit the number coming into the country. Read the full post here.
~Special thanks to MOCA education intern, Katherine Park.
Filed under: MOCA, Chinese American experiences, Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese immigrants, Tenement Museum
The Museum of Chinese in America 