Chinese Exclusion Act & White Australia Policy

 American Reform: The Chinese Exclusion Acts.

  1 st significant wave of Chinese immigration occurred during the California Gold Rush of  This led to the use of Chinese laborers for various labor projects. (Ex: construction of Transcontinental Railroad)  As competition increased over decreasing amounts of gold, the anti-Chinese mentality continued to grow.  Most Chinese were driven from the mines & settled in Chinese communities in the cities (Ex: San Francisco).  Here, the Chinese obtained low-wage jobs as unskilled laborers doing restaurant & laundry work. Origins of Anti-Chinese Sentiment

  Beginning in 1882, the law was passed to suspend Chinese immigration.  Originally meant to be temporary (10 yrs), it wasn’t repealed until  The law banned skilled & unskilled Chinese laborers.  The law prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens.  Many could immigrate, but with permission from China that they were qualified—which was difficult to prove. Chinese Exclusion Act

 British Reform: The White Australia Policy

  Discovery of gold in 1851 led to a sudden increase in immigration—particularly among the Chinese.  Roughly 50,000 Chinese came, which led to protests & eventually, rioting among the whites in Australia.  The growth of the sugar industry led to the need of workers able to tolerate the tropical climate needed to work the plantations.  This led to the rise in Pacific Islander migrant workers.  Again, protests & rioting ensued.  Whites argued the new migrants took jobs from white, union workers & worked for sub-standard wages. Origins of Anti- Immigration Sentiment

 The White Australia Policy:  Passed in 1901, the policy limited the amount of various groups of immigrants from entering Australia.  The law required that all immigrants pass a dictation test before admittance.  Often the test was dictated to the immigrants in a European language (though not necessarily in English), which was arbitrarily chosen by the immigration officer.  British migrants were the exclusion to the policy and were granted immediate admittance into Australia.