Chinese Exclusion Act Essay Thesis

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Thesis:
The Chinese Exclusion Act. A document that was first signed in 1882 by President Chester A. Arthur. This was and still is important because it was the first law that restricted immigration into the United States. This document was signed because Congress was concerned about keeping white “racial purity,” even though the Chinese population consisted of only 0.002 (two thousandths) percent of the whole population. The Act was first signed in 1882, and carried on for ten more years. These ten years was followed by the Geary Act, which extended the act for another ten years. That means this event ended around the 1920’s. The conflict for Congress, in 1882, was that too many Chinese people were immigrating to America, and this was ruining …show more content…

From about 1870 - 1900, about 12,000 immigrants fled to the United States. They fled for a range of reasons. Some of these include social, economical, political, and social. The Chinese arrived around the time of the California Gold Rush. They arrived along the shores.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first law to be in a series. This series consisted of the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch of government. They had created policies that some considered racist. These policies excluded the Japanese and Filipinos, along with a wide range of nations from Asia, from immigrating.

On May 6, 1882, the Exclusion Act was passed. It was the first law to restrict immigration to the United States. (Chinese Exclusion) It was passed by Congress, and signed by President A. Arthur. It was a ten year moratorium on Chinese labor immigration. In order to legally immigrate, citizens were required to have certification from the government to prove they were not laborers. The act defined the excludables as skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining. (Chinese