5 minute read
Near & Far
A Timeline of Chinese Immigration to San Francisco
By Rebs Chan
Why did Chinese migrants move to the United States, and what was the immigration process like? Lloyd Suh’s The Far Country begins in 1909 and charts three generations of Chinese immigrants across 21 years. By highlighting a few key historical events, both in California and across the Pacific, the following timeline contextualizes the story of The Far Country’s characters and illuminates the many injustices imposed upon Chinese migrants.
1839–1842: First Opium War and the Treaty of Nanking
A war between China and Britain over foreign merchants in China selling opium, a banned substance. The war ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, which gave Britain many economic advantages over China and established Hong Kong as a crown colony.
1849: California Gold Rush
Following a series of natural disasters and China’s economic defeat in the First Opium War, the discovery of gold in California sparked the first wave of Chinese immigration to the U.S.
1850: Foreign Miners License Law and San Francisco Chinatown
Anti-immigrant sentiment among white miners pushed the California legislature to pass the 1850 Foreign Miners License Law, which charged all non-U.S. citizen miners $20 per month ($812 in 2024 USD). Although the law was quickly repealed, the prohibitive fee led many Chinese immigrants to leave the mining camps and establish the United States’ first Chinatown in San Francisco.
1856–1860: Second Opium War
British dissatisfaction with China’s implementation of the Treaty of Nanking led to this war, which ended when the British and French captured Beijing and forced the transfer of the Kowloon Peninsula from China to Britain.
1863–1869: The Transcontinental Railroad
An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Chinese immigrants worked on the construction of the western half of the Transcontinental Railroad, spanning from California to Utah. The Central Pacific Railroad paid them significantly less than their white American and European counterparts.
1875: The Page Act
This act was the first restrictive federal immigration law in the United States, introducing the concept of “legal” vs. “illegal” immigration. Among other restrictions, it forbade the “importation” of Asian women into the United States “for the purposes of prostitution,” an assumption often made by U.S. immigration officials.
1878: In re Ah Yup
Ah Yup, a Chinese immigrant, argued that he was “white,” since the existing laws allowed only for the naturalization of white people and Black people. In this resulting landmark decision, The Ninth Circuit in California ruled that those of the “Mongolian race” were not “white” and therefore ineligible to naturalize.
1882: Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act instated a 10-year ban on the immigration of laborers from China and prevented Chinese nationals from attaining citizenship. It was also the first law which mandated that new arrivals be inspected at a port of entry. In 1882, before the law took effect, more than 39,000 people of Chinese heritage immigrated to the U.S. In 1887, only 10 Chinese immigrants entered the country.
1892: The Geary Act
The Geary Act renewed Chinese exclusion for 10 more years and required Chinese nationals to carry an identification document. In 1902, Chinese exclusion was extended for 10 more years, and in 1904, it was extended indefinitely.
1906: The 1906 Earthquake and Paper Sons
The 1906 Earthquake and consequent fire destroyed all the birth and immigration documents from San Francisco’s Hall of Records, sparking the phenomenon of “paper sons,” a practice in which new Chinese immigrants purchased documentation papers to falsely identify themselves as the children of Chinese American citizens.
1910: Angel Island Immigration Station Opens
Between 1910 and 1940, approximately 175,000 Chinese immigrants arriving in San Francisco were sent to Angel Island. There, they were subjected to an intense interrogation and appeal process, during which they were detained for a period of several weeks to two years. In contrast, European immigrants, who were segregated from the non-European immigrants, were detained from a few days to a few weeks.
1924: The Immigration Act
Public and political concern about increasing immigration numbers led to the enactment of this federal law. Northern Europeans were favored, Southern and Eastern Europeans faced severe immigration quotas, and Asians were completely excluded from immigration.
1940: Angel Island Immigration Station Closes
Amidst slowing immigration numbers and a fire that destroyed Angel Island Immigration Station’s administrative building, officials closed the facility.
1943: Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act
In the midst of WWII, during which the U.S. and China were allies, Congress repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act and instated a new immigration quota of around 105 visas per year for Chinese immigrants.
1983: The Creation of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
In 1970, the government planned to demolish the Angel Island Immigration Station, but the discovery of poetry carved into the barrack walls renewed interest in preserving the site. In 1983, the barracks opened to the public and members of the community-led Angel Island Immigration Station Historical Advisory Committee created the Immigration Station Foundation to continue efforts of both preserving the site and amplifying the contributions of Pacific Coast immigrants.
