Author: Jesse Bradley

Interviewer: Jack Droesch

In the 1850s, news of the great gold discoveries in California reached China, which prompted thousands of Chinese to leave their homes and journey to America. Unfortunately, their arrival sparked animosity among Americans because the immigrants seemed radically different and they held little desire to assimilate to American culture. Their prominence as hard workers and their willingness to be compensated with low wages made them highly employable as unskilled laborers, but this provoked even harsher treatment from white America. As the economy experienced declines and white workingmen became anxious about their job and wage security, the Chinese became easy scapegoats for many Americans. Eventually, the elimination of Chinese immigrants became a sort of solution to American's economic woes and job insecurity, which prompted the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.