Why did the American workers' movement boycott the Chinese in the19th century and produce the Chinese Exclusion Act?

Many scholars at home and abroad have studied the anti-China movement of American workers in the19th century, and have written a lot.

(1) Did you exclude Chinese from the beginning?

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the United States has been facing the problem of labor shortage, and a steady stream of immigrants is essential to fill the endless new territory. 1848, the U.S. Congress first put forward the proposal of importing labor from China, and American policy makers gradually reached the understanding that "China people are to the west as blacks are to the south and Celts are to the east".

The reason for this understanding is not difficult to understand: before the completion of the transcontinental railway in the United States, it was much cheaper to transport China workers from the Pacific coast than to hire white workers; At that time, the foothold of China laborers was California, because gold mines were discovered there. At that time, the Panama Canal had not yet been opened, and it took a long and tortuous route to transport white workers to California. Therefore, the early Chinese workers who immigrated to California were welcomed by the local people. For example, 1852, the governor of California is so famous to China people: one of the most respectable classes among our newly accepted citizens, who are very suitable for the climate and people's personality there.

Of course, in the process of 1863 building the Central Pacific Railway, South China University of Technology was forced to succeed. The quality of China workers in the construction process, such as "no trouble, peace, patience, diligence, studious, low wage requirements, economy, etc." White workers' "endless strikes and constant demands for higher wages" also made Americans welcome China workers at first.

In any case, China's hard-working character has been widely recognized and welcomed by American capitalists. Therefore, when the Sino-US Tianjin Treaty was concluded in 1868, the American business community was extremely excited, which also started a new wave of China's immigration to the United States.