In the 1870s Chinese immigrants in California, Oregon, and Washington suffered legal discrimination as well as physical intimidation. Chinese immigrants represented cheap labor and competed with native-born Americans for jobs. When a major depression struck in 1873, many Americans blamed the foreigners for contributing to the massive unemployment rate. Racism also played a role in popular attitudes toward the newcomers. To protect themselves Chinese immigrants formed Zhongua Huiguan, or Six Benevolent Companies, which lobbied against restrictive laws and tried to protect Chinese from physical violence. In 1870 California passed a "Cubic Air Law," aimed at lodging houses that crowded Chinese laborers into small rooms. Each adult had to have at least five hundred cubic feet of clear air, and both landlords and tenants could be jailed for violations. The Clear Air Board, created to enforce this law, also mandated that prisoners in the city jail...