Otis L. Graham

Mining and railroad companies began importing thousands of Chinese laborers during the mid-1800s to perform backbreaking work for low wages. When the California gold rush ended and the transcontinental railroad was completed, the immigration of Chinese laborers was no longer necessary and the repressed hostility against Asians—Chinese and Japanese, who were also starting to immigrate to the United States in large numbers—came out into the open. Residents on the West Coast felt threatened by the Asians—by their large numbers, their willingness to work for low pay, and their racial and ethnic differences. Many Americans also believed that Chinese laborers’ willingness to work for little pay was lowering wages for everybody. These complaints led to the first law restricting a class of people: the Chinese...