Early Chinese Immigration to the US

The advent of the railroad brought about many changes to the United States, including an early wave of Chinese immigration to America. Chinese laborers were the backbone of the Transcontinental Railroad’s creation, and worked diligently in other difficult industrial jobs for low wages. During this period, they faced intense racial discrimination both socially and politically. This culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which placed new obstacles in the way of Chinese and other Asian immigrants looking to come to America. In particular, the act placed limits and exclusions on laborers, not wealthy businessmen from China looking to immigrate. The following set of resources provides photos, documents, and oral histories that help tell the story of this early period of Chinese immigration to the United States.

Chicago citation style
Hillary Brady. Early Chinese Immigration to the US. 2015. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://production.dp.la/primary-source-sets/early-chinese-immigration-to-the-us. (Accessed March 19, 2024.)
APA citation style
Hillary Brady, (2015) Early Chinese Immigration to the US. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://production.dp.la/primary-source-sets/early-chinese-immigration-to-the-us
MLA citation style
Hillary Brady. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America <https://production.dp.la/primary-source-sets/early-chinese-immigration-to-the-us>.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.