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UNIT 8 Chinese-American Relations: A History The Nineteenth Century to World War II The Nineteenth Century In the 19th century, the United States was a relative newcomer to the area of international affairs. Relations with China really began, not so subtly, in the 19th century with its discriminatory immigration policy against China. The Gold Rush of 1849 in California, the building of railroads, and the American industrial revolution of the second half of the 19th century, attracted many Chinese immigrants with dreams of the good life in America. At that time, it was perceived by most of the world, that America was the land of opportunity, success, and wealth. As the Chinese population in the United States grew in size, pressures to limit the number of these coming into the United States became strong. Laws, such as placing a police tax on Chinese people in California in 1862 and The Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882, officially testified to blatant discrimination against Chinese people. The latter felt forced to congregate in areas of big cities, such as San Francisco, New York, and Boston. Chinatown soon became part of American urban vocabulary. It seemed that the timid Chinese were susceptible to being pushed around. It appeared that Chinese and other Oriental immigrants were not welcome with open arms, but were welcome only when hard labour was needed to do the toughest jobs, especially in railroad construction and in the new industries that were fast developing at the time. It would be well into the 20th century before such discriminatory laws would be suspended. | 
