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The Asian Exclusion Act Of 1892

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The Asian Exclusion Act Of 1892
The Chinese Exclusion Act was the “first major law that restricted immigration” to the United States (“Open Collections Program: Immigration to the US”). It was created due to the economic fears that the plentiful Chinese workers presented. Because of the profuse amount of cheap labor that Chinese workers presented, many native-born Americans were unemployed or had declining wages. This plus the mentality of being racially superior accumulated to the signing of the Chinese Exclusion Act on May 6, 1882 by President Arthur. This act specifically restricted Chinese immigration for 10 years, and prohibited Chinese men and women from becoming United States citizens. This act was later extended by another 10 years by the Geary Act of 1892. The Chinese …show more content…
The Asian Exclusion League was a white supremacist organization that opposed all forms of Asian immigration. Their purpose was to protest against the continuance of Asian immigration upon the “exalted grounds of American Patriots” (Ecks, Diana, The Asiatic Exclusion League). The Asian Exclusion League stated that the presence of Asian immigrants was corrupting the American way of life and would end up destroying it. They stated that the Asian immigrants had “low standards of living, immoral surroundings and cheap labor, and that they constituted a formidable competition against the American system” (Ecks, Diana, The Asiatic Exclusion League). They said that without proper legislation the pride and glory of America’s civilization will result in the “irreparable deterioration” of American labor (Ecks, Diana, The Asiatic Exclusion League). The Asian Exclusion League deeply believed that the Asian immigrants were below them and that because of their different lifestyle, they would end up disrupting the perfect American society they had. The Asian Exclusion League later broadened their definition of Asian to include Indians as well. The creation of this league made the relationship between white men and Asian immigrants very

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