Racism in the Late 1800s (with a focus on the

Chinese) 

By: Kanithra, Katie, Sarah, Susan, and Neelam

Like Katie.

 • Many years of depression and deflation• Railroad workers were very poor, but railroad

companies continued to obtain huge profits• In 1877, the presidents of the four largest

railroads all decided to cut employees' wages by 10%

• Workers went on strike• Hayes called in federal troops to minimize unrest,

battles between workers and soldiers for several weeks, over one hundred people dead at the end

• Showed weakness of the labor movement when against massive government intervention

•  Racial and ethnic divisions fractured labor unity

Failure of Railroad Strike

Some Chinese Inventions:NYANCAT <333

Duh Chinese

• By 1880, California had 75,000 Asian newcomers ->9% of entire population

• Most were poor, uneducated, single males mostly from the Guangdong  

• Came because of severe land shortages, political turmoil, and economic hardship

• Dug in goldfields and laid down the tracks of       transcontinental railroads across the West• When no more of those jobs needed to be done, 1/2

of them returned to China before 1880 with their savings

Hardships • Worked at the most menial jobs• Without women or children -> rearry ronery• Had to assimilate with English language and

American customs•  Some exclusionists tried to strip native-born

Chinese Americans of their citizenship, but US v Wong Kim Ark ruled that the 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship to all people born in the US (more later)

Who was against the chinese?• Kearneyites, or recently arrived Irish

people didn't like them because of job competition o Chinese labor was cheaper than that of

        the Irish• Terrorized Chinese by shearing off their

ponytails• Some were murdered

Chinese Exclusion Act..  • Congress prohibited

nearly all further Chinese immigration starting in 1882 until 1943 

 

Racist Joy..tsk tsk

US v Wong Kim Ark (1898)

• Some exclusionists tried to strip native-born Chinese Americans of their citizenship

• Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional• Held that 14th Amendment guarenteed

citizenship to all American-born people, disregarding parents nationality

• Called "birthright citizenship"

Now it's time for a quiz! 

Golly gee!

Question #1:What did the failure of the great railroad strike show?

a) How the workers needed to be more unified in order to succeed

b) The utter corruption of American businesses

c) How weak the labor movement was against massive government intervention

d) How bacon is the best breakfast ingredient in the world

Question #2Why did the Chinese come to California?

a) To mine coal

b) To destroy the transcontinental railroads that were being built

c) There was political turmoil, labor shortages, and economic hardships in China

d) To provide a better life for their family, especially their children

Question #3Why did the Kearnyites hate the Chinese? 

a) Kearynites were racist and uneducated 

b) Hated the fact that the Chinese provided cheaper labor

c) Disliked having new neighbors

d) Thought the Chinese would take over their country

Question #4What did the Chinese Exclusion Act do?

a) Prohibited the Chinese from selling rice wine to make profits

b) Banned more Chinese goods from coming into AMUUUURICA LAND OF THE FREE until 1956

c) Allowed only Chinese under the age of 18 passage to America

d) Prohibited nearly all further immigration from China until 1943