The Chinese Exclusion Act, passed by Congress in 1882, and renewed in 1892 and 1902, essentially shut down Chinese immigration to the United States for 61 years. This unique set of primary source documents — including pages from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, political cartoons, anti-Chinese broadsides, official immigration documents, a letter expressing the Chinese viewpoint, and poems written by Angel Island detainees — helps students understand the social and economic conditions that provoked this discriminatory series of laws, and illustrates how they shaped the Chinese immigrant experience. Historian: Audrey Green Rogers. The contents of this Focus Jackdaw feature:

Support Materials

• Illustrated Broadsheet Essay
• Timeline
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Recommended Reading List

Historical Documents

• First and last page of the Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882
• Political cartoons by Thomas Nast, 1869-1886
• Anti-Chinese advertisement, 1886
• “A Chinese View of the Statue of Liberty,” by Saum Song Bo, 1885, and a related political cartoon
• Fliers for Butte, Montana labor union boycott of Chinese businesses, 1898
• Documents from the immigration case of Moy Long Lam, 1921-1923
• Poems by Angel Island detainees with translations
• Excerpts from the INS Monthly Review relating to the proposed repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Acts, 1943