California Gold Rush - 1848 to 1855

With the news of the California goldrush spreading globally, introduced about 300, 000 new immigrants, about 25,000 being Chinese. Foreign immigrant men were looking to make some quick money mining for gold and faced a lot of discrimination for doing so. 



Violence and Hatred Towards Asians
White laborers looked down upon these Asian men for their easy and unskilled labor. Asian workers faced lots of violence at the hands of white Americans. 

"One of the most serious riots occurred on 30 June 1861 when approximately 2000 European diggers attacked the Chinese miners. Although they tried to get away from the mob, about 250 Chinese miners were gravely injured and lost all their belongings."(NMA)


The fear of gaining new competition to "inferior" workers made white men spiteful as they grew more violent. 

It wasn't uncommon for work sites to not hire anyone but white men to work in their mines or on their railroads. 

The rising tensions and increased Asian immigration caused the creation of immigration taxes and acts against the Chinese specifically.




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