Page act of 1875. Morality, Sexism or Racism? The Page Act of 1875 2022-10-29
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The Page Act of 1875, also known as the "Act to Prohibit the Importation and Migration of Foreigners and Aliens Under Contract or Agreement to Perform Labor in the United States," was a United States federal law that aimed to restrict the immigration of Chinese and other Asian workers to the United States. The act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on May 6, 1875.
The Page Act was a response to the large influx of Chinese immigrants who had arrived in the United States during the California Gold Rush of the 1840s and 1850s. Many Americans saw these immigrants as a threat to the American labor market and believed that they were taking jobs away from American workers. The Page Act was intended to reduce the number of Chinese immigrants coming to the United States by making it illegal to import or bring in foreign workers under contract or agreement to perform labor.
The Page Act also included provisions that were designed to prevent the immigration of women who were believed to be "prostitutes" or "women of ill fame." These provisions were based on the belief that Chinese immigrants were more likely to engage in prostitution and other forms of immorality. The act required that all Asian immigrants, including women, be examined by a government-appointed physician before being allowed to enter the United States. If the physician determined that the immigrant was "likely to become a public charge," they would be denied entry.
The Page Act was one of the first federal laws to restrict immigration to the United States and set a precedent for future immigration laws that would be passed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, the act was also highly controversial and was criticized for its discriminatory nature. Many argued that the act was racist and targeted Chinese immigrants specifically, and that it violated the principle of equal protection under the law.
Despite these criticisms, the Page Act remained in effect until it was repealed by the Magnuson Act of 1943. Today, the Page Act is remembered as an important but controversial moment in American history, one that marked the beginning of a long and often troubled history of immigration policy in the United States.
The Page Act of 1875 â childhealthpolicy.vumc.org
Are you a virtuous woman? Seven years later, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act banned immigration by Chinese men as well. But there is an earlier law that was used to effectively prevent Chinese women from immigrating to the United States: The Page Act of 1875. Do you intend to live a virtuous life in the United States? Have you lived in a house of The Chinese women who "passed" these questions according to the American consul were then sent to be questioned by the harbor master on duty. So by effectively barring Chinese women from entering the country through the Page Act, the U. April 1902 Act 32 Statutes-at-Large 176 renewed it again and extended its application to insular territories of the United States, including the requirement of a certificate of residence, except in Hawaii.
While this is being done I invite the attention of Congress to another, though perhaps no less an evilâthe importation of Chinese women, but few of whom are brought to our shores to pursue honorable or useful occupations. State Response to the Civil Right Issue, 1883-1885 M. When gold was discoveredin California in 1848, more and more Chinese immigrants traveled to the West Coast to join the Gold Rush. Legislated amid the spread of anti-Chinese fervor from the west coast to the rest of the United States, this law was an early effort to restrict Asian immigration without categorically restricting Asian immigration on the basis of race and instead restricted select categories of persons whose labor was perceived as immoral or coerced. Under the Page Act, Chinese women attempting to enter the country at Angel Island Immigration Station outside San Francisco were subjected to invasive and humiliating interrogations by U. They were depicted as a disease threatâa lot of anti-Chinese rhetoric hinged on portraying Chinese people as filthy and disease-ridden. Act of March 4, 1913 37 Statutes-at-Large 737 Divided the Department of Commerce and Labor into separate departments and transferred the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization to the Department of Labor.
While the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is usually cited as the first time the U. The Shifting Wind: The Supreme Court and Civil Rights from Reconstruction to Brown. Congress did not give him that, but instead wrote a law for equal rights to public accommodations that was passed as a memorial to Grant's bitterest enemy, the late Senator Charles Sumner. Do you wish of your own free and voluntary will to go to the United States? An ensuing series of floods and droughts drove members of the lower classes to leave their farms and seek new work opportunities abroad. Retrieved November 12, 2012. Georgia's Reaction to the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and the Civil Rights Cases of 1883 M. Mann White Slave Traffic Act of June 25, 1910 36 Statutes-at-Large 825 Prohibited the importation or interstate transportation of women for immoral purposes.
This created a lasting problem in Chinese-American communities, making them substantially familyless. As does the implementation of the law. In 1923 the Chinese Immigration Act now known as the Chinese Exclusion Act suspended Chinese immigration completely with a few small exceptions. Hotel: An American History. Kevin Nadal, professor at the City University of New York and vice president of the Filipino American National Historical Society. This Article suggests that such an understanding is inaccurate or at best, questionable.
In addition, it clarified the territories from which Chinese were to be excluded. Journal of Negro History. Despite their pivotal role in building the infrastructure of the United States, racism directed at Chinese immigrants was a constant from the moment they arrived on American shores. Read the original on The History Channel. This information was needed to determine admissibility according to the expanding list of grounds for exclusion. They were also seen as a religious and moral threat as heathens who threatened a Christian America. Hayes to Woodrow Wilson.
East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. The Page Act of 1875 Enacted seven years before the better-known Chinese Exclusion Act, the 1875 Page Act was one of the earliest pieces of federal legislation to restrict immigration to the United States in the 19th century. The Betrayal of the Negro: From Rutherford B. Charles Sumner including details surrounding his efforts to pass the Civil Rights bill in Congress. Barriers justified other barriers. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is often seen as the first major law to restrict immigration in the United States. The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties.
That if any citizen of the United States, or other person amenable to the laws of the United States shall take, or cause to be taken or transported, to or from the United States any subject of China, Japan, or any Oriental country, without their free and voluntary consent, for the purpose of holding them to a term of service, such citizen or other person shall be liable to be indicted therefore, and, on conviction of such offense, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars and be imprisoned not exceeding one year; and all contracts and agreements for a term of service of such persons in the United States, whether made in advance or in pursuance of such illegal importation, and whether such importation shall have been in American or other vessels, are hereby declared void. Act of October 19, 1888 25 Statutes-at-Large 566 First measure since the Aliens Act of 1798 to provide for expulsion of aliensâdirected the return within one year after entry of any immigrant who had landed in violation of the contract labor laws see acts of February 26, 1885 and February 23, 1887. Do you go to the United States for the purposes of prostitution? In setting a precedent for discriminating against a specific group of immigrants, the Page Act and the Chinese Exclusion Act paved the way for other discriminatory immigration policiesthat placed quotas on certain ethnic groupsand prohibited the entry of individuals with mental disorders, physical disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ community. Amended in February 1887 24 Statutes-at-Large 414 to render it enforceable by charging the Secretary of the Treasury with enforcement of the act and providing that prohibited persons be sent back on arrival. New York: State University of New York Press.
The Page Act of 1875: In the Name of Morality by Ming M. Zhu :: SSRN
The earliest known Chinese woman to immigrate to America, Afong Moy , arrived in New York from Guangzhou in 1834. While the Page Act was successful in stemming the flow of Chinese women into the U. The Civil Rights Act of 1875: A Failure Reconsidered. U of Minnesota Press. There were no federal laws against prostitution until 1910. But Chinese immigrants were regarded as a bigger threat. Summary of Immigration Laws Summary of Immigration Laws, 1875-1918 Page Act of March 3, 1875 18 Statutes-at-Large 477 Established the policy of direct federal regulation of immigration by prohibiting for the first time entry to undesirable immigrants.
Immigration Act of March 3, 1903 32 Statutes-at-Large 1213 An extensive codification of existing immigration law. April 1904 Act 33 Statutes-at-Large 428 reaffirmed and made permanent the Chinese exclusion laws. In Canada, many Chinese men came to Canada as labourers in the 1800s and early 1900s, but a head tax made it very difficult for them to later bring their families. Includes images of Sumner, personal documents, and bill S. Retrieved November 20, 2012. The Page Act is thus an early example of legislation purposefully couched in the name of morality in order to avoid legal or political backlash. But the comments of the bill sponsors and supporters suggest otherwise.
