The Chinese Exclusion Example: Race, Immigration, and American Gatekeeping, 1882–1924

ERIKA LEE

IN 1876, H. N. CLEMENT, a San Francisco lawyer, stood before a California State Senate Committee and sounded the alarm: "The Chinese are upon us. How can we get rid of them? The Chinese are coming. How can we stop them?" Clement's panicked cries and portrayals of Chinese immigration as an evil, "unarmed invasion" were shared by several witnesses before the committee which was charged with investigating the "social, moral, and political effects" of Chinese immigration. Testimony like Clement's was designed to reach a broad audience, and the committee hearings themselves were part of a calculated political attempt to nationalize the question of Chinese immigration. Their efforts proved successful when the United States Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act on 6 May 1882. This law prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers for a period of ten years and barred all Chinese immigrants from naturalized citizenship. Demonstrating the classbias in the law, merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplomats were exempt from exclusion.