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hANdout oNE

From China to Gold Mountain
From the U.S. Civil War through the midtwentieth century, Chinese immigrants in America
helped mine the gold fields, lay track for the
transcontinentalrailroad, reclaim swamp land, and
perform farm labor—all for meager wages. Early
immigrants from China, most of them single men
from the rural south, were drawn by the promise
of Gam Sann, or “GoldMountain,” as America
was called. The California Gold Rush attracted
thousands of Chinese between 1848 and 1860.
In the late 1860s, when legislation forced them
out of mining, they laid track forthe Central
Pacific Railroad on the transcontinental line.
Their willingness to work—and the low wages
they received—made them targets of anger and
discrimination. In 1882, the Chinese ExclusionAct severely limited immigration from China.
This was the first U.S. immigration law aimed at a
particular ethnic group.
This policy encouraged suffering, bureaucratic
delay, and fraud. Withimmigration of Chinese
nationals curtailed, only a small number were
allowed in legally each year. Children of fathers
from the “exempt” class—such as merchants
and clergy who had already obtainedU.S.
citizenship— were spared these policies. Some
who entered with papers were known as “paper
sons” and “paper daughters.” They purchased
documentation identifying themselves as children
of U.S.citizens, when in fact they were not.

16 • THE BIG READ

Beginning in 1910, would-be Pacific immigrants,
over 70% of them Chinese, were screened at Angel
Island in San Francisco Bay (likeYing-ying St.
Clair was in The Joy Luck Club). Known as “the
Ellis Island of the West,” Angel Island functioned
as an interrogation center and detention facility
for the federal immigration service.Over the
course of 30 years, Angel Island processed 175,000
immigrants. Many were turned back. Unlike at
Ellis Island, however, many Chinese were detained
for weeks and months, and in several cases...