|
| 1835 |
U.S. &
China sign first treaty. |
| 1850 |
California imposes Foreign
Miner's Tax, enforcing it mainly against Chinese miners who often have to pay more than
once. |
| 1852 |
Chinese people first
appear in court in California. |
| 1854 |
People v. Hall rules that Chinese
people can't give testimony in court. |
| 1858 |
California passes a
law to bar entry of Chinese and "Mongolian" people. |
| 1862 |
California imposes a "police
tax" of $2.50 a month on every Chinese person. |
| 1868 |
U.S. & China sign
Burlingame-Seward Treaty recognizing rights of their citizens to emigrate. |
| 1870 |
California passes a law against
the importation of Chinese, Japanese & "Mongolian" women for prostitution. |
| 1872 |
California's Civil
Procedure Code drops law barring Chinese court testimony. |
| 1875 |
Page Law bars entry of Chinese,
Japanese & "Mongolian" prostitutes, felons & contract laborers. |
| 1878 |
In re Ah Yup rules
Chinese persons not eligible for naturalized citizenship. |
| 1879 |
California's second Constitution
prevents municipalities & corporations from employing Chinese individuals. California
State Legislature passes law requiring all incorporated towns & cities to remove
Chinese persons outside of city limits, but U.S. Circuit Court declares the law
unconstitutional. |
| 1880 |
U.S. & China sign
treaty giving the U.S. the right to limit but "not absolutely prohibit" Chinese
immigration. |
| 1882 |
Chinese Exclusion Law suspends
immigration of laborers for 10 years. |
| 1884 |
Chinese Exclusion Law
amended to require a certificate as the only permissible evidence for reentry. |
| 1888 |
Scott Act renders 20,000 Chinese
reentry certificates null & void. |
| 1889 |
Chae Chan Ping v. U.S.
upholds constitutionality of Chinese exclusion laws. |
| 1892 |
Geary Law renews exclusion of
Chinese laborers for another 10 years & requires all Chinese individuals to register.
Fong Yue Ting v. U.S. upholds constitutionality of Geary Law. |
| 1898 |
Wong Kim Ark v. U.S.
decides that Chinese individuals born in the U.S. can't be stripped of their citizenship. |
| 1902 |
Chinese exclusion extended for
another 10 years. |
| 1904 |
Chinese exclusion made
indefinite & applicable to U.S. insular possessions. |
| 1905 |
Section 60 of California's Civil
Code amended to forbid marriage between whites & "Mongolians." |
| 1913 |
California passes
Alien Land Law prohibiting "aliens ineligible to citizenship" from buying land
or leasing it for longer than three years. |
| 1917 |
Arizona passes an Alien Land Law. |
| 1918 |
Servicemen of Asian
ancestry who served in American Armed Forces during World War I receive right of
naturalization. |
| 1921 |
Washington & Louisiana pass
Alien Land Laws. |
| 1922 |
New Mexico passes an
Alien Land Law. Cable Act declares that any American female citizen who marries "an
alien ineligible to citizenship" would lose her citizenship. |
| 1923 |
Idaho, Montana & Oregon pass
Alien Land Laws. |
| 1924 |
Immigration Act denies
entry to virtually all Asians. |
| 1931 |
Amendment to Cable Act declares
that no American-born woman who loses her citizenship by marrying an alien ineligible for
citizenship can be denied the right of naturalization at a later date. |
| 1943 |
Congress repeals all
Chinese exclusion laws, grants right of naturalization & a small immigration quota to
Chinese. |
| 1947 |
Amendment to 1945 War Brides Act
allows Chinese-American veterans to bring brides into the U.S. |
| 1949 |
5,000 highly educated
Chinese people in the U.S. granted refugee status after China institutes a Communist
government. |
| 1956 |
California repeals its Alien Land
Laws. |
| 1965 |
Immigration Law
abolishes "national origins" as basis for allocating immigration quotas to
various countries. Asian countries are now on equal footing. |
| 1979 |
Resumption of diplomatic
relations between the People's Republic of China & the United States of America
reunites many members of long-separated Chinese-American families. |
