why was the 1875 page act introduced?why was the 1875 page act introduced?

What was the purpose of the Selective Service Act? Polygamy, Prostitution, and the Federalization of Immigration Law, Entry Denied: Controlling Sexuality at the Border, Ulysses S. Grant: Seventh Annual Message December 7, 1875, How Trump's 'Shithole Countries' Comment Echoes a Century of American Immigration Policy, The 1921 and 1924 Immigration Acts a Century Later: Roots and Long Shadows. He first mentioned that Mormons in Utah territory were engaged in a scandalous condition of affairs by practicing polygamy. What was the goal of the Emergency Quota Act? Chinese women were subject to this method of identification prior to any other immigrant group because of the "threat of their sexuality to the United States." Contents Chinese Immigration in America Purpose of the Chinese Exclusion Act Geary Act of 1892 Impact of Chinese Exclusion Act Sources The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Instead, discrimination against Chinese women specifically centered on their perceived sexuality. [35] Yet, this is difficult to conclusively prove, especially since Peffer himself noted that the cost of immigration as well as possible bribes paid to American consuls would have created a greater hardship for the "wives of immigrants who possessed limited resources, than for the wealthy tongs" who sent prostitutes to the U.S.[36] Therefore, although the Chinese Exclusion Act was extremely important in transforming the Chinese into a "declining immigrant group, it was the Page Law that exacerbated the problem of life without families in America's Chinatowns". They need to make sure that nobody coming to the United States does so for contract labor or prostitution. Why was the Naturalization Act of 1906 created? Forbidden Families: Emigration Experiences of Chinese Women under the Page Law, 1875-1882 . What is the significance of the Currency Act? Most Chinese women who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s and the 1870s were "second wives, concubines in polygamous marriages, or prostitutes," but not all Chinese women worked as prostitutes. chapter 7 Flashcards | Quizlet This crime can be punished by up to one year of prison and a fine of up to $500. Chinese Exclusion Act: 1882, Definition & Immigrants - HISTORY The Page Act of 1875 was the product of many political factors, including concerns over involuntary servitude, declining wages in the labor market, prostitution, and popular racist stereotypes about people of Asian descent. What was the purpose of the Bantu Self Government Act? Created by thekailynmahaffey Terms in this set (55) Which of the following persons was most likely to be satisfied with the election results during the Gilded Age: A young Republican from Texas How did the federal government collect most of its revenue in the late 1800s? Most scholars also describe the Page Act as an example of lawmaking restraint, as Congress refrained from broader immigration restrictions out of respect for the existing Burlingame Treaty with China . Why was the Manitoba School Act important? Why was the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional? New-York Historical Society Library. The Page Act of 1875 (Sect. What was the purpose of the Volstead Act? The Page Act was supposed to strengthen the ban against "coolie" laborers, by imposing a fine of up to $2,000 and maximum jail sentence of one year upon anyone who tried to bring a person from China, Japan, or any East Asian country to the United States "without their free and voluntary consent, for the purpose of holding them to a term of service". They came to our aid at the time when their aid was invaluable in building the Wests infrastructure. 94123. What was the purpose of the Interstate Commerce Act? I have learned a great deal of the civilization, the manners, the achievements, and the industry of China that I had never known before. This crime can be punished by up to five years of prison and a fine of up to $5,000. All rights reserved. Much of this was due to severe economic and political turmoil in China. Page Act of 1875 - Wikipedia By the late 19th century, after a. The public information office is open from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. PST. Corrections? Part and parcel with this immigration came discrimination along racial and cultural lines, which would result in legislative action by the United States Government in the latter half of the 1800s. Nadal points out that there were no laws targeting immigrant women from European countries. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Their labor is not their own, but the property of capitalists . The Historic New Orleans Collection, acc. The 1848 Public Health Act was the very first law on public health to be passed in the United Kingdom. Poems scratched on the wall at Angel Island identified the medical exams they were forced to undergo as barbarous, humiliating, and discriminatory, says Borja. Furthermore, Atlantic seaboard states such as New York and Massachusetts used state poor laws to prevent some immigrants from settling within their borders before the Civil War. "They were seen as a racial threat to a pure white America. Privately, he stated to former Secretary of the Navy Adolph E. Borie that Tientsin is a more populous city than Shanghai and more repulsively filthy, and wrote to longtime friend Daniel Ammen that it is not a country nor a people calculated to invite the traveler to make a second visit. However, he also expressed to Ammen his admiration for the industry, work ethic, and desire for education among the Chinese people. Peffer . Why was the Act of Union of 1707 important? Factory Act | 1833, Significance, & Facts | Britannica A series of trade restrictions introduced by Britain to impede American trade with France with which Britain was at war (the US contested the . Why was the Revenue Act of 1861 repealed? 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. These laws were based on sexist and stereotypical assumptions about womens morals. [1] [2] Seven years later, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act banned immigration by Chinese men as well. George Anthony . The U.S. Army had been released from the military campaigns of the Civil War. Melvin I. Urofsky is Professor of Law & Public Policy and Professor Emeritus of History at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). 141. Why was the English Bill of Rights written? READ MORE: Building the Transcontinental Railroad: How Chinese Immigrants Made It Happen. Gerhard . Chinese laborers, usually working under extremely poor and or dangerous conditions, were employed in fields from mining to railroad construction, particularly in the expanding West. What was the purpose of the Reclamation Act of 1902? Ulysses S. Grant, Chinese Immigration, and the Page Act of 1875 What is the purpose of the Investment Canada Act? . June 7, 1999. An Act supplementary to the acts in relation to immigration. Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City. [15] Some Chinese men had a wife as well as a concubine, usually a lower class woman obtained through purchase and recognized as a legal member of the family. This fear became concentrated on Chinese women, because some white Americans believed that germs and disease could most easily be transmitted to white men through labor of Chinese prostitutes. Furthermore, while the text maybe have complied with the Burlingame Treaty, the Acts application was a de facto violation of Chinese immigration protections. The Page Act of 1875: In the Name of Morality - ResearchGate Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Why wasn't the Bill of Rights in the Constitution originally? What was England's purpose in the Quebec Act? By 1910, Chinese immigrant men outnumbered women 14:1. 141, 18 Stat. "[31], Most Chinese women who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s and the 1870s were "second wives, concubines in polygamous marriages, or prostitutes," but not all Chinese women worked as prostitutes. Have you engaged in prostitution in either of the above places? What is to be your occupation there? Chinese men during the Civil War era worked in the West as manual laborers in railroad construction, mining, levee building, and factories, among other occupations. The 1875 Page Act was one of the earliest pieces of federal legislation to restrict immigration to the United States. Why was the 1924 Immigration Act necessary? Both European and Asian immigrants came to the United States seeking to improve their economic well being, explains Dr. Melissa May Borja, assistant professor in the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan. If agents suspected that the person had come involuntarily to engage in lewd and immoral purposes while in the U.S., they could be expelled. They were scapegoated. The Page Act significantly reduced the number of Chinese women entering the United States. Chinese women, however, faced discrimination that was not directly connected to work. What was the purpose of the Civil Rights Act? Why was the Civil Rights Act of 1960 created? [34] Not until after World War II was an appropriate sex balance established, because between 1946 and 1952 almost 90% of all Chinese immigrants were women. According to historian George Peffer, "all the evidence suggests that the women who survived this ordeal were most likely the wives of Chinese laborers" because they would have possessed the determination needed to endure the questioning, while importers of prostitutes "might have been reluctant to risk prosecution". As other acts of its class, all called "organic acts," the Arizona Organic Act mandated how the Arizona Territory was to be outlined geographically and governed; it officially separated the. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. "The 1921 and 1924 Immigration Acts a Century Later: Roots and Long Shadows", "Polygamy, Prostitution, and the Federalization of Immigration Law", "Ulysses S. Grant: Seventh Annual Message December 7, 1875", "How Trump's 'Shithole Countries' Comment Echoes a Century of American Immigration Policy", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Page_Act_of_1875&oldid=1154011232. Second, women who enter the country in order to work as prostitutes. One of the reasons why the number of Chinese women immigrating to the U.S. declined after the 1870s is precisely because these women opted not to subject themselves to these kinds of interrogations, Shin says. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in determining whether the immigration of any subject of China, Japan, or any Oriental country, to the United States, is free and voluntary . Many were fleeing the economic consequences of The Opium Wars (1839-42, 1856-60), when the British fought to keep opium trafficking routes open in defiance of Chinas efforts to stop the illegal trade. It outlaws racial discrimination in public accommodations -- hotels, transportation, opera houses . The party was formed during a recession and gave expression to the anger felt against Chinese immigrants on the West Coast who were thought to be undercutting wages.  Chinese women, shopkeepers' wives, in San Francisco, mid-19th century. Finally, the act banned people who had been convicted of felonies in their home country from immigrating to the United States. Why was the Revenue Act of 1935 important? Between 1880 and 1882, over 50,000 men immigrated from China yet only 550 women arrived in the country. [14] Additionally, during difficult times in China, women and girls were sold into "domestic service, concubinage, or prostitution". Eventually, the United States banned nearly all Chinese immigrants from entering the country for ten years due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.