Tag Archives: Chinese Exclusion Act

“I thought I was his wife.” (Chinese Immigration, Part 2)



*This episode discusses child abuse, human trafficking, and prostitution.

A Mui Tsai in San Francisco (image credit: Stanford Special Collections / California State Library)

“I was nineteen when this man came to my mother and said that in America there was a great deal of gold.  Even if I just peeled potatoes there, he told my mother, I would earn seven or eight dollars a day, and if I was willing to do any work at all I would earn lots of money.  He was a laundryman, but said he earned plenty of money.  He was very nice to me, and my mother liked him, so my mother was glad to have me go with him as his wife.  I thought I was his wife, and was very grateful that he was taking me to such a grand, free country, where everyone was rich and happy.”

–Wong Ah So

While Chinese men flocked to “Gold Mountain,” many families in the “Celestial Empire” struggled for survival, and girls were the least valuable members.   Sometimes they were sold away, and ended up in the United States as prostitutes. But they found refuge in organizations like the Women’s Occidental Board of Missions, led by Donaldina Cameron.

Eventually, Chinese men were able to bring their wives, and San Francisco’s Chinatown became a community of families. The demands of home life kept working-class wives very busy. But middle-class Chinese women formed societies that gave them the opportunity to not only socialize, but develop leadership skills, and advocate for issues that were important to them, including suffrage.

Emma Leung and Clara Lee were the first Chinese women to register to vote in the US. (Also pictured, Tom Leung, Dr. Charles Lee, and Deputy County Clerk W.B. Smith)
(image credit: Oakland Tribune November 8, 1911)

Additional Reading:

Tye Leung and Charles Schulze, an Untold Angel Island Love Story

The White Devil’s Daughters: The Women Who Fought Slavery in San Francisco’s Daughters by Julia Siler

Unbound Voices: A Documentary History of Chinese Women in San Francisco, Judy Yung

Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco


“The Chinese were in a pitiable condition …” (Chinese Immigration, Part 1)



Chinese Workers, 1800s
Image credit:  Modesto Art Museum

I ate wind and tasted waves for more than twenty days.

Fortunately, I arrived safely on the American continent.

I thought I could land in a few days.

How was I to know I would become a prisoner suffering in the wooden building?

The barbarians’ abuse is really difficult to take.

When my family’s circumstances stir my emotions, a double stream of tears flows.

I only wish I can land in San Francisco soon,

Thus sparing me this additional sorrow here.”

–Poem inscribed in Angel Island barracks wall

The story of large-scale Chinese immigration to the United States begins in the 1850s. Most came from Guangdong Province, wracked for decades by civil and economic unrest. Gam Saan, or “Gold Mountain,” held the promise of wealth that could enrich an entire village.

When the Gold Rush subsided, Chinese men found work on the Transcontinental Railroad. They would build 90% of the Central Pacific Railroad, laying track in record time. However, while the Chinese were initially heralded for their industry and efficiency, they would become targets of harassment and violence. In 1882, when Chinese immigrants were 0.21% of the population, Congress passed the Exclusion Act. From 1910 to 1940, the Angel Island Immigration Station played an important role in the enforcement of the law. Poems inscribed into the barracks walls give us a glimpse into life for those waiting to learn their fates.

Additional Reading and Listening:

Angel Island Immigration Station (website)

Angel Island Poems read in Toishanese (YouTube)

Building the Transcontinental Railroad by Linda Thompson (for school-age readers)

The Chinese and the Iron Road: Building the Transcontinental Railroad by Gordon Chang

History that Doesn’t Suck Podcast Episode 85

Text of the Chinese Exclusion Act