Chinese Exclusion Broadside Analysis

Suggested Teaching Instructions

This activity can be used during a unit on immigration during the late 1800s-early 1900s, specifically a focus on the Chinese Exclusion Act. For grades 7-12. Approximate time needed is 20 minutes.

Direct students to begin the activity individually or in pairs. They should spend a few moments looking at the poster unassisted. Inform students that some key details about what immigrant group the broadside refers to have been hidden.

Students should proceed to answer the questions that follow, which will guide them through the process of document (poster) analysis: Meet the document. Observe its parts. Try to make sense of it. Use it as historical evidence.

After students have analyzed the broadside, ask them to hypothesize which immigrant group is referred to in the document. Share the following contextual information:

From 1882 to 1943, the United States Government severely curtailed immigration from China to the United States. This Federal policy resulted from concern over the large numbers of Chinese who had come to the United States in response to the need for inexpensive labor, especially for construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. Competition with American workers and a growing nativism brought pressure for restrictive action, which began with the Chinese Exclusion Act of May 6, 1882.

This law suspended immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years; permitted those Chinese in the United States as of November 17, 1880, to stay, travel abroad, and return; prohibited the naturalization of Chinese; and created the Section 6 exempt status for teachers, students, merchants, and travelers. These exempt classes would be admitted upon presentation of a certificate from the Chinese government.

Ten years later, the Act to Prohibit the Coming of Chinese Persons into the United States of May 1892, commonly referred to as the Geary Act, allowed Chinese laborers to travel to China and reenter the United States but its provisions were otherwise more restrictive than preceding immigration laws. This Act required Chinese to register and secure a certificate as proof of their right to be in the United States. Imprisonment or deportation were the penalties for those who failed to have the required papers or witnesses. 

Direct students to click on "When You're Done" and answer the following: 

• How does this broadside reflect the attitudes towards Chinese and other Asian immigrants in the late 1800s?
• How does it relate to legislative actions taken by Congress in the late 1800s?

This activity was adapted from "The Chinese Exclusion Act" in the New York City Department of Education's Passport to Social Studies, Grade 8, Unit 2, Lesson 8 (pg. 149-158).