In this letter, James R. Dunn wrote about the use of a poisonous nut in a plot to kill him.
Although a very small number of Chinese immigrants came to the United States prior to 1850, it wasn’t until news of the gold strikes in California reached China that large numbers of Chinese men, eager to earn money, sailed for “Gum San,” or the “gold mountain.” The early Chinese immigrants were begrudgingly accepted by Americans and were not the immediate targets of animosity or violence….the Chinese Exclusion Act, which, when passed in 1882, became the most devastating of all anti-Chinese legislation. It barred Chinese from entering the United States for 10 years, allowing only Chinese merchants, teachers, students, or travelers in, and only under strict regulations. It also required Chinese already residing in the United States to have a permit to reenter the country, and it granted all Chinese permanent alien status; this meant they could not become citizens. The Chinese Exclusion Act was extended two times, once in 1892 for an additional 10 years, and again in 1902 for an indefinite time period. It was finally repealed in 1943. Before the Chinese Exclusion Act the U.S. employed an open door policy for immigrants from all countries. However, once the Exclusion Act was passed, an attitude against foreigners began to develop. This chapter will explore some examples and evidence of attitudes and reactions to this shift in immigration mentality. This document is featured in “The Chinese Exclusion Act: Researching in the National Archives,” available on iBooks.
