The Exclusion Era
...gnition for their contributions. Many Chinese people also dreamed of moving to Canada or the United States, to improve their lives. Many were told they could find a “gold mountain”, and make a great deal of money. This promise turned out to be false. From 1858 to 1900, it was only single men who came to Canada. They often were indentured, and repaid their fares, after finding a job in Canada. After 1900, the men who came to Canada returned to China to get married. Then, they would return several more times “accompanied by teen-aged relatives, [so] fractional families without women were assembled abroad” (Con et al, 5). In the nineteenth century, the population of China was increasing, and there was continued political instability. This also caused more men to make the move overseas. By the twentieth century, especially after 1907, “Chinese immigration was once again on the upswing” (Con et al. 84), despite a head tax of $500 and an anti-Chinese riot in Vancouver. Chinatowns were established throughout the country, as a way of segregating the Chinese from the mainstream population in cities and towns. Although the Chinese were hard-working people and passionate about Canada, the Canadian government still introduced a statute that would effectively shut down Chinese Immigration into the country. Legal discrimination was enforced to prevent the Chinese population from receiving equal privileges. In 1923, the Chinese Immigration Bill was passed despite group protests from the Chinese Association of Canada among other groups. The bill restricted Chinese immigration into Canada, allowing only four specific classes to enter the country. These classes included merchants, students and diplomats. This bill, later known as the Chinese Exclusion Act (Bill 45), was designed to protect domestic trade benefits and not individual rights. It was difficult for the Chinese society to fight any legal battles against the government. Considered a minority group, the Chinese could not organize any substantial protest over the Act. Due to this passed bill, immigration to Canada from China dwindled for twenty-four years. Husbands and families remain separated, as “Chinese wives and unmarried children were [not] allowed to enter Canada” (Chan and Hagan, 12) until after 1947. Despite the legal inequality faced by the Chinese people, they still were subject to the Canadian law system and sometimes faced stricter punishments. There was always an “historical experience of [legal] repression”, in the Chinese community (64). Economically, the Chinese population was faced with major discrimination. Since the beginning of the immigration craze, Chinese immigrants were brought to Canada for one purpose: cheap labor. They received lower wages and worked in poor and dangerous conditions. At first, most were employed as railway workers and by 1923; many Chinese had established restaurants, laundries, or worked as servants or laborers. Low pay and low social status kept Chinese people economic...