May 6, 1882 Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act over the Veto of President Garfield. Chinese immigration would essentially be shut off for the next sixty years.
September 2, 1885 Rioters attack and set fire to Chinatown in Rock Springs, Wyoming, killing 28 Chinese miners. The "Rock Springs Massacre" resulted from mounting anti-Chinese sentiment over their role as cheap labor and as strikebreakers.
February 23, 1905 The San Francisco Chronicle front page headline reads: "The Japanese Invasion: The Problem of the Hour." This launches an unrelenting string of editorials against the Japanese which serve to kick the anti-Japanese movement into high gear.
May 14, 1905 The Asiatic Exclusion League is formed in San Francisco, marking the official beginning of the anti-Japanese movement.
Japanese emigrating to the US have traditionally encountered discrimination. As the Congressional act of 1790 demonstrates, immigrants of Asian heritage were not even allowed American citizenship.
Some of the first Japanese immigrants to the US faced tremendous economic hardships. In the early 1850s, Japan was experiencing a depression, forcing many Japanese to emigrate to the United States. Most arrived with little financial support, and often had to settle for grueling, backbreaking work in farming, building railways, factories, canneries, or nurseries.
Being new to the US and speaking little or no English, these workers were often exploited, made to work for less money, and in conditions unacceptable to most Americans.
Stereotypes concerning the Japanese as well as cultural and language barriers led to many misperceptions of the Japanese. These stereotypes and misperceptions eventually led to inaccurate beliefs on the part of American citizens that the Japanese were "invading" or "stealing" away jobs and land, further exacerbating strained relations between these two communities.
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