Who caused the Chinese Exclusion Act?
Comments: America had become the typical chosen destination of immigrants for its image of a land of plenty, a non-stratified society, and its democracy. This ideal of allowing immigrants to take advantage of these opportunities regardless of their ethnicity ended with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The rationalization for this law was 1st hypothesized by Mary Coolidge on the basis of California racist atmosphere and political pull in Washington. Later it was suggested by Stuart Miller that it was workers that encouraged Chinese exclusion. Gyory suggests neither1of these theses are correct, however the catalyst for the prohibition of Chinese immigration was national politicians who seized and manipulated the issue in an effort to gain votes, while arguing that workers had long demanded Chinese exclusion and would benefit from it. Gyory’s main intention was to exonerate the workingman as being the contingency that caused the Chinese exclusion. This is stated by including union newsp
