The Chinese in the Mining Camps of California: 1848-1870

Abstract

|TETMsg|URiNG the two years following the announcement of the BhP9 California gold strike in Hong Kong in 1848, the Chinese jj^^li did not emigrate to North America in great numbers. By 1850, however, the Chinese had been attracted sufficiently by the stories of wealth and high wages to accept seriously the idea of coming to California to better their positions. Although in 1850 there were only 6601 Chinese in California, by 1860 the number had increased to 34,933 and by 1870 had reached 49,277.2 Largely from the working classes, the Celestials3 were given, at first, a cordial welcome in San Francisco. By 1852, the reception had become less friendly, especially in the mining areas where the anti-foreign feeling came to be directed primarily against the Chinese. The famous Foreign Miners Tax whs an excellent example of early state discriminatory legislation that attempted to force these Orientals from the mining camps.