Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 348: Chinatown (6)

"The Chinese Exclusion Act? What does this have to do with a black police chief?" Welbey's mouth turned slightly, showing a disdainful sneer.

"Sir, do you know the details of Manny?" Clay asked in surprise.

"I looked into it a little bit before, after all, you made suggestions to me personally." Welbey lowered his head and continued to sort out the documents in his hand.

The facts are not as understatement as they say in words. Welby’s mouth to investigate a little, in fact, directly used the power at the national level. The new Republican allies worked very hard, and some confidential information came directly from the FBI. .

"The Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States was raised" Welby picked up the water glass from the cup holder.

"I want to hear your personal opinion."

"Is this another inspection? Sir." Clay glanced at the back seat in the rearview mirror.

"Yes, if you think so." Welbe drank the water in the cup, then put the cup back on the cup holder.

California officially joined the Union in 1850. At the time of the first census, there were two residents from China in the records of Los Angeles. They were employees of a merchant family and were the first recorded in the California government. Chinese immigrants in the file.

Following the gold rush and the subsequent Pacific Railway Project, a large number of Chinese entered the United States as labor immigrants.

The status of the Chinese entering the United States has also shown a polarization. In addition to the poor bottom laborers who occupy the majority, there are also some wealthy and powerful businessmen and squires.

China’s sea trade merchants generally lack a sense of security, because the Qing government’s food is really ugly, so you call them "Cunning Rabbit Sanku" or "do not put eggs in a basket", anyway they are very It has long started to deploy overseas, transfer the huge assets accumulated in the sea trade, and spread its branches and leaves locally to continue the family's bloodline and reproduction. Facts have proved that this set is indeed very effective, and it will not appear outdated until the 21st century.

In the early days of the coolie trade, the California government did not exclude Chinese laborers. They needed cheap labor and capital from outside. At that time, any immigrants could apply to become American citizens as long as they met the constitutional standards.

Chinese coolies are cheap, work hard and have a strong learning ability. They only need to go through simple vocational training, and they will soon be able to take over some less complicated technical jobs. This is unmatched by laborers of other races. Soon the Chinese occupied almost 90% of the labor market in North America, especially California.

Because of the differences in language and living customs, Chinese workers like to live together in a community, where they retain their own customs and etiquette in their own country, and even named the streets and alleys in the community in Chinese.

The habit of diligence and thrift developed by poverty all the year round, they are never willing to spend a penny more outside, but choose to store the money they earn and then pass it back to the guild hall.

At the time, almost all coolies kept a whip behind their heads, not because they were so loyal to my Qing Dynasty, but because they would not be dragged out by the government as a chaotic party when they returned to their hometown.

During the construction of the Pacific Railway, Chinese workers accounted for 95% of the total number of workers. At first, the monthly salary of Chinese workers was only 26 US dollars. Although it rose to 35 US dollars per month in the later period, it was still not as good. White workers earn a high salary of fifty yuan a month. Moreover, while white workers provide food and accommodation, Chinese workers also need to pay extra for their own meals, because Chinese workers have their own eating habits and are not used to eating meals cooked by American cooks.

The work of road construction is very dangerous and difficult. During the construction period, thousands of Chinese workers were killed due to various accidents. Therefore, later generations said that under each sleeper of the Pacific Railway, the body of a Chinese coolie was buried.

But for these coolies, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a fortune, because at the exchange rate at the time, they worked hard for a year on the farmland in their hometown and earned only a dozen dollars. (In the Qing Dynasty, the highest exchange rate between silver and the U.S. dollar reached one to 1.07. It was calculated as one U.S. dollar for one tael of customs silver. One tael of customs silver can be exchanged consistently, that is, 1,000 copper coins. Farmers, even if they are planting their own land, after deducting various exorbitant taxes, a monthly income balance of 700 or 800 yuan is considered very good.)

Deduct food and other daily expenses, and pay off the club’s credits and membership fees. If he still cleans himself up and does not gambling, he can save about half of his salary every month, which is more than the family’s previous work for a year. Income.

If you are lucky enough to wait for the two-year agreement, you can probably accumulate three to four hundred dollars in your pocket. This was already a huge sum of money in the eyes of ordinary people at that time, enough for him to return home. Housing land, Guangzong Yaozu, live a nourishing life of small landlords. This is also the reason why people in Guangdong are still eager to work, knowing that the risks of working in Jinshan are huge and countless people have died.

Most coolies did not intend to become permanent immigrants at all. They just regarded the United States as a place to make a fortune. After completing the agreement with the coolies, they returned to their hometown with the money they earned, only a few Some people choose to stay and develop.

In the beginning, the US government's attitude towards Chinese workers was fair, but local officials inevitably took racist superiority thinking. Before 1873, the political status of Chinese in the United States was basically the same as that of Indians. At that time, Chinese, Indians, and blacks were not allowed to testify in any case against whites.

This is the case for legal professionals with higher education. It is completely conceivable how the rural people in the western United States will view the Chinese.

From the perspective of American racists at the time, these little yellow-skinned men could not integrate into American society or become a member of the big American family. They would only take away the jobs of white Americans with low wages. And bring back the wealth that belonged to the white Americans back to a country where they don't know where they are.

The attack on the Chinese actually began in 1860. At that time, the California gold rush was over. A large number of white people who came to California for gold from all over the country stayed there. Many people invested all their property for the gold rush, and even paid Owing to a loan shark, it can be said that he is betting his life.

The depletion of gold mines made a large number of gold prospectors unemployed, and California’s economy also stagnated. At that time, California’s industrial and commercial construction was weak and could not provide enough jobs. So those white laborers who were alone began to target those There are Chinese people who can work.

When the two ethnic groups have no interest entanglement, they can get along in peace, but once a conflict of interest occurs, the weaker party will definitely resist. When it comes to employment, white laborers are on the weaker side, because unless they are willing to accept the same wages as the Chinese, no capitalist will be foolish enough to hire them.

So an anti-China storm began to slowly brew in the white society. In order to cater to and win over white voters, California politicians have also begun further political actions.

In the beginning, California enacted the "Foreign Miners Income Tax Law", which imposed additional taxes on all foreign miners who opened mines. As a result, most Chinese miners could not continue to work and could only make a living by operating laundry shops and restaurants in Chinatown in San Francisco.

In 1877, the first anti-China riot broke out in San Francisco. Four hundred California railroad workers who were furious because of the railway company’s salary cuts tried to burn the entire Chinatown because they thought they were Chinese workers. The low salary has caused this to happen.

Finally, the 30 San Francisco Mounted Police in Chinatown and the "Pick Pickle Brigade" composed of 5,000 San Francisco citizens spontaneously stepped forward to save the Chinese community.

But this is only the beginning of a series of disasters. In 1880, the U.S. federal and California governments successively issued multiple orders against the Chinese. The Fisheries Law prohibits Chinese from participating in any fishing activities. The subsequent Qing-U.S. "Beijing Treaty" restricted the number of Chinese people in the United States and the number of years of residence each year, and the "Civil Procedure Law" of each state clearly stipulates that Chinese must not intermarry with white people. After further interpretation, the legality of marriages between all Chinese and white people was abolished.

California repealed this law in 1948, but the rest of the United States implemented it until 1967, when it was finally terminated by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. Therefore, some Chinese in the Republic of China married white wives or fell in love with white women in the United States. It was completely daydreaming.

The situation developed in 1882 when the notorious Chinese Exclusion Act was introduced under the joint promotion of Democratic and Republican politicians.

The reason why it is notorious is that it is a racially discriminatory bill against a single nation. The content of the bill is not complicated. It boils down to one sentence, preventing Chinese from immigrating to the United States.

The bill prohibits Chinese workers from entering the U.S. territory in any way from any border. After the bill is signed into force, ships carrying coolies to the U.S. will be severely fined from the owner to the captain, and even the Chinese crew on foreign merchant ships will not be allowed U.S. port landing.

Furthermore, after the law comes into force, any Chinese living in the United States will not be allowed to be naturalized and re-enter once they leave the United States.

In addition to the Chinese who have obtained legal identification documents issued by the Manchu Qing government~IndoMTL.com~ including students, teachers, businessmen and government officials, they can be allowed to enter the United States, but they must carry the documents with them so that the US police can always Random inspections.

The Chinese who previously lived in the United States must obtain the guarantee of two U.S. citizens in order to obtain identification documents for legal residence, otherwise they will be deemed to have entered the country illegally and will be deported. This kind of ID was initially issued only to Chinese, and then gradually expanded to all foreign immigrants, and eventually developed into a famous green card.

The prohibition of naturalization of Chinese citizens means that all Chinese who came to the United States after 1882 are not allowed to become U.S. citizens, except for those who were naturalized very early and the children of immigrants born in the United States. .

According to the laws of the United States at the time, the property ownership of foreign immigrants in the United States was not protected, and the Chinese were prohibited from working in government departments and companies, not to mention buying land and setting up businesses in the United States. At the same time, various urban government agencies prohibited the Issue a new business license.

So in the Republic of China, a certain Chinese student or businessman opened a factory in the United States to buy land and dig oil wells to make a fortune in stocks. It was completely wishful thinking, because in the era when the Chinese Exclusion Act came into effect, the Chinese were not in the United States. There may be a chance to get ahead.

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