| 1790 | Naturalization | Naturalization rights limited to “any alien, being a free white person” |
| 1842 | China | Treaty of Nanking yields Hong Kong to the British and enforces the right to sell opium |
| 1848 | California | Gold discovered in Coloma |
| 1850 | California | California becomes the 31st state |
| 1850 | Miscegenation | California bans all marriages “of whites with negros or mulattoes” |
| 1850 | China | Start of the 16 year Taiping Rebellion, a civil war displacing 30m people and killing 20- 30m (equivalent to WWI) |
| 1854 | California | CA Supreme Court rules Chinese legal testimony inadmissible in court (People v. Hall) |
| 1858 | California | “An Act to prevent the further immigration of Chinese or Mongolians to this State” |
| – found unconstitutional 1860; repealed 1955 | ||
| 1862 | California | “An Act to protect Free White Labor against competition with Chinese Coolie Labor, and to discourage the Immigration of the Chinese into the State of California” |
| – found unconstitutional 1862 | ||
| 1864 | Displacement | “The moon-eyed inhabitants of Chinatown have, since the late frequent attempts to burn them out, taken up their line of march across Mormon Slough…” (Stockton Independent VI.90 1864-05-14) |
| 1868 | US Citizenship | 14th Amendment to the Constitution |
| – “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” | ||
| 1869 | Immigration | Burlingame Treaty with China: immigration allowed “for purposes of curiosity, trade, or as permanent residents” |
| 1870 | Naturalization | Naturalization rights limited to any alien, “aliens being free white persons and to aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent” |
| 1871 | Displacement | Los Angeles Massacre: 15 Chinese lynched, 3 more shot. Largest lynching in US history, no defendants served time |
| 1873 | Displacement | Knights Ferry Chinatown burns |
| – “The fire was doubtless the work of an incendiary as two men were seen coming away from the barn at the same time the flames were noticed bursting forth…. The flames spread west along the south side of Chinatown, consuming twenty or thirty Chinese houses.” (Stockton Independent XXIV.141 1873-07-15) | ||
| 1875 | Immigration | Page Act: effectively prohibits the immigration of Chinese women |
| 1876 | Displacement | Antioch Chinatown burned |
| – “…nothing occurred to disturb the serenity of the Sabbath until about 8 o’clock in the evening, and it was soon apparent that action had been taken. Chinatown was on fire, and a crowd of curious onlookers assembled together with the fire company…. How the fire started no one knows. To-day the remaining buildings have been removed, and Antioch is now free of this disreputable class.” (Sacramento Daily Union 2.61 1876-05- 02) | ||
| 1876 | Displacement | “An attempt was made Saturday morning to fire Chinatown in San Diego, but it failed.” (Marysville Daily Appeal XXXIII.143 1876-06-16) |
| 1876 | Displacement | “From the Plumas National we learn that an anti-Chinese meeting was held at Gibsonville one day recently, ending in Chinatown being destroyed by fire.” (Oakland Tribune 9.694 1876-06-06) |
| 1877 | California | The Workingman’s Party of California formed in San Francisco under the slogan “The Chinese must go!” |
| 1878 | Berkeley | Charter establishing the City of Berkeley, led by the Workingman’s Party |
| 1878 | Naturalization | Federal Circuit Court in San Francisco rules that Chinese are ineligible for naturalization |
| 1878 | Displacement | Reno Chinatown burned |
| – “It is reported that three white men went into a China house and picked up a row. One of the white men shot a Chinaman through the breast and a Chinawoman through the head, then kicked over a lamp, setting the buildings on fire.” (Sacramento Daily Union 7.141 1878-08-05) | ||
| 1879 | Property Law | California limits the ownership of land to aliens who are of “the white race or of African descent” |
| 1879 | California | California Constitution “Article XIX: Chinese” |
| – “No corporation now existing or hereafter formed under the laws of this State, shall, after the adoption of this ConstitutIon, employ directly or indirectly, in any capacity, any Chinese or Mongolian.” | ||
| – “No Chinese shall be employed in any State, county, municipal, or other public work, except in punishment for crime.” | ||
| – repealed by vote 73 years later in 1952 | ||
| 1879 | Berkeley | Berkeley’s Standard Soap Company declares intent to fire all Chinese workers |
| 1880 | California | CA Article XIX found in conflict with the Burlingame Treaty and the 14th Amendment (In re Tiburcio Parrott, US Circuit Court 1880-03-22) |
| 1880 | Berkeley | Explosion of Giant Powder dynamite plant: “at least nine white persons and sixteen Chinamen were killed” (Daily Alta California 32.10960 1880-04-17) |
| 1881 | Berkeley | “The Health Officer has notified Mr. Piota about wash house nuisance on his premises.” (Oakland Tribune 18.258 1881-10-31) |
| 1882 | US Immigration | Chinese Exclusion Act (required renegotiating the Burlingame Treaty) |
| – 10 year immigration moratorium | ||
| – forbids any court from granting citizenship to any Chinese person | ||
| – repealed 61 years later in 1943 | ||
| 1882 | Berkeley | “On Thursday night, says the Berkeley Advocate, a body of citizens in the neighborhood of West St and University Avenue waited upon the Chinese laundry on Pioda’s property, and gave the proprietor four days to vacate the premises and locate elsewhere.” (Oakland Tribune 19.90 1882-04-18) |
| 1884 | US Law | Chinese (and non-Christian immigrants) can testify in court (New Mexico v. Yee Shun) |
| 1885 | Displacement | Eureka forces out all 400 Chinese residents and deports them to San Francisco |
| – “Thirty-six years ago yesterday, Chinatown here was no more because the citizens of Eureka decreed that the celestials should leave for good and all.” (Humboldt Times LXXV.249 1921-02-09) | ||
| 1886 | Berkeley | – “An Anti-Chinese League has been formed in Berkeley with a membership of fifty nine. Mr. Colby is President.” (Daily Alta California 40.13345 1886-03-11) |
| – Berkeley’s Standard Soap Company announces it has fired all Chinese workers | ||
| 1887 | Displacement | San Jose’s Chinatown condemned, then burns |
| – “The energy and courage displayed by the Mayor and the members of the Council in the prompt condemnation of Chinatown have exceeded the most sanguine expectations…. The coolies and their friends will no doubt fight hard and use all kinds of legal technicalities, but in this case the devil should be fought with fire.” (San Jose Herald XLII.57 1887-03-09) | ||
| – “A well known fireman says that he was one of the first men at the fire and when he arrived flames were issuing from three different points in wooden Chinatown, as if an incendiary had been at work.” (San Jose Herald XLL.106 1887-05-05) | ||
| 1890 | Displacement | Humboldt County Business Directory claims to be “only county in the State containing no Chinamen” |
| 1891 | California | “An Act to prohibit the the coming of Chinese persons into the State, whether subjects of the Chinese Empire or otherwise” |
| – found unconstitutional 1894 | ||
| 1892 | Immigration | Geary Act extends the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act |
| 1892 | Berkeley | Explosion of Giant Powder dynamite plant: “it is believed that four missing Chinese are also dead” |
| – “Of the 145 persons usually employed at the works by far the larger proportion are Chinese, and the explosion fairly crushed the life and spirit out of the wretched coolies. About a dozen of them were induced to go to work rescuing carboys of acid from a burning shed, but the greater number went out on the swamp, as far as possible from the works, and sat down there like the damned ones in Dante’s Inferno.” (SF Call 77.40) | ||
| 1898 | Citizenship | US Supreme court decision (United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649) confirmed 14th amendment citizenship rights to Chinese born on US soil |
| 1899 | Berkeley | Laundry ordinance declared invalid (People v. Ah Foon) (SF Call 86.81 1899-08-20) |
| 1900 | China | Boxer Rebellion: uprising to drive all foreigners from China |
| 1902 | Immigration | Geary Act made permanent |
| 1904 | Displacement | “Fire Destroys Alvarado’s Chinatown / White Inhabitants Succeed In Confining Flames to District and They Will Not Allow It Rebuilt” (LA Herald XXXI.307) |
| 1905 | Miscegenation | California extends the ban: “All marriages of white persons with Negros, Mongolians, or mulattoes are illegal and void.” |
| 1906 | San Francisco | Great Earthquake and Fire |
| – many Chinese move to Oakland, Stockton, Monterey | ||
| – proposal to annex SF Chinatown and build “Oriental City” at Hunters Point | ||
| – Government of Imperial China intervenes and proposal is dropped | ||
| 1906 | Displacement | Monterey’s Chinatown burns |
| – “The burning of Chinatown Wednesday night was evidently of incendiary origin… Someone cut the water main during the fire and this shut off the meager supply of water completely…. The residents of Pacific Grove and Monterey have been trying for years to have the town removed…” (Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel, 51.52) | ||
| 1906 | Displacement | Santa Ana’s Chinatown legally condemned, then burned |
| – “Santa Ana is rapidly approaching the thirtieth anniversary of its great municipal bonfire. And what a fire! … And everyone for miles around came to see the show.” (Santa Ana Journal 1.307 1936-04-27) | ||
| 1907 | Berkeley | “Chinese And His White Bride Invade Berkeley” (SF Call 102.19 1907-06-19) |
| 1908 | Displacement | Reno’s Chinatown legally condemned, then razed |
| – “Because their houses had been declared unsanitary by the grand jury, about a hundred Chinamen of Reno were made homeless today when shacks in which they had lived were torn down, under direction of City officials.” (San Bernardino Sun 29.57 1908-11-03) | ||
| 1908 | Immigration | Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program paid for students from China to be educated in the United States |
| 1912 | China | Republic of China proclaimed, ending the Qing dynasty and 2000 years of Imperial rule |
| 1913 | Property Law | California’s Alien Land Law prohibits “aliens ineligible for citizenship” from owning agricultural land |
| – invalidated 1952 | ||
| 1916 | Berkeley | Comprehensive zoning ordinance providing “protection against invasion of Negroes and Asiatics” (California Real Estate VI.5, 1926-02) |
| 1917 | Property Law | Supreme Court rules that race-based zoning is unconstitutional |
| 1917 | Immigration | Immigration banned from “Asiatic Barred Zone” (Japan and Philippines exempt) |
| 1918 | Property Law | Native-born children can hold title to property purchased by their (non-citizen) parents (California v. Harada) |
| 1920 | Berkeley | “Mayor Louis Bartlett of Berkeley … told of the zoning ordinance being made voluntary with property owners in his city … necessity of legal building restrictions in making cities beautiful” (Daily News Leader VII.262 1920-11-10) |
| 1924 | Immigration | Asian Exclusion Act |
| – explicit racial quotas | ||
| – bans all immigrants who cannot legally become citizens | ||
| 1925 | Naturalization | Naturalization exclusion applies to US veterans: “a person of the Japanese race may not be naturalized” (Hidemitsu Toyota v. United States) |
| 1935 | Naturalization | Alien Veteran Naturalization Act: naturalization of Asian WWI veterans |
| 1940 | Berkeley | Census reports 1885 residents of “other races” (2.2%) |
| 1941 | WWII | Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; US and China officially join the Allies |
| 1942 | Displacement | Executive Order 9066: forced internment of Japanese aliens and citizens alike |
| 1942 | Berkeley | Approximately 1300 Berkeley residents of Japanese ancestry evicted |
| 1943 | Immigration | Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 repealed |
| – Chinese still subject to racial quotas of the 1924 Asian Exclusion Act (~100 people per year) | ||
| 1948 | Property Law | Supreme Court rules that enforcement of racially-restrictive covenants is unconstitu tional (Shelley v. Kraemer) |
| 1948 | Miscegenation | California’s Miscegenation law struck down (Perez v. Sharp) |
| – by 1955, 1.2% of California marriages were interracial | ||
| – by 2015, 26% of Bay Area marriages were interracial | ||
| 1949 | China | Mao Zedong proclaims the People’s Republic of China, and victory over the Kuomintang |
| 1950 | Berkeley | Census reports 2147 Japanese (1.9%) / 1689 Chinese (1.5%) residents |
| 1952 | California | Constitution Article XIX repealed by popular vote: CA Prop 14, 77% yes / 23% no. |
| 1952 | Property Law | California Alien Land Laws invalidated (Fujii v. California) |
| 1952 | Naturalization | Abolished the “alien ineligible to citizenship” category from US immigration law |
| 1960 | Berkeley | Census reports 3665 Japanese (3.3%) / 2678 Chinese (2.4%) residents |
| 1965 | Immigration | Immigration and Nationality Act restructures the 1924 racial quotas |
| 1966 | Miscegenation | Remaining US miscegenation laws overturned (Virginia v. Loving) |
| 1968 | Property Law | Federal Fair Housing Acts: outlaws redlining and racially-restrictive covenants |
| 1968 | Berkeley | Formation of Asian American Political Alliance |
| 1968 | Berkeley | Berkeley Unified School District integrates elementary schools with busing program |
| 1970 | Berkeley | Berkeley Unified School District initiates Chinese Bicultural elementary school class |
| 1970 | Berkeley | Census reports 4035 Chinese (3.5%) / 3417 Japanese (2.9%) residents |
| 1972 | China | President Nixon visits the People’s Republic of China |
| 1973 | Berkeley | First Asian American member of Berkeley City Council, Ying Lee |
| 1978 | China | Reform and Open-door Policy under guidance of Deng Xiaoping eases immigration for people of China |
| 1980 | Berkeley | Census reports 4479 Chinese (4.3%) / 3195 Japanese (3.1%) residents |
| 2009 | California | California elects first Chinese representative, Judy Chu |
| 2021 | Displacement | Antioch is the first California city to officially apologize for forced displacements and burning of its Chinatown. |
| – followed by official statements from San Jose, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Ana |
BHSM Online Exhibits 