The Chinese in British Columbia

In the early 1850's the First Chinese arrived in North America amongst the many other prospectors searching for gold in California and BC

Due to racism the Chinese did not have the same opportunities so most reworked claims formally abandoned by white miners

• By the time gold was fading in 1883 of the 2000 miners left 1500 were Chinese. Many other Chinese had opened stores, restaurants and had farms in BC

CPR• In 1881 there was a shortage of workers for the

CPR so they hired Chinese labourers

• Between 1881-1885, 17,000 Chinese came to work on the railway earning $1.00 per day, providing their own food and lodging

• 600 Chinese workers died during the railway construction

• The railway cheated many Chinese workers as they had been misled by cost of food and equipment which was deducted from their pay

• Forced to abandon dreams of moving back to China and moved to Victoria and Vancouver instead

• Caused an increase in racial tension

• The Asiatic Exclusion League and the Knights of Labour were two groups that openly discriminated against and harassed Asians living in BC

• Many Chinese did hard physical labour

• Were even cheated by the English speaking Chinese contractors that they worked for

• Two of the largest contractors, Loo Gee Wing and Sam Kee each had fortunes of near $ 1,000,000 by 1900

• The Chinese also faced many social discriminations as they were segregated from the white, English speaking immigrants in BC

• In 1885 once the railway was completed a head tax of $50.00 was imposed on Chinese immigrants by the federal government to stop them from coming to Canada

Head Tax• In 1900 Laurier's

government increased the tax to $100.00

• In 1904 increased the tax again to $500.00

• Cut the immigrants coming to Canada from China from several thousand each year to 8 in 1905

• In 1923 The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed banning any immigration from China

• In 1947 the government revokes the Chinese Exclusion Act and give Chinese the right to vote