The Chinese Exclusion Act

The Chinese Exclusion Act explores in detail a unique piece of federal legislation that singled out by name and race a single nationality for special treatment, making it illegal for Chinese labourers to enter America on pain of imprisonment and for Chinese nationals ever to become citizens of the United States. This little known, yet deeply resonant and revealing episode in American history sheds enormous light on key aspects of the history of American civil liberties, immigration and culture.