Editing Chinese Exclusion Act (section)

== The "Driving Out" period ==
Following the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act, a period known as the "Driving Out" era was born. In this period, [[Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States|anti-Chinese Americans]] physically forced Chinese communities to flee to other areas. Large scale violence in Western states included the [[Rock Springs massacre]] (1885) and the [[Hells Canyon massacre]] (1887).{{sfnb|Pfaelzer|2007}}

=== Rock Springs massacre of 1885 ===
{{Main|Rock Springs massacre}}
The massacre was named for the town where it took place, [[Rock Springs, Wyoming]], in [[Sweetwater County, Wyoming|Sweetwater County]], where white miners were jealous of the Chinese for their employment. White miners expressed their jealous frustration by robbing, bullying, shooting, and stabbing the Chinese in Chinatown. The Chinese tried to flee but many were burned alive in their homes, starved to death in hidden refuge, or exposed to carnivorous animal predators in the mountains. Some were rescued by a passing train, but by the end of the event at least twenty-eight lives had been taken.<ref name="Iris2004">{{Cite book |last=Iris |first=Chang |title=The Chinese in America: a narrative history |publisher=Penguin |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-14-200417-3 |location=New York |orig-year=2003}}{{page needed|date=February 2024}}</ref> In an attempt to appease the situation, the government intervened by sending federal troops to protect the Chinese. However, only compensations for destroyed property were paid. No one was arrested nor held accountable for the atrocities committed during the riot.<ref name="Iris2004" />

=== Hells Canyon massacre of 1887 ===
{{Main|Hells Canyon massacre}}
The massacre was named for the location where it took place, along the [[Snake River]] in [[Hells Canyon]] near the mouth of Deep Creek. The area contained many rocky cliffs and white rapids that together posed significant danger to human safety. 34 Chinese miners were killed at the site. The miners were employed by the Sam Yup company, one of the [[Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association#San Francisco|six largest Chinese companies]] at the time, which worked in this area since October 1886. The actual events are still unclear due to unreliable law enforcement at the time, biased news reporting, and lack of serious official investigations. However, it is speculated that the dead Chinese miners were not victims of natural causes, but rather victims of gun shot wounds during a robbery committed by a gang of seven armed horse thieves.<ref name="Nokes2006">{{Cite journal |last=Nokes |first=R. Gregory |date=Fall 2006 |title=A Most Daring Outrage: Murders at Chinese Massacre Cove, 1887 |url=http://www.ohs.org/research-and-library/oregon-historical-quarterly/upload/Nokes_A-Most-Daring-Outrage_OHQ-Fall-2006_107_3.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly |volume=107 |pages=326–353 |doi=10.1353/ohq.2006.0081 |s2cid=159862696 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070128140548/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ohq/107.3/nokes.html |archive-date=28 January 2007 |access-date=20 March 2007 |number=3}}</ref> Gold worth $4,000–$5,000 was thought to have been stolen from the miners. The gold was never recovered nor further investigated.

==== Aftermath ====
Shortly following the incident, the Sam Yup company of San Francisco hired Lee Loi, who later hired Joseph K. Vincent, then US Commissioner, to lead an investigation. Vincent submitted his investigative report to the Chinese consulate who tried unsuccessfully to obtain justice for the Chinese miners. At around the same time, other compensation reports were also unsuccessfully filed for earlier crimes inflicted on the Chinese. In the end, on October 19, 1888, Congress agreed to greatly under-compensate for the massacre and ignore the claims for the earlier crimes. Even though the amount was greatly underpaid, it was still a small victory to the Chinese who had low expectations for relief or acknowledgement.<ref name="Nokes2006" />

==== Issues of the act ====
The Chinese Exclusion Act created fear and violence within Chinese communities as a result of immigration raids made legal through the Chinese Exclusion Act. During these raids they were at risk of being questioned, detained, or physically or verbally assaulted.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Latourette |first=Kenneth Scott |title=A History of Christian Missions in China |publisher=Macmillan |year=1929 |volume=1 |page=464 |hdl=2027/mdp.39015013161263?urlappend=%3Bseq=484%3Bownerid=13510798893552263-490 |oclc=644675050}}</ref> Targeting the Chinese was a day-to-day risk due to the anti-Chinese sentiment generated through the Chinese Exclusion Act their community was in danger.

An issue with the Chinese Exclusion act is that it established 'gatekeeping ideologies' within the US. Demonstrated through the act's mythological approach to restrict, exclude, and deport those believed to be 'undesirable'. The qualities associated with being 'undesirable' were categorized through individuals' race, gender, and class.{{sfn|Lee|2002}} Purposely excluding those who worked to build America, contribute to their economy, and build a home. This was the first American law 'gatekeeping' the country based on those who were not seen as worthy enough to enter based on race.

Another issue was there were many workarounds that people quickly created to bypass the Chinese Exclusion Act. Chinese women would travel to Canada to get a marriage license in order to reunite with their families.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Israel |first=Jerry |title=America Views China: American Images of China Then and Now |publisher=Lehigh University Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-934223-13-3 |editor-last=Goldstein |editor-first=Jonathan |pages=148–168 |chapter=Carl Crow, Edgar Snow, and Shifting American Journalistic Perceptions of China |editor-last2=Israel |editor-first2=Jerry |editor-last3=Conroy |editor-first3=Hilary |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KuLCCXVebuEC&pg=PA148}}</ref> Men and women would walk across the American border intending to be arrested, to demand to go to court and claim they were born in America through providing a witness of their birth.<ref name="Lo2008">{{Cite journal |last=Lo |first=Shauna |year=2008 |title=Chinese Women Entering New England: Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files, Boston, 1911–1925 |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=383–409 |doi=10.1162/tneq.2008.81.3.383 |jstor=20474653 |s2cid=57569937}}</ref> While the American and Canadian government did discover these workarounds and new laws were created, these methods still were accessible for several years after the exclusion act.