초기 중국이민의 교섭과 조약의 체결

The Negotiations and The Treaty on Early Chinese Immigration

The demand for labor, on the heels of the discovery of a gold mine in 1848 and the transpacific railway construction in 1865, led to the increase in the number of Chinese immigrants. The Burlingame Treaty in 1868 was hailed by the American government as the demand for labor and trade soared. In 1870 s, however, the soaring unemployment rate and the wage cut, fueled by the drastic increase in the number of Chinese immigrants and the sluggish economy, had been a major issue As a result, Californians started to shift the blame to Chinese Immigration, tying to discriminate, restrict and oppose their immigration. The Burlingame Treaty resulted in the unexpected boost in Chinese immigration and other related problems, therefore flustering the American government. Since they were clearly aware that The Burlingame Treaty was a stumbling block to a number of regulations that were meant to discriminate, restrict and oppose the immigration, the working-class population in the West coast insisted that the treaty be either abolished or revised. This eventually led to a newly revised Burlingame Treaty mediated by the Angell Committee in 1880. Unlike other treaties and agreements, the 1868 Burlingame Treaty was based on reciprocity, however, this agreement also implied a contradicting American policy on China. When the treaty was initially signed, it assured China of free trade and unrestricted Chinese immigration. However, as the agreement turned out to be a major factor creating a number of problems, they eventually passed a bill restricting the immigration like other immigration related regulations in America. Thus, Californians, with the help of the local ordinance, tried to solve the problems caused by Chinese immigration. These attempts were first witnessed at a mining district and they were accepted as a legitimate regulation both by the city and the state. They started to handle this Chinese immigration by levying a poll tax, a mine worker tax, a fisherman tax and a washerman license tax, not to mention the toughened regulations on Chinese immigrants business activities. The State of California even tried to legislate to prohibit further Chinese immigration. The local movements to regulate Chinese immigration were seen through the mass protests, reports and riots, however, the federal government found them all unconstitutional, preventing their official attempts from taking into effect. As these local attempts to discriminate, regulate and restrict the immigration failed, the opposing Californians then appealed to the federal government. This Burlinegame Treaty was not only a major obstacle in controlling the Chinese immigration, but the Chinese workers right to be treated equally in America. However, the opposing groups were guaranteed a full support from the ever-growing labor associations and took advantage of the political turmoil in between the Senate and the House in the late 19th century. As this situation turned the West coast states into a favorable voting constituency, the politicians started to defend the regulations to control the Chinese immigration. Therefore, the opposing groups demanded that the Burlingame Treaty be either abolished or revised and continued their attempts to prohibit Chinese immigration. The Congress then filed a report on this issue and later legislated based on the report. The president of the US initially rejected this bill, but the Republican Party considering various issues sent Angell Committee to China in 1880 in order to revise the agreement, a new treaty between American and China in 1880. The newly revised treaty enabled America to restrict Chinese immigration for a certain period of time on condition that Chinese immigration is clearly against the nation s interest and the public order. Based on this treaty, America places a ban on Chinese immigration in 1882. The Burlingame Treaty managed to serve its purpose of reciprocity in immigration and commerce, however, i