Table 1.

Overview of Chinese Americans History Timeline.

1830	The first U.S. Census notation recorded three Chinese living in the United States.
1849	During the California Gold Rush, Chinese arrived in California in large numbers.
1858	California legally prohibited Chinese immigration.
1869	First transcontinental railroad was completed with a workforce of over 80% of Chinese workers.
1870	Congress passed the Naturalization Act, barring Chinese from obtaining U.S. citizenship. Anti-Chinese sentiment along the Pacific Coast dispersed Chinese immigrants to the Midwestern and Eastern states, bringing the first Chinese to Chicago.
1871	The Chinese Massacre in LA occurred where Chinese residents in Chinatown were robbed and murdered by a racially motivated mob.
1880	Anti-Chinese riots spread throughout the West and led to racially motivated violence and massacres. The Chicago Chinese Community began to form in the downtown loop area, near W. Van Buren and S. Clark street.
1882	The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. A significant restriction on free immigration in U.S. history, the Exclusion Act outlawed all Chinese immigration to the United States and denied citizenship to those already settled in the country.
1898	United States versus Wong Kim Ark: this was a Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled everyone born in the United States is a U.S. citizen.
1900	Chinese Exclusion Act was renewed and extended indefinitely.
1912	In Chicago, due to the increasing rent prices and racial discrimination, the majority of Chinese moved to the near south side of Chicago. A new Chinatown located near Wentworth and Cermak roads was established.
1925	Chinese wives of American citizens were denied entry.
1943	The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed. A second wave of Chinese immigrants arrived, seeking economic opportunity and reuniting with families.
1952	Groups of Mandarin-speaking professionals settled in the suburban areas of Chicago after the revolution in mainland China.
1965	The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 increased the quota of immigrants from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
1975	More than 130,000 refugees from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and China entered the United States through the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act. A large number of ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos settled down in the uptown Argyle Neighborhood after the conclusion of the Vietnam War.
1989	Tiananmen Square protests occurred. An executive order was issued to allow mainland Chinese scholars, students, and families to permanently remain in the United States.
1990	The 1990 Immigration Act increased the total immigration to the United States and increased visa quotas by 40%. Family reunification continued as a main immigration focus. Increasing numbers of people in China could afford to study abroad, and an increasing number of Chinese young professionals came to study and work in Chicago.
2012	With the passage of Senate and House resolution, the Congress issued a formal apology for the Chinese Exclusion Act. In Chicago, Chinatown celebrates its Centennial Anniversary.