This pamphlet by Tso-Chien Shen provides a comprehensive historical analysis of Chinese immigration to the United States and the development of exclusion policies from 1848 to 1942. Shen argues that Chinese exclusion violated treaty obligations, was based on racial discrimination rather than economic necessity, and that the principle of "ineligibility to citizenship" was the fundamental injustice that needed to be addressed for the sake of U.S.-China wartime cooperation. Shen emphasizes the early contributions of Chinese immigrants before the 1880s and traces the development of exclusion in the 1880s. 

Early Contributions (1848-1880s)

• Chinese laborers arrived in California starting in 1848, coinciding with the Gold Rush and California's annexation to the United States
• They played crucial roles in building the transcontinental railroad and reclaiming swamp lands, with one estimate placing their contribution to California's property value at $289,700,000
• Chinese workers were valued for their reliability and work ethic, filling labor shortages that white workers wouldn't accept

Development of Exclusion (1880-1904)

• Anti-Chinese sentiment was driven more by racial prejudice and political opportunism than genuine economic competition, with exclusion laws passed during election years to capture Western state votes
• The Treaty of 1880 allowed the U.S. to restrict Chinese laborers, leading to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and subsequent increasingly harsh legislation
• Treasury Department regulations after 1898 expanded exclusions beyond laborers to include merchants, teachers, and other professional classes not originally covered by treaties