Scott Act (1888)

Scott Act (1888)

Long title	An Act a supplement to an act entitled "An Act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese," approved the sixth day of May eighteen hundred and eighty-two.
Nicknames	Chinese Exclusion Law of 1888
Enacted by	the 50th United States Congress
Effective	October 1, 1888
Citations
Public law	50-1064
Statutes at Large	25 Stat. 504
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 11336 by William Lawrence Scott (D–PA) on July 15, 1888 Passed the Senate on August 8, 1888 (40-3, in lieu of S. 3304) Passed the House on August 20, 1888 (Passed) with amendment House agreed to House amendment on September 13, 1888 (Passed) Signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on October 1, 1888

The Scott Act (1888) was a United States law that prohibited Chinese laborers abroad or who planned future travels from returning. Its main author was William Lawrence Scott of Pennsylvania, and it was signed into law by United States President Grover Cleveland on October 1, 1888. It was introduced to expand upon the Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882 and left an estimated 20,000-30,000 Chinese outside the United States at the time stranded.

History

Bayard-Zhang treaty

Prior to the Scott Act, the governments of the United States and the Great Qing Empire of China had formed the Bayard-Zhang Treaty, whereby the Chinese government would restrict emigration to the United States, and in exchange, the United States government would crack down on discrimination and bad treatment of Chinese in the US.

However, the treaty met with considerable opposition, both in China (particularly Kwangtung province) and among the Chinese in the United States. Due to public pressure, the Chinese government chose not to ratify the treaty. The United States government responded by acting unilaterally to pass the Scott Act.

Supreme Court challenge and upholding

Further information: Chae Chan Ping v. United States

On October 8, 1888, Chae Chan Ping, a Chinese citizen and unskilled laborer working in San Francisco, returned to the US after a trip home to China. He was stopped at the port and denied entry. He challenged the denial and the case reached the Supreme Court. This case, Chae Chan Ping v. United States, was decided on May 13, 1889 in favor of the United States. The Supreme Court decision was an important precedent both for establishing the federal government's discretionary power over immigration and upholding the government's authority to pass and enforce legislation contradictory to the terms of past international treaties (the treaty in question being the Burlingame Treaty of 1868).

See also

• Chinatown, Denver
• Chinese Exclusion
• Chinese American history
• List of United States Immigration Acts
• Chae Chan Ping v. United States
• United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which held that the Chinese Exclusion Act could not overrule the citizenship of those born in the U.S. to Chinese parents