The Geary Act (text)

This is the text of the Geary Act of 1892, a federal law that extended Chinese Exclusion for another ten years and added important additional restrictions.

Representative Thomas J. Geary, a California Democrat, was one of the leading advocates for Chinese Exclusion. This act added several important requirements, including the stipulation that Chinese laborers who already resided in the U.S. apply for and carry on their person certificates of residence to prove their right to be in the U.S. If a law enforcement official found them without their certificate, they would be held without bail and could be deported or forced to serve a year of hard labor. 

U.S. Congress

Michael Geary, "The Geary Act of 1892," Geary Central, http://www.geary.com/The_Geary_Act_of_1892.

1892-05-05

No known copyright restrictions.

.pdf. 60 kb.

eng

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Chinese Exclusion Renewal Debate

This is a transcript of the House of Representatives debate about extending and amending Chinese Exclusion in 1892.

Representative Thomas Geary from California, for whom the Geary Act of 1892 that extended Chinese Exclusion is named, proposed adding several sections to the Chinese Exclusion law, including the requirement that Chinese laborers register for and carry identification certificates. Although the vote on the issue was overwhelmingly in favor, two representatives criticized the changes that treated the Chinese like "dogs". They also argued that Chinese Exclusion violated the U.S.'s treaty with China, and imperiled U.S. foreign relations.

Representative Hitt passionately denounced the registration certificate requirement, arguing that the "old slavery days" had returned, when slaves were required to carry passes with them any time they left their master's property.

U.S. House of Representatives

Chinese Exclusion, 52nd Cong., 1st sess., 1892. Vol. 23, pt. 4. Congressional Record 23 (May 4, 1892): H 3922-3925. 

U.S. Government Printing Office

1892-05-04

Public Domain.

.pdf. 1.2 Mb.

eng

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Hong Sling's letter to the Chinese ambassador

This is a letter written by Hong Sling in 1900 to the Chinese Ambassador in Washington. It was in an attachment from the ambassador to Secretary of State John Hay, Oct. 20, 1900.

Hong Sling details his mistreatment by a Federal marshal when he was traveling in Illinois for business. The registration certificate he refers to was required of all laborers under the Geary Act of 1892; although as Sling states, it was optional for merchants like him. Sling describes how the exclusion laws were affecting other merchants, and he hopes that the ambassador will intercede on their behalf.

General Oliver Otis Howard also described this incident in his testimony at the U.S. Senate in 1902.

Hong Sling

National Archives and Records Administration: RG 85 (INS), Segregated Chinese records, general correspondence, Box 16, file 2150.

1900-10-13

Public Domain.

General Oliver Otis Howard's Senate testimony from 1902.

.pdf, 4.7 mb.

eng

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General Howard's Senate Testimony

This source is an excerpt of Senate Testimony concerning the renewal of Chinese Exclusion in 1902.

This source includes the Senate Testimony of General Oliver Otis Howard in which he calls treatment of the Chinese "un-American" and he specifically sites the maltreatment of Hong Sling. General Howard served as a Union general during the Civil War, was a commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau after the war, and helped found Howard University that is named for him.

U.S. Congress

Google Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=zhJUAAAAIAAJ

Government Printing Office

1902-03-17

Public Domain.

.pdf. 60 kb.

eng

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