Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
1-1-2021
JEL Codes
J15, N31, H59
Abstract
After the Civil War, the Democratic party carried an important electoral penalty from being associated with the war. To deal with this penalty, the party took increasingly anti-immigration positions to compete with Republicans. This led some Republican strongholds such as California to become competitive and also forced Republicans to embrace stricter immigration proposals. In this paper, we argue that adopting anti-immigration and raising awareness against immigration made California increasingly competitive in electoral terms. This electoral competitiveness can serve to explain the genesis of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.
Recommended Citation
Vincent Geloso & Linan Peng, 2021. "Postbellum Electoral Politics in California and the Genesis of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882," Working Papers 2021-02, DePauw University, School of Business and Leadership and Department of Economics and Management.