Capitation tax on Chinese immigrants
Capitation tax on Chinese immigrants refers to a specific tax levied on individuals, particularly targeting Chinese laborers, in California during the mid-19th century. These taxes emerged in a context marked by significant anti-Chinese sentiment, where Chinese immigrants, often derogatorily referred to as "coolies," faced various discriminatory laws and financial burdens. The first notable capitation tax was imposed in 1855, requiring a payment of fifty dollars from every Chinese immigrant, followed by additional taxes such as the Chinese Police Tax in 1862.
Legal challenges arose as Chinese immigrants, including laborer Lin Sing, sought to contest these taxes in court. California's state supreme court eventually ruled these taxes unconstitutional, citing violations of the U.S. Constitution’s foreign commerce clause. Despite these rulings, discriminatory practices persisted, reflecting deep-seated racial biases and xenophobia of the era. The legacy of such taxation highlights the struggles faced by Chinese communities and the broader systemic discrimination that influenced immigration policies and societal attitudes in the United States, notably leading to further restrictions like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Understanding this historical context reveals the ongoing impact of racism and the legal battles fought by marginalized groups in the face of prejudice.
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Subject Terms
Capitation tax on Chinese immigrants
DEFINITION: Head taxes levied on Chinese immigrants and laborers by the state of California
ALSO KNOWN AS: Chinese Police Tax; Passenger taxes
SIGNIFICANCE: During the 1850s and 1860s, the state of California singled out Chinese immigrants for capitation taxes, which were assessed on individual immigrants. California’s state supreme court subsequently declared these taxes unconstitutional as interfering with foreign commerce.
In 1849, the first Chinese laborers arrived in California, where they encountered great local resentment. Known derogatorily as “coolies,” they were subjected to various discriminatory laws. In 1852, for example, California imposed foreign miner’s licensing fees of three dollars per month on Chinese gold miners. Over the next two decades, this fee was steadily increased until it was ruled unconstitutional in 1870. In 1855, a capitation tax of fifty dollars was imposed on every Chinese immigrant to California. Also known as a head tax, a capitation tax is a direct tax on a person instead of a tax on income, merchandise, or an economic transaction.
In the 1857 case of People v. Downer, California’s state supreme court held the 1855 capitation tax unconstitutional because it intruded with the exclusive power of the United States (US) Congress to regulate commerce with foreign nations that was delegated to it by the US Constitution. California responded in 1862 by enacting a law designed to “protect free white labor against competition with Chinese coolie labor, and discourage the immigration of Chinese into the State of California.” This new act levied a monthly $2.50 capitation tax on Chinese workers and merchants called the Chinese Police Tax.
In June 1862, a Chinese laborer named Lin Sing brought suit against the San Francisco tax collector Washburn for a refund of the capitation taxes he had paid for the previous two months. After a magistrate and local court ruled against him, Lin Sing appealed to the state supreme court in what was a concerted effort by the state’s Chinese community to resist discrimination. In its July 1862, ruling in Lin Sing v. Washburn, California’s supreme court ruled the 1862 capitation tax unconstitutional. Citing its own People v. Downer precedent, the court found that the 1862 law demonstrated “special and extreme hostility to the Chinese.” Likewise, it violated the foreign commerce powers exclusively vested in the US Congress. The famous future US Supreme Court justice Stephen J. Field dissented from the decision.
The history of these capitation tax cases demonstrates several things. The great hostility to the Chinese in California immediately expressed itself in a host of discriminatory laws and taxes. The Chinese community made recourse to the courts to fight this discrimination. California’s supreme court showed itself sympathetic to the lawsuits and interpreted the foreign commerce clause of the US Constitution in the most expansive manner to void discriminatory taxes. Although racial discrimination at the time was not illegal, the court behaved in a far-sighted manner by linking hostility against a particular ethnic group to other constitutional violations. Nevertheless, California continued to enact discriminatory laws against the Chinese, many of which were beyond attack under the contemporary ideals of jurisprudence. In addition, as the federal government assumed exclusive control over immigration during the 1880s, it enacted its own discriminatory laws, including the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, designed to stop Chinese immigration to the US.
The legacy of the capitation tax is in displaying the general attitude of racial stereotypes and xenophobia present in the US during the nineteenth century. These societal beliefs and legislation fostered an atmosphere of marginalization and discrimination against Chinese communities that lingered into the twentieth century as well. Understanding the capitation tax on Chinese immigrants provides insight into the social and legal challenges many immigrant groups faced in the nineteenth-century US.
Bibliography
"Chinese Immigration Restriction." Federal Judicial Center, www.fjc.gov/history/spotlight-judicial-history/chinese-immigration-restriction. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.
In Search of Equality. The Chinese Struggle Against Inequality in Nineteenth-Century America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
Kanazawa, Mark. "Immigration, Exclusion, and Taxation: Anti-Chinese Legislation in Gold Rush California." The Journal of Economic History, vol. 65, no. 3, 2005, pp. 779–805.
McClain, Charles. Chinese Immigrants and American Law. New York: Garland, 1994.
Motomura, Hiroshi. Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Sandmeyer, Elmer Clarence. The Anti-Chinese Movement in California. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1991.