Anti-Chinese violence in California includes a number of massacres, riots, expulsions and other violent actions that were directed at Chinese American communities in the 19th century.
The Chinese also faced restricted rights in California as few of them spoke English or were U.S. citizens and were forced to live in segregated communities.
[2] Anti-Chinese violence became more prevalent and severe in California in the 1870s, partly as a result of the Long Depression, which many American workers blamed on industrialists using cheaper Chinese labor.
San Francisco, which had the largest Chinese population in the country, was also hit by a major anti-Chinese riot in 1877.
On July 23, 1877, unemployed white workers gathered for a socialist meeting and began attacking Chinese immigrants, killing four, as they blamed them for their economic woes.
[2][4] White gunmen shot and killed four Chinese men in Chico in February 1877 and later unsuccessfully attempted to burn the town's Chinatown to the ground.
In early 1886, white residents began boycotting local merchants who sold any goods to Chinese people.
[8] Anti-Chinese violence continued into 1887, with arsonists targeting a number of Chinatowns across California, including those of Chico, Fresno, and San Jose.
1893 saw a wave of anti Chinese riots in California, partly because of an increase in unemployment due to the Panic of 1893.