[12] Burnett was a proponent of the state's exclusionary policies towards foreign miners, and in particular Chinese ones (he would later support the Chinese Exclusion Act, and also pushed for blacks to leave the state of California or face public flogging).
[13][14] The Act was signed into law by Governor Peter Hardeman Burnett on Saturday, April 13, 1850.
They were chased by a volunteer militia comprising about 500 tax collectors and Anglo miners.
[15] Unlike his predecessor and successor, McDougall had a favorable view of Chinese immigration, and saw it as a way to cope with California's labor shortage, proposing to employ Chinese immigrants in projects to reclaim swamps and flooded lands.
[2][6][8] A new Foreign Miners' License Tax was introduced in 1852 under Governor John Bigler, who, like Burnett (but unlike McDougal) was not friendly to Chinese immigration.