In the beginning, Chinese miners worked for themselves or labored for other miners. Due to an increase in Chinese immigrants, anti-immigrant feeling permeated mining camps and in 1850, the California legislature passed a Foreign Miners License Law, which charged all non-U.S. citizens $20 per month. The law was repealed the following year, but due to these exorbitant fees, Chinese miners left and created America’s first “Chinatown” in San Francisco.
At the peak of gold rush immigration in 1852, 20,000 Chinese immigrated to California, out of a total of 67,000 people, thus, Chinese immigrants accounted for nearly 30% of all immigrants. In response to the influx of Chinese immigrants, the California legislature passed a new foreign miners’ tax of $4 per month.
