Territorial Timeline

Territorial Legislature passed a “Memorial to Congress” calling for the exclusion of Chinese laborers from the United States

In reaction to the 1885-86 anti-Chinese riots in Seattle and Tacoma, in 1888 the Territorial Legislature passed a memorial asking Congress to pass a law excluding Chinese laborers from the United States. The memorial stated: “. . . white labor and Chinese labor cannot successfully compete, and such competition must necessarily end in the destruction of white labor and the consequent overthrow of all governments like our Republic. . .”