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Chinese Exclusion Act: Section 4: Identifying the Legal Laborers Summary

Let's Get Creepy

  • Whenever a shipload of Chinese laborers who were allowed to be in the country leaves, the customs collector has to go make a list of the Chinese laborers on the ship.
  • The list is going to include some normal stuff, like name and age, and some creepy stuff, like distinguishing birthmarks.
  • The customs collector hangs onto the book.
  • A legal Chinese laborer can get a certificate from the Department of the Treasury with all his info on it.
  • That certificate will get you in and out of the country.