Chinese Massacre of 1871 refers to a racially motivated riot on October 24, 1871, when a mob of over 500 "whites" or Caucasians entered Los Angeles' Chinatown to attack and eventually murder Chinese-American residents of the city. The riots took place on Calle de los Negros (known colloquially as Nigger Alley), which later became Los Angeles Street. Every Chinese-occupied building on the block was ransacked and almost every resident was attacked or robbed. Estimates of the number of dead vary, but between 20 and 23 Chinese residents were killed. At the time, there were only 200 Chinese living in Los Angeles. October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 68 days remaining. ... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The term Caucasian race is used to refer to people whose ancestry can be traced back to Europe, North Africa, West Asia, South Asia and parts of Central Asia. ... This article is about the largest city in California. ... Chinese New Year celebrated in a Chinatown in Paris New York City is home to three of the largest Chinatowns in North America. ... Chinese Americans (Traditional Chinese: 美籍華人; Simplified Chinese: 美籍华人; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Mei-chi-hua-jen) are residents or citizens of the United States who are of Chinese descent. ...

The dead Chinese in Los Angeles were hanging at three places near the heart of the downtown business section of the city; from the wooden awning over the sidewalk in front of a carriage shop; from the sides of two “prairie schooners” parked on the street around the corner from the carriage shop; and from the cross-beam of a wide gate leading into a lumberyard a few blocks away from the other two locations. One of the victims hung without his trousers and minus a finger on his left hand. [1]

The event was triggered by the accidental killing of Robert Thompson, a Caucasian man, who was caught in the cross-fire between two men arguing over the affections of a young woman.

However, the underlying causes are generally considered to be economic. The riots were part of a growing movement of anti-Chinese discrimination in California, which climaxed in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. These root economic causes were the unstable economy after the American Civil War which led to high unemployment in California and other Western American states. The irish Exclusion Act, signed into law May 6, 1882, followed revisions made in 1880 to the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. ... Combatants Union (remaining U.S. states) Confederate States of America Commanders Abraham Lincoln† Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,200 Casualties KIA: 110,100 Total dead: 359,500 Wounded: 275,200 KIA: 94,000 Total dead: 258,000 Wounded: 137,000+  The...

The man who actually shot Thompson escaped and very few of the rioters were punished.

The event was well-reported on the East Coast as newspapers there labeled Los Angeles a "blood stained Eden" [2] after the riots. Los Angeles, at the time, was considered a backwater. 1st Backwater is Water held or pushed back by or as if by a dam or current. ...

See also

• Chinese American
• Yellow peril
• Coolie
• Sleepy Lagoon Murder

A Chinese American is an American who is of ethnic Chinese descent. ... Yellow peril is also a humourous British term for a traffic warden. ... East Indian coolies on a Trinidad Cacao Estate, circa 1903. ... The birthday party for Eleanor Coronado, held at her parents rural Los Angeles County home, was winding to a close in the early hours of Sunday, August 2, 1942, as a large group of young people from 38th Street pulled up. ...

External links

• Lesson plan and readings for Chinese Massacre of 1871
• Newmark, Harris First Person Narrative of Massacre Library of Congress
• Chinese American Museum - Statement of Remembrance
• Heritage Parkscape
• PBS History of the West
• Library of Congress - The Chinese in California 1850-1925
• USC Los Angeles History Project -- Chinese Massacre of 1871
• Lou, Raymond. The Chinese American Community in Los Angeles: A Case of Resistance, Organization, and Participation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Irvine, 1982.
• East West Discovery