In 1885, the Chinese were purged from Eureka. They decided to sue the city for damages and lost property in Wing Hing v. City of Eureka. In this lawsuit, Chinese from all walks of life joined together to fight the injustices done to the Chinese. The Chinese also sued Santa Cruz, Felton, and Truckee. The Chinese consul Fred Bee made it known that if America would not reimburse the Chinese for their lost and damaged property, China would not reimburse Americans in China when anti-American mobs destroyed their property. The only reason the Chinese could sue Eureka was because the California Political Code (1868) made “every county and municipal corporation…responsible for injury to real or personal property situated within its limits, done or caused by mobs or riots.” Unfortunately, the Chinese did not win Wing Hing. In fact, it is not known how this case was eventually settled. …show more content…
In Rock Springs, Wyoming, in 1885, the Knights of Labor tried to get the Chinese miners living there to join a strike. The Chinese would not, and angry Irish miners murdered many of them and drove the rest away. The Chinese minister Cheng Tsao Ju spoke to the United States Secretary of State about the event. Like Fred Bee, Cheng warned Americans that this treatment of the Chinese would cause problems for Americans in China. Also, the local Harper’s Weekly spoke up for the rights of the Chinese. Harper’s attacked the Irish and their behavior as well as the United States government’s lack of response to the violence. Finally, when Americans began to be treated badly in China, Congress paid the Chinese government for the damaged and lost property of the Chinese in Tacoma, Seattle, Rock Springs, and