The difficulties faced by Chinese immigrants in the 1800s.
Some of the reasons for not admitting Chinese people to Canada were that residents living in Canada (Technically white people) were scared of losing their jobs if the Chinese emigrated. The Union was afraid that the Chinese might take away their jobs, where later on the head tax was passed on in the law. Other reasons for not admitting Chinese people to Canada back then were probably due to their race, birth of country and origin. Back then Canadians only really admitted and accepted people who were either from Europe, United States and Britain. This meant that people who were from different countries such as South East Asia, Mexico, Jamaica and Africa were usually rejected and not admitted just due to their race or colour of skin. I think that these reasons are completely unfair. People around the world back then who wanted a better future due to the things going on in their own country were not admitted/ rejected just due to the colour of their skin. This is practically just an example of racial discrimination that was going on in Canada towards people who were not only from the Chinese community, but also others who had to face this discrimination. In overall the Canadians in the late 1800's put down the Chinese along with the other communities.
The tax was probably pretty effective for keeping Chinese people out in the late 1800's and the early 1900's. This is true because the head tax at first was set to fifty dollars in 1885. The amount was just above the maximum amount a Chinese laborer was able to save per year after his living expenses were paid which was forty- eight dollars. However the Canadian Government decided to make it much more effective and make the head tax up to a grand total of five hundred dollars in 1903. This was a lot/ enormous sum at that specific time for an average Chinese person or let's says even for an average Canadian Citizen to afford. It was equivalent to eight thousand Canadian dollars in 2003, which is darn hard to make especially when you first immigrate to another country with a limited amount of money a long with you. This tax was not as effective later on (where all the Chinese wanted to do was live in a safe country) since the Federal Government collected a total of twenty three million dollars from the Chinese through the Head tax.
The protection that the immigrants such as the Chinese would have today that did not exist at the time of the tax is freedom and human rights. This is true because Canada had realized its mistakes and added rules to the law to make it a better country to live in. With freedom and human rights it will allow the Chinese to live in Canada without paying a Head tax and disregarding what race they are. It will allow them to live a free, happy life and not being bossed around (human labour) by the Canadian Government. Thinking out of the box the Chinese would have the protection of the military and their large amount of trading partners since their country has developed into a self-sufficient growing country.
Yes I absolutely think these Laws were unjust toward the Chinese community. This is true because the Canadians made only the Chinese immigrants to ever pay such a tax. A tax that was of racism and jealousy of one being capable of doing a job than another. These laws were unjust to the Chinese and made them pay a great amount of money just when they immigrated to Canada. As well Canada practically just used the Chinese to help build their railway so white men would not die in the process of blowing up the rocks (CPR). After they were done with that they put a head tax and wanted the Chinese to go out without realizing how hard and how many men they lost during the CPR. Therefore yes I agree I consider these laws specifically the Head Tax in an example of racial Discrimination.
