February 9, 1855 – Jacksonville, California: Chinaman Shot and Killed Resisting Tax Collector

On February 9, 1855, in Jacksonville (Tuolumne County), a California tax collector shot and killed a Chinese man for allegedly resisting the enforcement of the Foreign Miners’ Tax. This burdensome mining tax was imposed on foreign miners, particularly Chinese miners. Reports indicated that the deputy collector shot him on the spot when he resisted paying the tax. This execution by a state agent illustrates the connection between anti-Chinese policy and violence. A California paper would claim a few years later that the tax collector acted appropriately, writing that shooting "a dozen of them" would serve as a "severe lesson" for the Chinese. The Jacksonville lynching again demonstrates the lethal consequences of institutionalized Sinophobia during the Gold Rush, where discriminatory laws were enforced with deadly brutality and Chinese lives were expendable.