The CA State Library has digitized its collection of Foreign Miners Tax documents, 1850-1867, and they are now available online. This small collection primarily contains documents related to the collection of the tax in San Joaquin County, showing how many licenses were sold and the revenue collected. Among the items is a Chinese translation of the law, and a copy of a paid Foreign Miners Tax License from 1850.
In 1850 the first California state legislature passed a Foreign Miners Tax Law, levying a twenty dollars per month tax on each foreigner engaged in mining. The law was repealed in 1851, only to be reenacted in 1852 and set at $3 a month. By 1853 the Foreign Miner's Tax was increased to $4 a month.











