Closing the Gate: Race, Politics, and the Chinese Exclusion ActThe Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred practically all Chinese from American shores for ten years, was the first federal law that banned a group of immigrants solely on the basis of race or nationality. By changing America's traditional policy of open immigration, this landmark legislation set a precedent for future restrictions against Asian immigrants in the early 1900s and against Europeans in the 1920s. Tracing the origins of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Andrew Gyory presents a bold new interpretation of American politics during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. Rather than directly confront such divisive problems as class conflict, economic depression, and rising unemployment, he contends, politicians sought a safe, nonideological solution to the nation's industrial crisis--and latched onto Chinese exclusion. Ignoring workers' demands for an end simply to imported contract labor, they claimed instead that working people would be better off if there were no Chinese immigrants. By playing the race card, Gyory argues, national politicians--not California, not organized labor, and not a general racist atmosphere--provided the motive force behind the era's most racist legislation. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 52
Page 32
... coolies " by rail once they had arrived in another country — say Canada or Mexico - by other means . Most important , the law never defined " coolie . " What , indeed , was a “ coolie " ? The term , also spelled " cooly , " derives from ...
... coolies " by rail once they had arrived in another country — say Canada or Mexico - by other means . Most important , the law never defined " coolie . " What , indeed , was a “ coolie " ? The term , also spelled " cooly , " derives from ...
Page 33
... coolie traffic . " But were all Chinese who signed contracts " coolies ” and “ almost slaves " ? Could an impoverished Chinese man sign a contract and not be a " coolie " ? Possibly , probably , but no one knew for sure . The vagueness ...
... coolie traffic . " But were all Chinese who signed contracts " coolies ” and “ almost slaves " ? Could an impoverished Chinese man sign a contract and not be a " coolie " ? Possibly , probably , but no one knew for sure . The vagueness ...
Page 273
... Coolie Trade ' by American Citizens in American Vessels , " in The Statutes at Large , Treaties , and Proclamations of the United States of America , from December 5 , 1859 , to March 3 , 1863 , ed . George P. Sanger ( Boston , 1863 ) ...
... Coolie Trade ' by American Citizens in American Vessels , " in The Statutes at Large , Treaties , and Proclamations of the United States of America , from December 5 , 1859 , to March 3 , 1863 , ed . George P. Sanger ( Boston , 1863 ) ...
Contents
ONE The Very Recklessness of Statesmanship | 3 |
TWO To Fetch Men Wholesale | 17 |
THREE Yanki vs Yankee | 39 |
Copyright | |
10 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
2d sess 45th Cong abolitionist American laborer Angell Treaty anti-Chinese movement Blaine Boston Burlingame Treaty campaign chap Chicago China Chinaman Chinese Exclusion Act Chinese immigration Chinese laborers Chinese question cigar makers Cincinnati Civil Congress convention coolie debate delegates Democrats Denis Kearney denounced East eastern workers Edmunds election emigration endorsed Evarts favor Fifteen Passenger Bill Garfield George George Frisbie Hoar Gilded Age Greenbackers History Hoar House ibid immi immigration restriction Irish James John Journal July June June 17 Kearney Kearney's Knights of Labor legislation Massachusetts Morey letter National Labor newspaper North Adams numbers NYTr opposed Pacific Papers platform political politicians president presidential quoted race racial racism reported Republican Party Roach San Francisco Saxton Senate sentiment Sept speech strike tion trade Union United urged veto vote Washington West western William working-class workingmen Workingmen's Party York Tribune