The Chinese Must Go

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The Chinese Must Go Page 49

by Beth Lew-Williams


  and prostitutes from all nations.

  14. The Supreme Court rulings in the Head Money Cases (1884), which

  challenged the 1882 Immigration Act, did cite international law as a source

  of authority and declined a theory of plenary powers advanced by the

  government. After establishing plenary power in Chae Chan Ping (1891),

  334

  NOTES TO PAGES 241–243

  the Supreme Court then used the doctrine in Nishimura Ekiu v. U.S., 142

  U.S. (1892), which reviewed a case of exclusion under the 1891 Immigration

  Act. Yamataya v. Fisher, 189 U.S. 86 (1903) also cited plenary power in an

  exclusion case under the 1891 Immigration Act. This ruling also

  established that aliens had a right to due pro cess in matters of procedure.

  Salyer, Laws Harsh as Tigers, 136–138, 149; Cleveland, “Powers Inherent in

  Sovereignty,” 121, 137, 158. The plenary power doctrine became so deeply

  engrained in American law that by 1909 the Supreme Court declared,

  “Over no conceivable subject is the legislative power of Congress more

  complete” than immigration. Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. v.

  Stranahan, 214 U.S. 320, 339 (1909); Hiroshi Motomura, Americans in

  Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States

  (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), 116.

  15. Bill Ong Hing, Making and Remaking Asian Amer i ca through Immigration

  Policy, 1850–1990 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1993), 17–42;

  Ngai, Impossible Subjects, 21–55. Salyer, Laws Harsh as Tigers, xiii– xvi.

  16. Bosniak, The Citizen and the Alien, 4.

  17. Ibid., 40–53; Michael Walzer, Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and

  Equality (New York: Basic Books, 1983), 38–39; Parker, Making Foreigners,

  119; Peter H. Schuck and Rogers M. Smith, Citizenship without Consent:

  Illegal Aliens in the American Polity (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press,

  1985), 36. For critiques of this position, see Bas Schotel, On the Right of

  Exclusion: Law, Ethics and Immigration Policy (New York: Routledge, 2012);

  Bridget Anderson, Nandita Sharma, and Cynthia Wright, “Editorial: Why

  No Borders?” Refuge 26, no. 2 (2009): 5–18; Joseph H. Carens, “Aliens and

  Citizens: The Case for Open Borders,” Review of Politics 49, no. 2 (Spring

  1987): 251–273.

  18. Rosina Lozano, An American Language: The History of Spanish in the United

  States (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2018); Neil Foley, The

  White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture

  (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997); Glenn, Unequal Freedom;

  Laura E. Gómez, Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American

  Race (New York: New York University Press, 2008), 138–147; Gregg

  Cantrell, “ ‘Our Very Pronounced Theory of Equal Rights to All’: Race,

  Citizenship, and Pop u lism in the South Texas Borderlands,” Journal of

  American History 100, no. 3 (December 2013): 663–690; In Re: Rodriguez,

  District Court, W.D. Texas 81 F. 337 (1897).

  19. “An act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the

  vari ous reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United

  NOTES TO PAGE 243

  335

  States and the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes” (The

  Dawes Act; The Indian General Allotment Act of 1887), chap. 119, 24 Stat.

  388 (February 8, 1887). The act declared that Indians who had already

  “ adopted the habits of civilized life” separate from a tribe or who accepted

  allotments could be granted citizenship. On federal wardship, see Cahill,

  Federal Fathers and Mothers, 32; Cleveland, “Powers Inherent in Sovereignty,”

  54–81. On the decimation of Native Americans, see Benjamin Madley, An

  American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe

  (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2016).

  20. Downs and Masur, The World the Civil War Made, 3–7; Foner,

  Reconstruction, 457–459, 528–529, 562–563, 582; George C. Rable, But There

  Was No Peace: The Role of Vio lence in the Politics of Reconstruction (Athens:

  University of Georgia Press, 2007), 191; Herbert Shapiro, White Vio lence

  and Black Response: From Reconstruction to Montgomery (Amherst:

  University of Mas sa chu setts Press, 1988), 11. On “paramilitarism” and its

  effects, see Steven Hahn, A Nation under Our Feet: Black Po liti cal Strug gles

  in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration (Cambridge, MA:

  The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003), 238, 288, 312.

  21. Hahn, A Nation under Our Feet, 413–442; Rable, But There Was No Peace,

  10, 61–2; Joel Williamson, The Crucible of Race: Black- White Relations in the

  American South since Emancipation (New York: Oxford University Press,

  1984); Leon F. Litwack, Trou ble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim

  Crow (New York: Vintage, 1999).

  22. This is also the origins of “racial triangulation,” a phenomenon outlined by

  Claire Jean Kim, “The Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans,” Politics

  and Society 27, no. 1. (1999): 105–138.

  ACKNOWL EDGMENTS

  I WOULD LIKE to thank Gordon H. Chang for introducing me to Asian

  American history. I remember asking him, when I finished gradu ate school,

  if I really had to leave the nest. He laughed and said, “ We’re bound together

  for life.” I am lucky to be bound to such a mentor.

  I am grateful to the Stanford University History Department for my

  gradu ate education and to the George Shultz Fund in Canadian Studies, the

  Andrew Mellon Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Socie-

  ties for making it pos si ble. I offer special thanks to my teachers and men-

  tors, Richard White, Estelle Freedman, and Albert Camarillo, who offered

  unflagging support these many years. Thanks to my wonderful gradu ate co-

  hort, including Lori A. Flores, Joshua Howe, Kevin Kim, Jeffery Miner,

  Julie Prieto, Timothy Tomlinson, Derek Vanderpool, and Christopher

  Wilkins. Stanford staff kept me afloat and insured, including Art Palmon,

  Linda Huynh, and Ronda Fenton. When life brought me to the University

  of Wisconsin- Madison, Susan Friedman and the Institute for Research in

  the Humanities offered me an intellectual home away from home.

  Karl Jacoby, my freshman advisor at Brown University, taught me to love

  history, and Evelyn Hu- Dehart, my se nior thesis advisor, exposed me to the

  pleasures of research. Alan Taylor explained the difference between micro-

  fiche and microfilm, and between history and historiography. Rhoda

  Flaxman tapped me for the writing fellows program and gave me the confi-

  dence to pursue an academic career.

  The ACLS New Faculty Fellows program funded me at Northwestern

  University, where Peter Hayes and Carolyn Chen welcomed me to the His-

  tory Department and the Asian American Studies program, respectively.

  337

  338

  ACKNOWL EDGMENTS

  I learned a lot from colleagues there, including Ji- Yeon Yuh, Kathleen

  Belew, Kevin Boyle, Gerry Cadava, Caitlin Fitz, Daniel Immerwhar, Cheryl

  Jue, Jinah Kim, Simeon Man, Kate Masur, Shalini Shankar, and Nitasha


  Sharma. Wendy L. Wall brought me into the Kaplan Center for the Study

  of the Humanities.

  During the past few years at Prince ton University, I have racked up more

  debts than I can know. I would like to thank my chair, William Chester

  Jordan, who kindly offered me employment, twice. I am grateful to the fac-

  ulty of the History Department for making this a better book and to those

  who gave me comments and critiques, including Jeremy Adelman, Margot

  Canaday, Janet Chen, Angela Creager, Sheldon Garon, Hendrik Hartog, Al-

  ison Isenberg, Regina Kunzel, Michael Laffan, Jonathan Levy, Erika

  Milam, Yair Mintzker, Philip Nord, Daniel Rod gers, Martha Sandweiss,

  Emily Thompson, Moulie Vidas, Keith Wailoo, and Sean Wilentz. Hen-

  drik Hartog and Anne Cheng invited me into the American Studies pro-

  gram. Thank you also to Judy Hanson and the entire staff of History and

  American Studies. I benefited greatly from a writing group spearheaded

  by Rosina Lozano, which included James Alexander Dun, Joseph Fron-

  czak, Caley Horan, Robert Karl, Matthew Karp, Ronny Regev, and Re-

  becca Rix. Wendy Warren more than merits her own sentence.

  Many scholars have offered me incisive comments and questions over

  years of conferences and workshops. Bill Deverell, John Mack Faragher,

  Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Donna Gabaccia, Hidetaka Hirota, Madeline

  Hsu, Amy S. Greenberg, Karl Jacoby, Moon- Ho Jung, Stephen Kan-

  trowitz, Robert Lee, Kate Masur, Sucheta Mazumdar, Mae Ngai, Michael

  Pfeifer, Alan Taylor, Jack Tchen, K. Scott Wong, Elliott Young, Henry Yu,

  and Ji- Yeon Yuh were especially gracious with their time and expertise.

  Prince ton University and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation made

  pos si ble a sabbatical year at the Institute for Advanced Study. Didier Fassin

  welcomed me to the borders and bound aries seminar at the School of

  Social Science, which included Joan Scott, Michael Walzer, Linda Bos-

  niak, Rhacel Parreñas, Bryna Goodman, Tugba Basaran, Tod Hamilton,

  Firoozeh Kashani- Sabet, Monica Kim, and other inspiring scholars. Back

  at Prince ton, Sandra Bermann and the PIIRS migration group provided

  another key interdisciplinary community.

  ACKNOWL EDGMENTS

  339

  Harvard University Press stood behind this proj ect long before it was a

  book. Thank you to Brian Distelberg, who first brought me to the Press, and

  Thomas LeBien, who steered the book to completion. Their guidance was

  essential, as were the sharp comments of anonymous readers. I have Isabelle

  Lewis, Tsering W. Shawa, and Eva Fourakis to thank for the maps and

  chart. John Parman and Trevon Logan shared their data and expertise on

  residential segregation. During the final stages, Judy Yang, Nick Kim

  Sexton, Frederick Kaj Olof Bengtsson, Daniela Blei, and Carol Noble

  helped with translation, research, and copy editing. The second chapter ex-

  pands on ideas first discussed in “Before Restriction became Exclusion: Amer-

  i ca’s Experiment in Diplomatic Immigration Control,” Pacific Historical

  Review 83, no. 1 (February 2014): 24–56. Thank you to the PHR editors and

  anonymous reviewers.

  I am indebted to the staff at over a dozen archives, especially Kathleen

  Crosman at the Pacific Alaska Branch of the National Archives, Greg Lange

  at the Puget Sound Regional Branch of the Washington State Archives, and

  Rodney Ross at the National Archives. Wallace Hagaman, Karen Mulvany,

  and Wingston Chan gave generously from their private recollections and

  collections.

  Intrepid family and friends read the entire manuscript, including Marion

  Franck, Ronald Franck, Daniel Lew, Casey Lew- Williams, Simeon Man, and

  Gregory Miller. Thanks also to those who helped me to live through a neck

  injury, two babies, and this book, including Justin Cox, Kathryn DeLonga,

  Caitlin Fausey, Jenny Greenburg, Dan Krueger, Lara Miller, Katina

  Miner, Christine O’Malley, Natasha Sattin, Vinay Shamasundara, Kristin

  Shutts, and Ariel Vanderpool. Through it all (and long before) I had the

  support of my parents, Marion Franck and Bob Lew, and my family,

  Daniel Lew, Lindsay Quass, Ronald Franck, Kristi Ng, Jean Lew, Sue Wil-

  liams, Keith Williams, Seth Williams, and Allen Gillers. I hope they know

  how essential they have been to my life and my work.

  Thank you to Casey Lew- Williams for our hyphenated journey together.

  Fi nally, I dedicate this book to the memory of my grand father, Lew Din

  Wing (1922–2002). Ye Ye, when you were nine years old and found yourself

  on Angel Island in an immigration detention center, you could not have

  known what put you there. During our last conversation before you died,

  340

  ACKNOWL EDGMENTS

  we talked about those thirty- four days in detainment without family or

  friends. I understand now, more than I did then, the collective history that

  created the shame you held as your own personal burden. I wish I could share

  this history with you. And I wish you could see your family now, ever

  growing, including my children, Carson Wing and Dane Stewart. The el-

  dest is just now nine years old.

  INDEX

  Illustrations and maps are indicated by italics.

  African Americans, 3, 6–7, 9, 11, 40, 103, Anti- Chinese movement, 19–20, 118;

  223, 233; assimilation, 237–238; “Negro assimilation of Chinese, 36–37; class

  Prob lem,” 20; segregated anticoolie club,

  division and, 139–140; effect in U. S., 214;

  43; vigilante vio lence, 243; voting rights,

  Eu ro pean mi grants, 119; vio lence and

  30–31, 44, 235, 239, 242–243

  non- violence of, 114–115, 120–121, 128–129;

  Age of Steel, The, 175

  Western development and, 138; women in,

  Ah Hung, 111

  131–133. See also Exclusion; Expulsion

  Ah Sin, 72–73

  Anti- Chinese politics, 19, 238–239; po liti cal Ah Wy, 78–79, 81, 85

  terrorism, 115–116

  Ah Yuk, 78–79, 81, 85

  Anti- Chinese vio lence, 1–2, 7–8, 10–11,

  Albina (Oregon), 126

  17–18, 44, 263n17; before Chinese Alien and alienage, 7–10, 171, 231, 235–242,

  Restriction, 17, 44–45, 50–52, 149–150;

  244, 261n8; alien citizens, 228, 233–234; fear of death without traditional rites,

  Chinese and others, 31, 38; Chinese

  225–226; after Geary Act, 205–206;

  menace, 40; colonies and status, 211;

  lynching, 3–4; newspaper reports and

  “illegal alien,” 5, 87, 242; inability to threats, 126–128, 135; personal effects of, naturalize for all Asians, 241; Mexicans in

  224–225, 326n78; re sis tance and flight, southwest, 33; naturalization of foreign

  291n4; San Jose Chinatown burned to

  born, 30; naturalization of former slaves,

  ground, 180– 181; Snake River, 180, 313n35;

  239; states’ denial of rights, 43; treaty

  U. S. legislates indemnity for vio lence and

  status, 60, 183, 193, 195. See also Last Days expulsions, 102, 189, 294n26; vigilantes of the Republic (Dooner); Permanent

  effect on Chinese communities, 215, 219;

  aliens; Vigilantes

  vigilantism and gender, 129–131,
225.

  Allen, Solomon, 75

  See also Seattle; Tacoma

  Alley, B. F., 155

  Antimonopolist movement, 32, 42, 119, 139

  American Home Baptist Missionary Society, Arcata (California), 114, 127

  308n60

  Arthur, Chester, 49–51

  Angell, James, 47

  Asian Americans, 9, 232; history of, 260

  Angell Commission, 47. See also Treaties

  Auburn (California), 38

  341

  342

  INDEX

  Ball, H. O. , 98

  Butteville (California), 206

  Bancroft, Hubert, 140

  Byrd, Lewis, 123

  Bankers Magazine, 174

  Barrel Works: Chinese workers replace

  California: anti- Chinese convention, San

  whites, 148–150; vigilantes and Chinese

  Jose, 134–135; anti- Chinese opinion, 40;

  laborers, 150–152

  cheers for Chinese Exclusion Act of 1888,

  Bash, A. W., 63–69, 72–76

  189–190; discriminatory state statutes

  Bayard, Thomas F. , 86, 107, 111, 170–174, struck down, 43; disproportionate

  179, 183–184, 187–188

  workforce to population, 34–35; gold rush,

  Bee, Frederick A., 98

  3, 21–23, 26; rec ords destruction in Beecher, Herbert F. , 81–85, 159, 229; disasters, 12; vio lence and mi grant loss,

  Anti- Chinese vio lence, 229

  222–223. See also Chinatown; Working-

  Beith, James, 114, 127–128

  men’s Party of California

  Belmont, Perry, 179

  Canada: border crossings, 63–65, 79; Black Diamond (Washington), 119, 121

  extralegal deportation from Washington

  Blake, Arthur, 53, 55, 66–78, 81, 88, 103

  Territory, 79–81; smuggling from, 67.

  Booth, Newton, 46

  See also British Columbia

  Border control, 53–55; Chinese Exclusion

  Carlisle, John Griffin, 204

  Act effect, 192, 196–197, 204; deportation Carson (City, Nevada), 126

  bud geting crisis, 204–205; local

  Census of Chinese in Amer i ca. See Numbers

  immigration raids, 208; local involve-

  of Chinese in Amer i ca

  ment, 73; porous Canadian border, 63–68, Chae Chan Ping v. United States (1889),

  198; remote control, 45, 201, 318n10;

  192–193, 204, 330n106

  southern border issues, 201. See also

  China: boycott of American goods after

 

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