Central Historical Question: Why did the U.S. government choose to ban Chinese immigration in 1882?

Transcription

1 Opening Up the Textbook: The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 By Dan Burger-Lenehan Central Historical Question: Why did the U.S. government choose to ban Chinese immigration in 1882? Materials: Documents A-C Guiding questions for Documents A-C Timeline of the Chinese Exclusion Act Plan of Instruction (One 55-minute class period): 1. Do Now (5 min.): a. Using what you know from class discussions and readings about nativism and opposition to immigration in the late 19th century, write down as many reasons as you can think of for why some people wanted to restrict immigration during this time period. b. Share out elicit a few student responses 2. Mini-lecture students take notes (5 min.): a. Introduce the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 i. An act of Congress that banned immigration to the U.S. by Chinese people for 10 years ii. Prevented Chinese people already in the U.S. from gaining citizenship iii. Students will already have background knowledge about the growth in immigration from Europe starting in the 1860s from previous lessons and textbook reading, as well as the rise of nativism in the 1870s and 1880s, with most of the resistance toward eastern and southern European Jews and Catholics as well as Chinese immigrants on the West Coast. iv. Since about 1850, increasing numbers of Chinese immigrants had come to the U.S. (mainly to the West Coast) because of the discovery of gold in California and wars and economic hardship at home. Still, the number of Chinese immigrants was very small compared to the number of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and England. v. Many Chinese immigrants were young men who, upon arriving in the U.S., worked as laborers for low pay (building railroads, working in mines, clearing forests, etc.). Consequently, growing numbers of white laborers resented the presence of Chinese people

2 because they perceived them as competition and believed that they drove down wages. vi. The U.S. government initially encouraged Chinese immigration in order to supply railroad companies and other industries with a cheap labor force; signed a treaty with China in 1868 allowing for free movement between the two countries vii : economic depression massive unemployment, growing anti-chinese sentiment viii. 1877: Irish immigrant Denis Kearney forms the Workingman s Party of California party platform is anti-capitalist, pro-labor, and anti-chinese ix. Within 2 years, it was a major force in California politics, prompting the state to enact measures to discourage Chinese immigration, ban Chinese people from employment in corporations or government, and allow municipalities to discriminate against Chinese residents. x. The WPC also made anti-chinese sentiment a national issue and pressured representatives in Congress to act on it, which led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in Introduce CHQ: Why did the U.S. government choose to ban Chinese immigration in 1882? 4. Learning activity: a. Textbook passage (10 min.) i. Introduce this portion of the activity: we re going to start with our textbook to see what it says about why the U.S. government chose to ban Chinese immigration in ii. Hand out Document A, the textbook passage about the Chinese Exclusion Act and guiding questions. iii. Students will read the passage and write answers to the guiding questions individually. Then we will reconvene as a class and discuss the three questions, particularly #3 how the passage does or does not seem complete (and whether it answers our CHQ), and if not, what other information people would need. b. Two historical documents (30 min.) i. Tell the students that we re now going to look at two primary sources related to the Chinese Exclusion Act to see if they fill in any gaps in our knowledge and help us answer the CHQ. ii. Hand out Documents B and C (Kearney/Knight editorial and Puck cartoon) with guiding questions.

3 iii. Students will read Document B (Kearney/Knight) and write down answers to the guiding questions individually, then pair share for about three minutes what they wrote. We ll then reconvene as a class and discuss the document its purpose, its context, its reliability, what information in it overlaps with or differs from the textbook passage, and what insight it gives us for answering the CHQ. iv. Students read Document C, the Puck cartoon, and write their answers to the guiding questions. After a few minutes, students pair share their answers, and then we ll reconvene as a class to discuss the cartoon, the perspective of the author, the joke it s making, and again, what new insight it gives us for the CHQ. v. Ask the class, based on the three documents we ve just read, why did the U.S. government choose to ban Chinese immigration in 1882? As students share reasons, write them on the board and instruct the students to copy them in their notebooks. 5. Closure (5 minutes): a. Ask students why they think we did this activity. If a student says something about the textbook account being incomplete or not providing enough contextual information for understanding why the government banned Chinese immigration, expand on that point (or if no student says it, just state this). Explain that history textbooks are often very broad, which is helpful in getting a sense for a wide stretch of the past, but for the same reason they re also usually short on details about any one topic, so in order to better understand a topic like the Chinese Exclusion Act, we need to look at other sources particularly primary sources, which give us direct insight into what people were thinking at the time and why they thought that way. 6. Assessments: a. Teacher observation of students during individual, pair, and whole-class portions of the learning activity. Listening for students answers to the guiding questions for evidence of understanding both the content of the documents we read and the purpose of the activity. b. Teacher may choose to assign a short paragraph that students will write for homework and that they could peer assess in class the following day. Students could be asked to answer the CHQ by drawing evidence from each of the three sources (and the timeline, if possible).

4 Works Cited: Document A Appleby, Joyce. The American Vision, McGraw-Hill, 2003, p Document B Kearney, Denis, and H.L. Knight. Appeal from California. The Chinese Invasion. Workingmen s Address. Indianapolis Times, February 28, Document C Wales, J.A. Where Both Platforms Agree. No Vote No Use to Either Party. Puck, vol. VII, no. 175, July 14, 1880.

5 Document A: Textbook Passage Sample lesson plan developed by a student Prejudice Against Newcomers In the West, where sentiment against the Chinese was very strong, widespread racial violence erupted. Denis Kearney, himself an Irish immigrant, organized the Workingman s Party of California in the 1870s to fight Chinese immigration. The party won seats in California s legislature and made opposition to Chinese immigration a national issue. Impact of the Anti-Immigration Movement In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. The law barred Chinese immigration for 10 years and prevented the Chinese already in the country from becoming citizens. The Chinese in the United States did not accept the new law quietly. They protested that white Americans did not oppose immigration by Italians, Irish, or Germans. Some Chinese organized letter-writing campaigns, petitioned the president, and even filed a suit in federal court. These efforts, however, proved fruitless. Congress renewed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1892 and then made it permanent in In 1890 the number of Chinese living in the United States totaled 105,000. By 1900 that total had dropped to just above 74,000. In the 40 years after the passage of the act, the Chinese population in the United States continued to decrease. The act was not repealed until Vocabulary: barred: prevented fruitless: not successful Source: The American Vision, a textbook written by Joyce Appleby and other contributors (McGraw-Hill, 2003), p. 468.

6 Chinese Exclusion Act Guiding Questions Document A: Textbook Passage Sample lesson plan developed by a student 1. What does the textbook say about why Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act? 2. What role did the Workingman s Party of California play in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act? 3. Do you think this is a complete account of the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act? Why or why not? And if not, what other information do you want to know?

7 Document B: Denis Kearney and H.L. Knight Editorial (Modified) Our wealthy men have ruled us for the past thirty years. Under the flag of the slaveholder they hoped to destroy our liberty. Failing in that, they have rallied under the banner of the millionaire, the banker and the land monopolist, the railroad king and the false politician, to meet their goals. To add to our misery and despair, our government has asked China the greatest and oldest despotism in the world to send cheap working slaves. Our government brings the Chinese coolie here to compete with the free American in the Labor market, and still further widen the distance between the rich and the poor The father of a family is met by them at every turn. Would he get work for himself? No, a strong Chinaman does it cheaper. He can only go to crime or suicide, his wife and daughter to prostitution, and his boys to hoodlumism and the penitentiary We are men, and propose to live like men in this free land, without the contamination of slave labor, or die like men, in asserting the rights of our race, our country, and our families. California must be all American or all Chinese. We are resolved that it shall be American, and are prepared to make it so. Dennis Kearney, President H.L. Knight, Secretary Vocabulary: monopolist: a person or company that controls the supply of goods or services in one area despotism: a country or political system in which the ruler holds absolute power coolie: a contract laborer from China or South Asia; often used as derogatory term Source: Denis Kearney, President of the Workingman s Party of California, and H. L. Knight, Secretary of the WPC, Appeal from California. The Chinese Invasion. Workingmen s Address, Indianapolis Times, February 28, 1878.

8 Chinese Exclusion Act Guiding Questions Sample lesson plan developed by a student Document B: Denis Kearney and H.L. Knight Editorial 1. (Sourcing): Who wrote this document? When was it written? What type of document is it? 2. (Contextualization): According to the authors, who is responsible for the increase in Chinese immigration to the U.S.? 3. (Contextualization): To whom are the authors addressing their message? What is their purpose? 4. (Close reading): How do the authors describe the consequences of Chinese immigration for working men and their families? 5. (Corroboration): What are the similarities and differences between this editorial and the textbook passage? What does the editorial tell you that the textbook does not?

9 Document C: Puck Cartoon Sample lesson plan developed by a student Source: J.A. Wales, Where Both Platforms Agree. No Vote No Use to Either Party. Puck, Vol. VII, Issue 175, July 14, Puck was an American humor magazine that often featured satirical political cartoons.

10 Chinese Exclusion Act Guiding Questions Document C: Puck Cartoon Sample lesson plan developed by a student 1. (Sourcing): What type of document is this? When was it created? Why do you think it was it created? 2. (Close Reading): What do the two men on either side represent (refer to the timeline). 3. (Contextualization): What does this cartoon say about Congress motivation to ban Chinese immigration? 4. (Corroboration): Do you think the cartoonist would agree with the Kearney and Knight editorial? Does the cartoon corroborate what Kearney and Knight write about in their editorial? Why or why not?

11 Timeline of the Chinese Exclusion Act 1848: Miners discover gold in California; Chinese immigration begins to increase : Transcontinental Railroad is constructed between Omaha, Nebraska and Oakland, California; thousands of Chinese laborers work on railroad crews 1868: The U.S. and China sign the Burlingame Treaty, allowing free immigration between the two countries 1873: Collapse of railroad company Jay Cooke and Company sets off the Panic of 1873; U.S. enters a severe economic depression that would last the rest of the decade 1877: Workingman s Party of California is founded 1879: Congress passes the Fifteen Passenger Bill, which limits the number of Chinese passengers on any ship entering the U.S. to 15 (vetoed by President Rutherford B. Hayes) 1880: The U.S. and China sign the Angell Treaty, which restricts immigration of skilled and unskilled Chinese laborers while still allowing Chinese whitecollar professionals to immigrate to the United States; Republican James A. Garfield wins presidential race against Democrat Winfield Scott Hancock. 1882: Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act (signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur)