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Get cspan on the go with the cspan radio app. Next on American History tv, author andrew geary explores origins of the 182 chinese exclusion act and how Popular Culture helped shape negative chinese stereotypes throughout the late 19th century. Lecture is part of a twoday pim sews yum hosted by the u. S. Capital Historical Society on history of immigration. It is about 50 minutes. Thank you, chuck. Before i go any further i just want to acknowledge the codirector emeritus, don kinnon, who this conference would not be the same without don. Im glad hes here to give us stability and historical memory. And thank you all for coming. I know some of you had subway issues and yesterday there were taxi cab issues and who knows what else youll have. I am a visiting professor this year in saskatchewan where it was about 25 degrees warmer when i left than in washington, d. C. Thats about 300 miles north of the montana border. It is way up there. And on the great plains of canada, spectacularly beautiful place. Of course, since its 25 degrees warmer than washington, which as we all know, has always been in the south part of the United States, it just shows that theres absolutely no Global Climate change going on whatsoever [ laughter ] its just how its going to be. It is a delight to be here and it is a delight to be introducing people for this symposium. I have to say that about a year ago when we had our last chuck and i sat down with Jillian Berkowitz whos also here from Ohio University press because she publishes the books that come out of these series, we sat down and talked about what should we do next year. We thought, we will, lets go a little bit off of the chronology. Because we had been doing civil war and reconstruction and the lead up to the civil war for now more than a decade and we just felt we needed a break. I said, well, immigrations always an interesting issue. And little did we know how interesting immigration would be in the next 12 months. So i want to thank all of the current political candidates and no longer running political candidates for making this conference into an even more relevant and important conference than we had thought it would be. As someone told me yesterday, immigration is always an important topic and i think that is indeed the theme of this conference, that from the very beginning of the United States, indeed from the very first settlement of the colonies, until this morning, or tomorrow morning, immigration is always on the agenda of america. As a number of historians have said in various ways, the history of immigration is the history of the United States. And i think that is centrally true for today, and it is also, of course, centrally important to congressional policy because immigration, since the adoption of the constitution, has been an issue that is entirely in the hands of the federal government, at least after 1808. Theres some dispute before that. And congress has been very, very active. There have been literally hundreds of immigration statutes passed by congress in various ways, although most of them are longforgotten and obscure and even hard to find in the statute books. Our first speaker today is andrew gorea. Andrew has had an interesting care care career. He has a ph. D in American History. He will be talking about his work on the chinese exclusion act. But andrew has also been a press editor, and indeed was my editor at one point in our careers. And that i think is a sign of University Presses and academic presses. If your editor calls, you get the persons name because they rotate in and out. And so im simply going to turn the podium over to our first speaker and let andrew come up and talk to us about the chinese exclusion act. You are here somewhere, andrew. Yes. Hello. Just by way of introduction, im not sure if people are aware today, may 6th is the exact anniversary of the chinese exclusion act. It was signed by president Chester Arthur on may 6th, 1882, 134 years ago today. What i did when i was writing my dissertation and book, i made a list at one point of the ten worst laws in American History. To display that, alien act, chinese exclusion act is definitely somewhere up there in the top ten. And it was, just so people do know, the first law United States passed banning any group of people from the United States based on race or ethnicity or nationality. And it kind of served as the precedent for every antiimmigration law that was then passed in the early 1900s and the 1920s specifically. And it set the precedent for that. So today what i want to talk about is the cultural issues on chinese immigration. Chinese immigrants began coming to america in large numbers in the 1850s, largely as a result of the gold rush in california. Most were living on the west coast in the late 19th century, and chinese immigrants, chinese culture, was all over the press. You could see chinese images in magazines, in books, in songs. And i want to talk today about how what americans saw of chinese immigrants and keep in mind that at this time, meaning the late 1800s, very few americans, white americans or anglo americans, ever came into contact with chinese immigrants. The vast majority about 95 to 98 lived in california or the western states. So if you were east of the rockies, with the exception of very small little chinatowns in new york and a couple in washington, most americans never encountered Chinese People or chinese immigrants. So it make the image they received in Popular Culture that much more significant, because they had no other information to balance it against. So chiefie chingo appeared in a single scene in solid sam, or the branded brows. Evident it was that this precise pig tail was the forerunner of more that would follow and a murmur of disgust wend the rounds of the crowd. A goldurned chinaman. I say, who imported them here in we dont want none of that breed if these parts. Of course we dont, said several others. Get rid of those poison cusses. Dont you chinamen know you are invading a paradise never intended for pig tails and such like . Youve got to bounce. The son of confucius declared chinaman go where he please. Well ill be cussed, you darned flatsnooted sucker, he cried savagely. And he sprang forward and seized the unoffending chingo by the collar and yanked him around unmercifully. Bring a hope, boys, and we will a have a little picnic. A dozen minors hurried away in quest of the desired halter for it was down in their rough code that a chinaman was not fit for anything else but to hang. At once, wyoming walt, a young cattle driver and the novels hero, approaches. Hello, he ejaculated as his flashing eyes took in the scene. What are you going to do with that there chinaman, old man . Hang him by his thunder, he chuckled. Maybe youve got some lip to chip in against it . Well maybe i have, he declared cooley. Whats the celestial been doing that you want to send him up . In nothing, positively nothing, he replied with a leer. What are you going to do about it . Im going to persuade you to abandon all notion of stringing up the chinaman quickly whipping out a pair of revolvers. Take your hands off that chinaman and let him go or i will put a semicolon right between your eyes quicker than a kitten can say its catechisms. The celestial hasnt harmed anyone and dont deserve to be hung or even molested. This is a free country and everybody has a right to go where they please. A murmur of disapproval came from the crowd. As wyoming walt escalated the dispute over whether to lynch the chinese immigrant, a sudden diversion appears. The pretty post mistress approaching with a pair of silver mounted revolvers in the hand by the way, everyone in these novels carries weapons. The young heroin shouts, ill blow the head of ot pilgrim who offers to harm the big tail or the herder. Confrontation then reaches its climax. Hang the pig tail, was grouwled fiercely. I do mean it, she replied decidedly. Young stranger is right. You citizens have no more right to lay hands on the celestial than solid sam has to rob the stage coach. Let the pig tail go, boys, and youll sleep better for not hanging him tonight. These words seem to have an immediate effect for the men mostly restored their weapons to their belts and chingo was permitted to go on his way. Chinese immigrant exits the novel and is never heard from again. An incident at character, he helped introduce one major protagonist, knobby knell, and established the conflict between the two others. What is remarkable about this scene is not that chingo speaks in demeaning dialect or is portrayed in stereotype fashion, is almondeyed and pig tailed. That was par for the course in gilded age Popular Culture. What is striking is that the chinese immigrant was used as a plot device, to separate the good characters, wyoming walt and knob knby knell, from the bk characters. The good characters defend the chinese immigrants. The bad ones want to kill him and kick him out of the country. When this novel was pub accomplished in 1880 the United States was on the verge of passing the chinese exclusion act with being the first law every enacted barring a group of immigrants based on race or nationality from entering the United States or becoming citizens. The antichinese rhetoric by politicians in the Nations Capital in an era of exclusion stands out. Chinese immigrant, declared one congressman in washington, is a loathsome, revolting monstrosity who lives and herds and sleeps like packs of dogs in kennels. They spread mildew and rot through community, remarked another. These filthy aliens are unfitted by education, habits, religious superstition and by their inborn prejudices to assume any of the duties of american citizenship. As senator john jones of nevada conclud concluded, we oppose the chinese coming here because our sturdy arian tree will wither in root, trunk and branch if this noxious vine be permitted to entwine itself around it. Is an onslaught of antichinese vitriol spewed forth from both republicans and democrats in the u. S. Capitol for all i know it could be right in this room americans encountered a different, and more complicated, even contradictory image in Popular Culture. While certain aspects of the chinese character could vary from anythingtive tinegative tr aspects were persistent and uniform typically his appearance. Dim knewtive, slender and has flat, homely features. This is still with quotations. Ill do one of these, so you know. His yellow skin varied from olive to gold, to the color of coffee and milk. He is alternately copper colored, pumpkin colored, or simply discolored. More distinctive than skill conlore, however, are facial features. No cliche appeared more often than almondeyed and physically describing the chinese immigrant and almondeyed chinaman became almost an indivisible praise. The chinese hair style also receives attention. Every chinese immigrant wears a queue, long black hair often daily ornamented with ribbons. Like almond eyes and skin color, queues distinguish the chinese from all other immigrants. Why are the chinese look good actors, one character jokes . Because they always take their cues. Unless cut off by hoodlums or shot off in a gun fight, no chinese character ever appears without his queue. They are open game for ridicule. In the case of the easily terrified sing, for example, his very pig tail stands erect through fright. A cartoon from 1881 pictured a misshapened John Chinaman wearing a queue ornamented with a dozen firecrackers in the place of ribbons. John and john china man were ubiquitous terms in 19th century pervading Popular Culture. Like sambo for a black man or bridget for an irish woman, John Chinaman was shorthand for any chinsz chinese immigrant. Though john was not a chinese name, it became an inchangeable term. What was the john like . He was, above all else, greedy for gold and money. And will do anything for a nickel or a quarter. In fact, one author wrote in 1881, wherever there is a cent to be made, you may bet your boots that the chinaman is on hand to make it. The eyes of heathen glisten, noted another, as his fingers touched the gold piece. Now greed is by no means unusual or even a negative qualities in gilded age america. The slick hustler around man on the make were common enough characters among the white population in plays in these novels. What distinguished the chinese character was his single mind of lust for money to the exclusion of all else. Bound by neither conscience nor christ, the chinese would murder, steal and lie in the quest for gain. I wouldnt believe a heathen on a bible oath, says one desperate kart character. These desperate dogs lie in their sleep, says another. Id soon trust my old goat. In accordance with these traits, the chinese are notorious and dangerous gamblers. Scene after scene depicted them playing cards and invariably cheating. Thats just the way with one of them almondeyed, never known one as yet. Wouldnt sell eyes for tooth picks. They crept cautiously, snuck up suddenly, silently as a ghost. This eerie, almost super natural quality makes the reader suspicious, uncertain, never sure when a chinese character will appear or whether one is lurking about. As one character observes, these chinese thieves would steal the lashes off a dogs eye while he winked and would never see em. In harmony with their fluid and slinking movement is a pace as impenetrable as granite. Chinese are constantly described as inscrutable, flushrewd and cunning. Whereas cherub has a cunning mischievous look. Cunning and craftiness, like deceit, portrayed as inborn chinese characteristics. Call back to your memory of the history of the intercourse of the western nations with the socalled barbarians of the east, a fortune teller remarks in Rocky Mountain rob. In cunning, the east has always beaten the west and yielded only to the strong right arm of power. Here amid these mountains the story of the past will be repeated. Chinese cunning is portrayed through one predominant facial expression the grin. Nearly every chinese character is presented grinning. Sometimes he displays a sickly grin. Sometimes it is benevolent. Some grins are good naded. Others are crafty. Characters are introduces as the grinning mongolian, the grinning little chinaman. Like the cheshire cat, the grin is almost a fixed feature on the chinese face. Whatever happened, the chinaman grinned, as well. More than 39 novels made sure to note it, and grinning was the most common stage direction for chinese characters in plays. Authors used the grin to infantalize the chinese. But in one popular poem, with a smile that was child like and bland. This phrase, child like and bland, entered common usage in the 1870s and frequently provided the basic initial description of any chinese character. Not only were they portrayed as children, they were bore trayed as feminine with faces smooth, unbearded and soft. They were, in one authors words,parodies of man. They were physically turningated, not fully developed, not quite male, not quite adult. Such irresponsible child like people would deserve neither citizenship nor the vote. But the attack went even deeper. Not only were they denied their manhood, they were often denied their humanity. The chinese are frequently compared to animals. They are called piggish, wolfish, eel like. Most insidious are the connection to insects. Chuck . To insects and to rodentrodents. In this cartoon from mcgees ill stray illustrated weekly, 1881, the chinese are coming across as insects. You can see they are in the same of t shape as the United States coming across. The chinese being portrayed here as grasshoppers im sorry, back one. One character is compared to a lively flea. Others like ants on a little. In a most peculiar mantra as well, the chinese became what they ate cats, rats, dogs and mice. Though the novelists rarely depicted them eating rodents and felines, authors delighted having them. Popular songs played on this scene or equal vigor. Or supper he made from an old rat. The image of rat eater around mouse eater also pervaded the world of advertising. A chinese man a chinese man with mouth opened wide poised to consume a rat appeared on a trademark for new jersey chemists, while another helped sell the wares of an exterminator. Manufacturers even named products after them. The good luck company said the rat destroyer, they droevour it eagerly. The chinese eat rats and shake like rats. One kinds character is even named rats. Human merged with animal, eater with food source. One astonishing cartoon, a chinese immigrant ship approaches america. The chinese jump off t, the boa is rats on far right, and arrive in america as men. They are pictured simultaneously as rodent and human, m metamorphosising se inin inin metamorphosising. In no doubt this lent support to those seeking to exclude them from american shores and deny them citiz