The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America

361 Pages·2018·2.94 MB·English

by  Beth Lew-Williams

THE
Chinese Must Go

THE
Chinese Must Go
VIO LENCE, EXCLUSION, AND THE MAKING
OF THE ALIEN IN AMER I CA
Beth Lew- Williams
Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts · London, England
2018
Copyright © 2018 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
First printing
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Lew- Williams, Beth, author.
Title: The Chinese must go : vio lence, exclusion, and the making of the
alien in Amer i ca / Beth Lew- Williams.
Description: Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts : Harvard University Press,
2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017032640 | ISBN 9780674976016 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Chinese— United States— History—19th century. |
Chinese— Vio lence against— United States. | Border security—
United States— History—19th century. | Race discrimination—
United States— History—19th century. | Emigration and immigration
law— United States— History—19th century. | Aliens— United
States— History—19th century. | Citizens—United States—
History—19th century. | United States— Race
relations— History—19th century.
Classification: LCC E184.C5 L564 2018 | DDC 305.895 / 1073— dc23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn.loc . gov / 2017032640
Cover photo courtesy of the Oregon Historical Society, image number
28159
Cover design by Jill Breitbarth
In memory of Lew Din Wing

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
The Vio lence of Exclusion 1
PART 1 • Restriction
1. The Chinese Question 17
2. Experiments in Restriction 53
PART 2 • Vio lence
3. The Banished 91
4. The People 113
5. The Loyal 137
PART 3 • Exclusion
6. The Exclusion Consensus 169
7. Afterlives under Exclusion 194
EPILOGUE
The Modern American Alien 235
APPENDIX A
Sites of Anti- Chinese Expulsions and
Attempted Expulsions, 1885–1887 247
APPENDIX B
Chinese Immigration to the United States, 1850–1904 253
ABBREVIATIONS 255
NOTES 259
ACKNOWL EDGMENTS 337
INDEX 341

THE
Chinese Must Go