1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Coming up, we have an episode that's related 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: to the Chinese Exclusion Act and the history of immigration 3 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: from China to the United States. We've talked about a 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: lot of the background and context for this before on 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: a number of different episodes, including the one on the 6 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: US Supreme Court decision in Chai Chong Ping versus the 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: United States. 8 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 2: This episode came out on April nineteenth, twenty twenty one, 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 2: and it is two days Saturday Classic Welcome to Stuff 10 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 2: You Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 1: Hello, and Welcome to the podcast. 12 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 2: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: We've gotten several requests to do an episode on the 14 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: Chinese Exclusion Act of eighteen eighty two, and that's something 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: that we've mentioned in I feel like a lot of 16 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: previous episodes, and it's gotten a longer discussion in some 17 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,119 Speaker 1: specific episodes like the Delano Grape Strike and Cannery Row 18 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,479 Speaker 1: and our Brief History of Foreign Foods in the US, 19 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: and then especially our two parter on Executive Order ninety 20 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: sixty six in the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during 21 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: World War Two. 22 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 2: So the Chinese. 23 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: Exclusion Act was really the first big piece in just 24 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: a long history of United States immigration laws, intended to 25 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: keep so called undesirables out of the country and to 26 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: maintain white racial purity. It was the United States first 27 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: major immigration law, and as its name suggests, it specifically 28 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: targeted people from China. It made it illegal for Chinese 29 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: laborers to enter the US for ten years, and then 30 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: it was extended under the Geary Act in eighteen ninety 31 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: two and then made permanent in nineteen o two. It 32 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: wasn't repealed until nineteen forty three. That was under the 33 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: Magnuson Act, although that act also set a quote on 34 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: Chinese immigration that worked out to a maximum of just 35 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: about one hundred and five people a year, so not 36 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: many at all. But the Chinese Exclusion Act also had 37 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: a much broader impact beyond its exclusion of Chinese immigrants 38 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: and beyond its setting the foundation for later laws that 39 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: targeted other groups. When it was challenged before the Supreme Court, 40 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,519 Speaker 1: the court's decisions established what's known as the plenary power 41 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,359 Speaker 1: doctrine for immigration law. Basically, that's the idea that the 42 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: US government's legislative and executive branches have virtually unlimited authority 43 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: to regulate immigration without a lot of oversight from the courts, 44 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: even if those same regulations would be considered discriminatory if 45 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: they were applied to US citizens. So today we are 46 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: going to talk about the Chinese Exclusion Act. We're also 47 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: going to talk about the Supreme Court case that's most 48 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: closely associated with all this, and that is Chai Chan 49 00:02:57,919 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: Ping versus the United States. 50 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 2: For the most part, immigration in the US from China 51 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 2: started after the end of the First Opium War. Briefly, 52 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 2: Britain wanted to import Chinese goods like tea and silk, 53 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,119 Speaker 2: but China didn't really have a need for Britain's usual exports, 54 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 2: so to offset that imbalance, Britain started trading opium from 55 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 2: India into Southern China. Opium, of course, is a highly 56 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 2: addictive narcotic, and although it had been introduced into China 57 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 2: before this point, the British opium trade was socially and 58 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 2: economically devastating. The emperors started issuing edicts against opium in 59 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 2: seventeen twenty nine, but Britain kept exporting it into China 60 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 2: in defiance of Chinese law. Eventually, China destroyed a shipment 61 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 2: of British opium by throwing it into the sea, and 62 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 2: Britain retaliated with force. The resulting war lasted from eighteen 63 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 2: thirty nine to eighteen forty two, and it ended with 64 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 2: the Treaty of Nanjing, which heavily favored British interests. Although 65 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 2: the US had all also been involved in the opium trade, 66 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 2: it wasn't one of the belligerents in this war, so 67 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 2: it was not a party to the Treaty of Nanjing. 68 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 2: But the US did want access to the same trading 69 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 2: ports and other concessions that Britain had secured through that treaty, 70 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 2: so US President John Tyler sent a delegation to China 71 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 2: in eighteen forty four, and the result was the Treaty 72 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 2: of wan Hia, which was described as a Treaty of quote, Peace, amity, 73 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 2: and commerce. It called for a quote perfect, permanent and 74 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 2: universal peace and a sincere and cordial amity between the 75 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 2: US and China. It was the first diplomatic agreement between 76 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 2: the US and China, and although it primarily covered US 77 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 2: trading rights with China, it also established the right for 78 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 2: Americans to live in five specific Chinese ports. The Treaties 79 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,720 Speaker 2: of Nanjing and wan Chia are two of the unequal 80 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 2: treaties that China signed with other nations in the nineteenth 81 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 2: and early twentieth centuries. These treaties heavily favored the interests 82 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 2: of other nations over those of China. China had strictly 83 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 2: limited its trade and its contact with other nations before 84 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 2: this point, and so it went through just massive and 85 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 2: tumultuous social and economic changes as a result of these 86 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 2: treaties and the concessions that they granted to other nations. 87 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 2: On top of that, the Taiping Rebellion was partially fueled 88 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 2: by this upheaval and dissatisfaction over these new foreign influences 89 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 2: in China. It started in eighteen fifty and led to 90 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 2: the deaths of more than twenty million people. Then, unresolved 91 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 2: issues from the First Opium War fed into the Second 92 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 2: Opium War that started in eighteen fifty six. There were 93 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 2: massive floods and famines in China in the mid nineteenth 94 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 2: century as well. 95 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,160 Speaker 1: In the wake of all this violence and chaos and destruction, 96 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: people understandably started emigrating from China to other countries, and 97 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: while some people were able to pay their own way, 98 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: others were essentially indentured workers, or in some cases, were 99 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,599 Speaker 1: the victims of trafficking. During these same years, the United 100 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: States needed a new source for laborers, especially in California. 101 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: The US took possession of nearly all of what is 102 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: now California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico after the 103 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: end of the Mexican American War in eighteen forty eight. 104 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: That same year, the discovery of gold launched the California 105 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 1: Gold Rush, So the US needed people to farm this 106 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: newly acquired land, to mine gold, to build infrastructure, just 107 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: on and on. 108 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 2: They needed people. 109 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, and just from a practical but also unpleasant level, 110 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,719 Speaker 1: people were going to have to come from somewhere else. 111 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,279 Speaker 1: The indigenous population of California is estimated to have been 112 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: at about one hundred and fifty thousand people at the 113 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: end of the Mexican American War, and they faced disease, 114 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: the loss of land, and genocide at the hands of 115 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: white settlers in the California government over the following decades. 116 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: And although some newcomers to Cali, California did bring their 117 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,279 Speaker 1: enslaved workforces with them. When California was admitted to the 118 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: Union in eighteen fifty it was as a free state, 119 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: so the United States was just needing to bring in 120 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: workers from some other source. One of the people proposing 121 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: that these new laborers come from China was Aaron Haate 122 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: Palmer his memoir Geographical, Political, and Commercial On the present state, 123 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: productive Resources and Capabilities for Commerce of Siberia, Manchuria, and 124 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: the Asiatic Islands of the Northern Pacific Ocean, and on 125 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 1: the importance of opening commercial intercourse with those countries we 126 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: love A long title. That book was addressed to President 127 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: James K. Polk in eighteen forty eight. In addition to 128 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:48,320 Speaker 1: summarizing quote, the present state, productive resources and capabilities for 129 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: commerce of several comparatively unknown countries in the East, the 130 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: eighth chapter of this work was titled quote Policy of 131 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: Encouraging Immigration of Chinese Agricultural Laborers to California semi colon 132 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: railroad from the Mississippi to the Bay of San Francisco. 133 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: This chapter began quote with the view of bringing the 134 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: fertile lands in California under early cultivation. I would suggest 135 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: the policy of encouraging immigration of agricultural laborers from China 136 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: to that territory. No people in all the East are 137 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: so well adapted for clearing wild lands and raising every 138 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: species of agricultural product, especially rice, cotton, tobacco, sugar, and 139 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: silk as the Chinese. Palmer goes on to describe how 140 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: a colony of Chinese laborers in California would also bring 141 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,199 Speaker 1: in trade from China and from other parts of Asia. 142 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:45,079 Speaker 1: He also advocates the construction of a railroad connecting the 143 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: Mississippi River to San Francisco, which would connect the eastern 144 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: US to the West coast for trade with Asia. The 145 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: United States would undertake such a railroad under the Pacific 146 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: Railway Act, which was signed into law in eighteen sixty two. 147 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: As a side here, Palmer would also go on to 148 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: draft such documents as Plan for Opening Japan, which formed 149 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: the foundation for commodore Matthew Perry's voyage to open Japan 150 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:15,079 Speaker 1: to Western trade by force. Palmer petitioned Congress for compensation 151 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: and recognition for his work. He was apparently very annoyed 152 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: that he had not been recognized or paid for all 153 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,079 Speaker 1: of this. That led to an Act for the Relief 154 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: of Aaron H. Palmer in eighteen sixty one, and under 155 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: that act he was paid three thousand dollars. In the 156 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: wake of all this, the number of Chinese people living 157 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: in the US rose dramatically. In eighteen forty, there were 158 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: four people of Chinese origin known to be living in 159 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: the United States. In eighteen fifty, there were just over 160 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: four thousand, but by eighteen sixty that number had grown 161 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: to almost thirty five thousand. That's a big number in 162 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: it sounds like a huge increase, and it is, but 163 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: it's still tiny compared to the total US population of 164 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: thirty one million people at the time. So at the 165 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: national level, looking at things from the federal government's perspective, 166 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: these were desperately needed, relatively inexpensive workers who were doing 167 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: critical manual labor. Some of that labor was incredibly difficult, unpleasant, 168 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: and dangerous. That was especially true as Chinese workers started 169 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: building the Transcontinental Railroad. They made up between eighty and 170 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: ninety percent of the workforce on the railroad's western portion. 171 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:31,199 Speaker 2: But locally, white people in the Western US, especially in California, 172 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 2: saw Chinese immigrants as a threat. This was especially true 173 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 2: during the Gold Rush, as white miners tried to exclude 174 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 2: Chinese people from mining camps and prevent Chinese people from 175 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:47,079 Speaker 2: staking claims. Basically, as soon as Chinese immigrants started branching 176 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 2: out beyond doing manual labor, white people resisted. We will 177 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 2: get into more about that. After a quick sponsor break 178 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 2: during the eighteen fifties and sixties, the state of California 179 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 2: started really trying to discourage immigration from China and to 180 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 2: place restrictions on Chinese people who were already in the state. 181 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 2: In eighteen fifty four, the California Supreme Court issued its 182 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,040 Speaker 2: decision in People Versus Hall, which ruled that Chinese people 183 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:27,680 Speaker 2: could not testify against white people in court. The language 184 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 2: of the court's ruling was explicitly racist, including describing Chinese 185 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,839 Speaker 2: people as inferior. In eighteen fifty eight, California passed a 186 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 2: law that barred Chinese and Mongolian people from entering the state, 187 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 2: where generally there were also just the same kinds of 188 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:46,440 Speaker 2: discriminatory segregation laws that we've seen in other contexts, and 189 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 2: laws that were just applied only to the Chinese population 190 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 2: and not to everyone else. At the same time, the 191 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 2: United States was signing new treaties with China. In eighteen 192 00:11:57,440 --> 00:11:59,679 Speaker 2: fifty eight, the US and China signed the Treaty of 193 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 2: Chen which supplemented and revised the Treaty of Juan Chia. 194 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:08,359 Speaker 2: The Treaty of Tianjin again emphasized this idea of establishing 195 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 2: a quote firm, lasting, and sincere friendship between the two nations. 196 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: The Treaties of Tianjin and Wan Chia both outlined various 197 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 1: rights and protections for American citizens who were living in China, 198 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: but they didn't really do the same for Chinese citizens 199 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 1: who were living in the United States, or really mentioned 200 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 1: Chinese immigration to the US at all. That changed with 201 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,199 Speaker 1: the Berlin Game Seward Treaty of eighteen sixty eight that 202 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: was named for US Minister to China andson Burlingame, who 203 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 1: had started working directly for the Chinese government, and for 204 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: Secretary of State William Seward. In addition to again reiterating 205 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: and expanding American trading rights with China, this treaty also 206 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: specified that both Chinese and American citizens had a quote 207 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: inherent and unalienable right to change their home and allegiance. 208 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: In other words, Americans could immigrate to China and Chinese 209 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:07,440 Speaker 1: people could immigrate to the US without restriction. At the 210 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: same time, quote nothing herein contained shall be held to 211 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: confer naturalization upon citizens of the US in China, nor 212 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: upon the subjects of China in the United States. US 213 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: citizens could also enjoy all the privileges of a public 214 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: education under control of the Chinese government, and Chinese citizens 215 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: could do the same in the US. Chinese and American 216 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 1: citizens were each allowed to establish their own schools in 217 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 1: the other country as well. But even as the federal 218 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: government was establishing this pretty unrestricted right to emigrate between 219 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: China and the United States, discrimination against Chinese people already 220 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: in the United States was really increasing. The same types 221 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 1: of racist stereotyping that had been used to justify slavery 222 00:13:54,880 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 1: was used to justify discrimination and violence against Chinese immigrants. 223 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,440 Speaker 1: Men were described as being useful only for manual labor, 224 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,959 Speaker 1: while Chinese women were cast as sex workers. Compounding all 225 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: of this were perceptions that Chinese people would work for 226 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: such low wages that they made it impossible for white 227 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: people to compete. Employers also started bringing in Chinese workers 228 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: to break strikes, and that drew the ire of the 229 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: workers they were replacing and the unions that represented them, 230 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: and the language used to describe Chinese workers often carried 231 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: a connotation of damage and destruction. These immigrants were described 232 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: as an invasion, or a flood, or a deluge, or 233 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 1: even a plague of locusts. The idea was that once 234 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: the railroad was finished, or the mine was played out, 235 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: or the crop was brought in, then these workers would 236 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,520 Speaker 1: swarm into another area and destroy everything in their path. 237 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: This was worsened by the Panic of eighteen seventy three, 238 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: which kicked off a financial depression and also led to 239 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: increased competition for fewer and fewer jobs. White communities and 240 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 1: business leaders along the West Coast, especially in California, started 241 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: pressing the federal government to take action against this supposed 242 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: Chinese threat. In eighteen seventy five, less than a decade 243 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: after signing the Berlin Game Treaty, the federal government responded 244 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: to this with the Page Act. 245 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 2: The Page Act barred US citizens from bringing quote any 246 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 2: subject of China, Japan, or any Oriental country into the 247 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 2: US without their free and voluntary consent. In other words, 248 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 2: it banned Americans from bringing indentured or otherwise unfree workers 249 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 2: to the US from these countries. Section three of the 250 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:44,000 Speaker 2: Page Act also began quote the importation into the United 251 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 2: States of women for the purposes of prostitution is hereby forbidden, 252 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 2: and it empowered port collectors to inspect vessels and their 253 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 2: passengers to confirm that this law was being followed. 254 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: The Page Act essentially assumed that Asian women immigrating to 255 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: the US world sex workers, and it subjected them to 256 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 1: degrading and humiliating exams and interrogations upon arrival. Before this point, 257 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: Chinese immigrants to the US had been predominantly male, since 258 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,240 Speaker 1: so many were being contracted to work as manual laborers. 259 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: But the Page Act became an even bigger deterrent for women, 260 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 1: and it reinforced stereotypes that connected Asian women to sex work. 261 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 1: Combined with a rise in anti miscegenation laws which made 262 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: it illegal for people of different races to marry, this 263 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 1: meant that the vast majority of Chinese people in the 264 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,600 Speaker 1: US were single men or men whose families were back 265 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: in China. Was basically a deterrent to forming actual families 266 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: and communities here in the US. We talked about some 267 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: similar stuff in our Delano Grape Strike episode with Filipino 268 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: workers who were not permitted to have wives or to 269 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: bring their wives from the Philippines. Yeah eighteen seventy five 270 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 1: was also the year that Chai chan Ping arrived in 271 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: the US to work, and he worked in the United 272 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: States for the next twelve years, and during those years, 273 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,479 Speaker 1: the US continued to pass new restrictions on immigration from 274 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:17,240 Speaker 1: China and other parts of Asia, and on Chinese immigrants 275 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: already in the country. California adopted a new state constitution 276 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,879 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy nine, which included Article nineteen. It was 277 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:30,120 Speaker 1: simply called Chinese. Section two of this article began, quote, 278 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: no corporation, now existing or hereafter formed under the laws 279 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 1: of this State shall, after the adoption of this Constitution, employed, 280 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: directly or indirectly, in any capacity any Chinese or Mongolian. 281 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: Section three reads in its entirety quote no Chinese shall 282 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: be employed on any state, county, municipal, or other public work, 283 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: except in punishment for crime. Also in eighteen seventy nine, 284 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: the US Senate and House asked a bill that mandated 285 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: that ships arriving in the United States could carry no 286 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: more than fifteen Chinese workers. President Rutherford B. Hayes vetoed 287 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:13,359 Speaker 1: this bill because it conflicted with the treaties in place 288 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: with China, including the Berlin Game Treaty, but then to 289 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: address that he sent a commission to China, headed by 290 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 1: diplomat James Angel, to negotiate a new treaty, and the 291 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 1: result of that negotiation was the Angel Treaty, signed in 292 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty. 293 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 2: The Angel Treaty was written to apply only to laborers, 294 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 2: although the definition of laborer expanded over time. It read 295 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,920 Speaker 2: in part quote, Whenever, in the opinion of the Government 296 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 2: of the United States, the coming of Chinese laborers to 297 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 2: the United States or their residents therein effects or threatens 298 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 2: to affect the interests of that country, or to endanger 299 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 2: the good order of the said country, or of any 300 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:57,880 Speaker 2: locality within the territory thereof, the Government of China agrees 301 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:01,159 Speaker 2: that the Government of the United States may regulate, limit, 302 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 2: or suspend such coming or residence, but may not absolutely 303 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:11,119 Speaker 2: prohibit it. This treaty's second article declared that quote Chinese subjects, 304 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 2: whether proceeding to the United States as teachers, students, merchants, 305 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 2: or from curiosity, together with their body and household servants 306 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 2: and Chinese laborers, who are now in the United States, 307 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:26,120 Speaker 2: shall be allowed to go and come of their own 308 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 2: free will and accord, and shall be accorded all the 309 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 2: rights privileges, immunities, and exemptions which are accorded to the 310 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:34,640 Speaker 2: citizens and. 311 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:39,399 Speaker 1: Subjects of the most favored nation. However, just two years 312 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 1: after signing the Angel Treaty, the United States passed the 313 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,680 Speaker 1: Chinese Exclusion Act, or as it was formally known, an 314 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 1: Act to execute certain Treaty stipulations relating to Chinese. It 315 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 1: banned Chinese laborers from coming to the US for ten years, 316 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: and it defined laborers as quote both skilled and unskilled 317 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:04,360 Speaker 1: laborers and Chinese employed in mining. And it also included 318 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,440 Speaker 1: this clause, no state court or court of the United 319 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: States shall admit Chinese to citizenship. Now, you could make 320 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 1: the argument that because this applied only to laborers, it 321 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 1: was not absolutely prohibiting people from coming from China to 322 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: the United States, which is like the Angel Treaty had 323 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: said that the US could limit but not absolutely prohibit. 324 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: That's still kind of like well, technically level of argument. 325 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 1: This Act did not apply to Chinese people who were 326 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: already in the US before the Angel Treaty was signed, 327 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: or to people who arrived within ninety days of the 328 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,159 Speaker 1: passage of the Exclusion Act, at least in terms of 329 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: the ability to come and go. The fact that they 330 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,919 Speaker 1: then could not become citizens. That applied to everyone, and 331 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 1: this established a process to take place at American ports 332 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: which would document the right of these people who you know, 333 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: were exempt under this part of the treaty to come 334 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: and go. The customs collector would document all Chinese passengers 335 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 1: on departing vessels, and then these passengers were entitled to 336 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 1: receive a certificate that would quote entitle the Chinese laborer 337 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 1: to whom the same is issued to return to and 338 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 1: re enter the United States, upon producing and delivering the 339 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 1: same to the Collector of Customs of the district at 340 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: which such Chinese laborer shall seek to re enter. So basically, 341 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:31,880 Speaker 1: if you're already here, you were supposed to be able 342 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:33,879 Speaker 1: to come and go. You could return to China or 343 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:35,959 Speaker 1: go somewhere else and then come back in the United States. 344 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: In practice, this act banned virtually all immigration to the 345 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:43,960 Speaker 1: US from China, and it also sparked a massive amount 346 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: of horrific anti Chinese violence in the US. There had 347 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:52,480 Speaker 1: been mass anti Chinese violence before this point. As one example, 348 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,640 Speaker 1: on October twenty fourth, eighteen seventy one, a white man 349 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,719 Speaker 1: was killed during a shootout involving several Chinese men, and 350 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,399 Speaker 1: in retaliation, a white mob attacked the Chinese community of 351 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 1: Los Angeles, lynching at least seventeen people. But after the 352 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 1: Exclusion Act was passed, White communities on the West Coast 353 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: felt empowered to purge their Chinese populations, and they subjected 354 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: Chinese neighborhoods to riots and other mass violence. Multiple cities 355 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:26,400 Speaker 1: and towns expelled their entire Chinese population, including Tacoma, Washington, 356 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: which force marched its remaining Chinese residents out of town 357 00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:34,120 Speaker 1: on November third, eighteen eighty five. At least twenty eight 358 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 1: Chinese men were massacred in Rock Springs, Wyoming, on September 359 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,879 Speaker 1: thirtieth of eighteen eighty five. This whole period came to 360 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,400 Speaker 1: be known as the Driving Out, and it really had 361 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,640 Speaker 1: a lot of similarities to the mass violence against black 362 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 1: communities that we've talked about in previous episodes, including our 363 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: episode on the Red Summer of nineteen nineteen. There was 364 00:22:55,840 --> 00:23:00,439 Speaker 1: a widespread perception outside of the Chinese community that Chinese 365 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: immigrants were ignorant and illiterate, but really the Chinese immigrant 366 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,880 Speaker 1: community in the US was deeply interconnected, organized, and legally 367 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:13,840 Speaker 1: very savvy. Chinese benevolent and mutual aid associations had started 368 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 1: to form in the US almost as soon as Chinese 369 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: immigrants had started arriving. In eighteen eighty two, the sixth 370 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:25,440 Speaker 1: most powerful formed the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, also known 371 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:30,440 Speaker 1: as the Chinese Six Companies. Its leadership included Chinese merchants 372 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,440 Speaker 1: and other wealthy and prominent people, and it kept attorneys 373 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: on retainer to deal with legal issues that involved Chinese immigrants, 374 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: so did the Chinese Consulate. This led to a huge 375 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 1: number of court cases as people started arriving from China 376 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: and to the United States without that certificate that was 377 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: described under the Chinese Exclusion Act that would guarantee them 378 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,639 Speaker 1: the right to return. In some cases, this was because 379 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 1: they were really newer rivals. They hadn't been in the 380 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: United States before. There were plenty of reasons that people 381 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,120 Speaker 1: might really be returning to the US having left previously, 382 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: but without the right paperwork to prove that they had 383 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: previously been in the country. They could have left the 384 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: United States before the Exclusion Act was passed, at which 385 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: point no such certificates were being issued, or they just 386 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,719 Speaker 1: might not have been issued one that said that they 387 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,480 Speaker 1: were entitled to it, not that they were guaranteed to 388 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: receive it. This caused problems at the ports, as officials 389 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,119 Speaker 1: had to work out whether people really were legally allowed 390 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: to enter the US. These cases often wound up in court. 391 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: The collector of the Port of San Francisco claimed that 392 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 1: of the more than twenty six hundred Chinese people allowed 393 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: into the US in the first fourteen months after the 394 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: Act was signed, more than a third of them had 395 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: come through the courts without a re entry certificate. 396 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:52,400 Speaker 2: This was a big deal. 397 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: On January twenty sixth, eighteen eighty four, Judge Ogden Hoffman 398 00:24:57,280 --> 00:24:59,639 Speaker 1: of the U. S. District Court for the Northern District 399 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: of Cali, California, included this statement in his ruling on 400 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 1: one of these cases. Quote, if the Chinese immigrants come 401 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:09,880 Speaker 1: in the future in anything like the number in which 402 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,239 Speaker 1: they have recently arrived, it will be impossible for the 403 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: courts to fulfill their ordinary functions. There remain on the 404 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: calendar of the District Court. I am informed one hundred 405 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:24,679 Speaker 1: and ninety cases for five or six weeks, even with 406 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:27,800 Speaker 1: night sessions, I have been unable to make any great 407 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:32,119 Speaker 1: impression on them. All ordinary business, public and private of 408 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: the court is necessarily suspended or if resumed, these passengers, 409 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:40,440 Speaker 1: many of who may be entitled to their discharge, are 410 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:45,440 Speaker 1: left either in custody or on bail, awaiting the determination 411 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:50,440 Speaker 1: of their cases. It is therefore an urgent necessity that Congress, 412 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: by committing that duty to commissioners, or by some other mode, 413 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,199 Speaker 1: should relieve the courts of the burden of passing on 414 00:25:58,320 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 1: these cases. 415 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 2: To close these legal loopholes. On July third, eighteen eighty four, 416 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:07,880 Speaker 2: the US government broadened the Chinese Exclusion Act, making those 417 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,240 Speaker 2: re entry certificates issued at port the only evidence that 418 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 2: could establish a person's right to re enter the United States. 419 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,280 Speaker 2: But this expansion didn't make any provision for people who 420 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 2: had left the US before it was passed. This led 421 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:24,919 Speaker 2: to a Supreme Court case involving Chiu Hung, who had 422 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 2: left the US for Hawaii in eighteen eighty one and 423 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 2: had tried to return to the US in eighteen eighty four. 424 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,480 Speaker 2: In this case, Hung was allowed to enter the US 425 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,200 Speaker 2: because the Court found that the law had not intended 426 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,120 Speaker 2: to strip people of rights they had previously had under 427 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 2: the treaty, which included being able to come and go. 428 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:48,199 Speaker 2: Justice Stephenfield who will come up again. Dissented with this ruling, 429 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 2: arguing that it was quote wholly immaterial to inquire whether 430 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,360 Speaker 2: by the act assailed it has departed from the treaty 431 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 2: or not, or whether such departure was accidental or designed, and, 432 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 2: if the last, whether the reasons therefore were good or bad. 433 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 2: During the oral arguments, Field had also said, quote, Congress 434 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 2: never supposed that Chinamen intended to go back to China 435 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 2: and stay several years. If they do not come back 436 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 2: at once, they should not be allowed to come at all. 437 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,720 Speaker 2: We're going to get into Chai chung Ping's case after 438 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:20,359 Speaker 2: we pause for a sponsor break. 439 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:32,399 Speaker 1: As we said earlier, Chai chan Ping traveled into the 440 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,760 Speaker 1: United States from China in eighteen eighty seven, and he 441 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 1: worked in the US for the next twelve years. Beyond that, 442 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 1: we don't know a lot about him. I have a 443 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,879 Speaker 1: lot of unanswered questions, specifically about his name, Like I 444 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: don't know how his name was written in Chinese characters 445 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: and how that was romanized, because the romanization methods that 446 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,720 Speaker 1: exist today like had not really been developed yet when 447 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 1: he immigrated. There are just some question marks about how 448 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: he would have written or said his own name. On 449 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 1: June second, eighteen eighty seven, he set sail for China 450 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,520 Speaker 1: aboard the steamship Gaelic for a visit. Before the ship 451 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 1: left the port, he got the required certificate that would 452 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: allow him to re enter the United States when he 453 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,639 Speaker 1: got back. On September seventh, eighteen eighty eight, he set 454 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,679 Speaker 1: sail from Hong Kong aboard the Belgic that was a 455 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 1: British vessel that was under charter to an American company, 456 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,880 Speaker 1: and it was bound for San Francisco. The Supreme Court's 457 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: decision in his case says that he arrived in San 458 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: Francisco on October eighth, but newspaper reports about the vessel's 459 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: arrival say that it was on the seventh. However, on 460 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: October first, eighteen eighty eight, while he was still in transit, 461 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: President Grover Cleveland signed the Scott Act into law, and 462 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: the Scott Act barred re entry for Chinese immigrants to 463 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: the US, no matter when they first arrived in or 464 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: how long they had lived in the country. The US 465 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,880 Speaker 1: and China had been working on yet another treaty. This time, 466 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 1: China had proposed that it curtail immigration to the US 467 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,960 Speaker 1: with the hopes that it would ultimately protect its citizens 468 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 1: who were in the United States, but the resulting treaty 469 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,760 Speaker 1: banned immigration to the US for twenty years and the 470 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: return of Chinese workers to the US. This led to 471 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: a huge outcry, and China refused to ratify the treaty, 472 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 1: so the US acted unilaterally and put the same basic 473 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: provisions in place with the Scott Act. Yeah, at this point, 474 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: China really had no confidence that the United States was 475 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: willing or able to protect Chinese citizens who were living 476 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:44,000 Speaker 1: on American soil. The Scott Acts made that reentry certificate 477 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:48,440 Speaker 1: that Chai Chanping had obtained before leaving the United States invalid, 478 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: and he was not at all unique in this situation. 479 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,200 Speaker 1: Even though only a few of these cases made it 480 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: all the way to the Supreme Court, It's estimated that 481 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: the Scott Act invalidated the re entry permits of as 482 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 1: many as twenty thousand Chinese people, and that as many 483 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 1: as six hundred of them were in transit to the 484 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,720 Speaker 1: United States when it was passed. Just in terms of 485 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: the passengers aboard the Belgic there were one hundred and 486 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 1: seventy six people from China, all of whom were kept 487 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: there confined to the ship under guard by port officials. 488 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 2: Attorneys began filing petitions on behalf of those one hundred 489 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 2: and seventy six people, some of them arguing that they 490 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,560 Speaker 2: had technically been under US jurisdiction before the Scott Act 491 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 2: was signed, since the Belgic was operating under an American charter. 492 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 2: A petition for Chai chan Ping was filed on October tenth, 493 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 2: and he was issued a writ of habeas corpus. 494 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: Chai Chanping's hearing was before the Circuit Court of the 495 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:50,000 Speaker 1: United States for the Northern District of California, and the 496 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: judge ruled that his detention aboard the Belgic was legal. 497 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,160 Speaker 1: Because of the Scott Act, he had no legal right 498 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: to enter the United States anymore, but his ane argued 499 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,600 Speaker 1: that this was in violation of existing treaties between the 500 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:08,320 Speaker 1: United States and China, including the Berlin Game Treaty. His 501 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: appeal went to the Supreme Court, where it was argued 502 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,720 Speaker 1: on March twenty eighth and twenty ninth of eighteen eighty nine. 503 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 1: The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution is worded as 504 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 1: applying to persons, not citizens, so a person cannot be 505 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 1: deprived of life liberty or property without due process of law. 506 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: Chai chan Ping's attorneys made an argument that his right 507 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 1: to re enter the US was effectively property and that 508 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: he could not be stripped of it without due process. 509 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,640 Speaker 1: They also reiterated the idea that his exclusion from the 510 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:43,240 Speaker 1: US ran against existing treaties with China. However, the Supreme 511 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:47,280 Speaker 1: Court was unanimous in its decision, which was issued on 512 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:50,760 Speaker 1: May thirteenth, that Chai chan Ping did not have the 513 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:54,320 Speaker 1: right to re enter the United States, regardless of what 514 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 1: the treaties in place between the US and China actually said. 515 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: In terms of federal law and international treaties. The Court 516 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 1: ruled that neither of them had automatic precedence over the other, 517 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,120 Speaker 1: so whichever one was the most recent was the one 518 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 1: that applied to the situation. But the Court also went 519 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:17,520 Speaker 1: way beyond answering just this one specific question. Stephen Johnson Field, 520 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 1: writing for the majority, wrote, quote, to preserve its independence 521 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:25,120 Speaker 1: and give security against foreign aggression and encroachment is the 522 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:28,560 Speaker 1: highest duty of every nation, and to attain these ends, 523 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 1: nearly all other considerations are to be subordinated. It matters 524 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: not in what form such aggression and encroachment come, whether 525 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 1: from the foreign nation acting in its national character, or 526 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 1: from vast hordes of its people crowding in upon us. 527 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,840 Speaker 1: The Court's opinion was also pretty broad in how it 528 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,040 Speaker 1: approached the idea of race and assimilation. 529 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 2: Quote. 530 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 1: If therefore, the Government of the United States, through its 531 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 1: Legislative Department, considers the presence of foreigners of a diff 532 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: race in this country who will not assimilate with us 533 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:07,200 Speaker 1: to be dangerous to its peace and security, their exclusion 534 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 1: is not to be stayed because at the time there 535 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 1: are no actual hostilities with the nation of which the 536 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 1: foreigners are subjects. 537 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 2: This opinion also framed restrictions on immigration, even if discriminatory, 538 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,640 Speaker 2: as a fundamental part of a nation's sovereignty. Quote, the 539 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:28,160 Speaker 2: power of exclusion of foreigners being an incident of sovereignty 540 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 2: belonging to the Government of the United States, as a 541 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 2: part of those sovereign powers delegated by the Constitution, the 542 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,200 Speaker 2: right to its exercise at any time when, in the 543 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:41,440 Speaker 2: judgment of the government, the interests of the country require. 544 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:44,959 Speaker 2: It cannot be granted away or restrained on behalf of 545 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 2: any one. 546 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:50,600 Speaker 1: Today, chat Chanping versus the United States is often referred 547 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:54,760 Speaker 1: to as the Chinese Exclusion case, although sometimes that's also 548 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,960 Speaker 1: grouped in with three later cases and they become the 549 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:02,200 Speaker 1: Chinese Exclusion cases together as a group. And although these 550 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:06,760 Speaker 1: decisions have been highly criticized, especially in recent years, they 551 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,160 Speaker 1: have never been overturned. As we said at the top 552 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:13,160 Speaker 1: of the show. Together they have formed the foundation for 553 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: the plenary power doctrine in the context of United States 554 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:21,319 Speaker 1: immigration law. Basically, people trying to enter the US aren't citizens, 555 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:25,880 Speaker 1: so constitutional protections against discrimination don't apply to them. And 556 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: although persons already in the United States are covered under 557 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: parts of the Fourteenth Amendment, specifically the guarantee of Due Process, 558 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:39,680 Speaker 1: persons not already in the United States really aren't. So 559 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:43,239 Speaker 1: through these rulings, the Supreme Court took a position that 560 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:47,279 Speaker 1: the President and Congress are responsible for immigration law, not 561 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 1: the courts, and not without much court oversight. As for 562 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,200 Speaker 1: Chai chan Ping, we know he was forced to go 563 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,439 Speaker 1: back to China, but that didn't happen for a few 564 00:34:56,440 --> 00:35:00,080 Speaker 1: more months. His case had become national news thanks to 565 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,440 Speaker 1: its potential impact on the Chinese Exclusion Act, and for 566 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:06,239 Speaker 1: weeks after the Supreme Court issued its ruling, there were 567 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:09,759 Speaker 1: headlines claiming that no one knew where he was. On 568 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:12,400 Speaker 1: June twenty third, one of his attorneys gave a statement 569 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:15,040 Speaker 1: to the San Francisco Examiner that he would let the 570 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 1: Federal Marshall know when his client was ready to set sail, 571 00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:20,680 Speaker 1: and that it wasn't unusual for it to take up 572 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:23,080 Speaker 1: to thirty days for a person to get their affairs 573 00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:25,880 Speaker 1: in order and be ready to leave, even though he 574 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:28,440 Speaker 1: was essentially being deported at this point, Like none of 575 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:33,120 Speaker 1: the language around this case is framed as deportation. It's 576 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:36,839 Speaker 1: excluding him from entering the US, even though he had 577 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,400 Speaker 1: been released on bond and was already in the US. 578 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,920 Speaker 1: In August of eighteen eighty nine, his bondsman agreed to 579 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:46,839 Speaker 1: bring him to the Port to board the Arabic, which 580 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:49,480 Speaker 1: was scheduled to depart for China on the twenty second 581 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,120 Speaker 1: of that month. It seems to have actually set sail 582 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,279 Speaker 1: a few days after that, according to a write up 583 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: in The New York Times, which is really insulting in 584 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 1: its tone, So I kind of take this with a 585 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,280 Speaker 1: grain of salt. He refused to pay for his passage 586 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:05,600 Speaker 1: because he did not want to leave the United States 587 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:08,279 Speaker 1: in the first place. There were people who came to 588 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,920 Speaker 1: the US from China while the Chinese Exclusion Act was enforced. 589 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:15,440 Speaker 1: This was particularly true after the nineteen oh six earthquake 590 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,840 Speaker 1: and fire destroyed most of San Francisco's public records, so 591 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 1: people forged documents to claim that they had been born 592 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:25,319 Speaker 1: in the US or that they were related to US citizens. 593 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,480 Speaker 1: People who entered the US through this kind of forged 594 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:32,960 Speaker 1: paperwork became known as paper sons. So it's possible that 595 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,360 Speaker 1: Chai chan Ping returned to the US, but it is 596 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:38,799 Speaker 1: assumed that he spent the rest of his life in China. Yeah, 597 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:41,160 Speaker 1: we don't really know a lot about what happened to 598 00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:43,160 Speaker 1: him after this point. We don't know a lot about 599 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:46,319 Speaker 1: him as a person in general, but we do know 600 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:50,439 Speaker 1: that his case had just a monumental influence on how 601 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:53,880 Speaker 1: the courts have continued to view immigration law in the 602 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:59,400 Speaker 1: United States and by extension, like how lawmakers make immigration policy, 603 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:04,240 Speaker 1: knowing that the plenary power doctrine is the long standing 604 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:12,239 Speaker 1: president at this point. Thanks so much for joining us 605 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 1: on this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, 606 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:19,799 Speaker 1: our email addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and 607 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,520 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, 608 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:25,960 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.