1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: a show that pays tribute to people of the past 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: by telling their stories. Today, I'm Gay Bluesier, and in 5 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: this episode, we're revisiting a day when anti Chinese sentiment 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: turned neighbor against neighbor and transformed a once peaceful city 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: into a war zone. The day was February nine, eighteen six. 8 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: President Grover Cleveland sent three hundred US troops to Seattle, Washington, 9 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: in an effort to put down an anti Chinese riot 10 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: that had erupted two days earlier. The violence in Seattle 11 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: had its roots in the Chinese Exclusion Act of eighteen 12 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: eighty two. That law suspended Chinese immigration to the United 13 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: States for ten years and also blocked the path to 14 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: citizenship for any Chinese immigrants who were already there. Congress 15 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: passed the Act in response to pressure from labor unions 16 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: who saw Chinese laborers as competition and wanted a way 17 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,199 Speaker 1: to squeeze them out of the market. Put another way, 18 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 1: the Act was a chance to appease the white population 19 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: without actually doing anything to solve the deeper problems of 20 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: job scarcity. And anti Chinese sentiment. The US government figured 21 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: that by allowing current Chinese immigrants to remain in the country, 22 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: it could avoid angering China by deporting thousands of people, 23 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: and thus would keep the country as a trading partner. However, 24 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: that compromise tainted the law in the eyes of those 25 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: who had pushed forth the hardest. They didn't just want 26 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: to prevent more Chinese workers from coming to America, they 27 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: also wanted to get rid of the ones who were 28 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: already there. Chinese laborers were often willing to work for 29 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: lower wages than their white counterparts, leading many white workers 30 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: to be passed over in favor of Chinese ones. The 31 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: party at fault in that arrangement was not the Chinese, 32 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: who were desperate enough to accept work for low pay. 33 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: The root of the problem was the employers, the people 34 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: who abandoned the white workforce in order to save money 35 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: by exploiting the labor of minority workers who were in 36 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,959 Speaker 1: even more dire straits. It would have been more productive 37 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: for the white settlers to team up with the Chinese 38 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: laborers and demand better treatment from their employers, but pitting 39 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: the poor against each other has always been a reliable 40 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: way for those with wealth and power to maintain the 41 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: status quo, and so it was here. In the end, 42 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: the Chinese Exclusion Act still wasn't enough to satisfy the 43 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: resentment of many white American workers, a lot of whom 44 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: were in a prints themselves. Instead, throughout the American West, 45 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: groups of white settlers became violently anti Chinese. Over the 46 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:12,679 Speaker 1: next fifty or so years, these groups would carry out 47 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: coordinated attacks, instigate riots, and lead purges that resulted in 48 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: the displacement of more than twenty thousand Chinese people. The 49 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: assault began in earnest in the fall of eighteen eighty five, 50 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: during a period of extreme job scarcity in the West. 51 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: Much of the violence was carried out by the members 52 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: of a kind of militant brotherhood known as the Knights 53 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: of Labor in the Pacific Northwest. The Night's goal was 54 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: to forcibly remove all Chinese workers from the Puget Sound 55 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: region of Washington. To that end, on the evening of 56 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: November third, eighteen eighty five, the Washington branch of the 57 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: Knights of Labor stormed the homes of the last three 58 00:03:55,640 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: hundred Chinese residents in Tacoma, Washington. The five drewed man 59 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: mob included the town's mayor, judge, and city councilors. Armed 60 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: with clubs and pistols, they smashed their way into the 61 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: residents homes and then marched them to the railroad, where 62 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: they were forced onto a train and shipped off to Portland. 63 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 1: An eyewitness named Tok Nam recalled the event, saying quote, 64 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: they drove us like so many hogs. Over the next 65 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:30,600 Speaker 1: four days, Tacoma's two Chinatown neighborhoods were burned to the ground. 66 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: The lead perpetrators were easily identified, but not a single 67 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,480 Speaker 1: one of them was convicted of a crime. This practice 68 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: of violent expulsion quickly became known as the Tacoma method, 69 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: and it was repeated in cities up and down the 70 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: West Coast. Within three months, angry white settlers in Seattle 71 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: were ready to try the method for themselves. At the time, 72 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: Seattle's Chinatown district was a mixed use neighborhood, with most 73 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: residences built on top of retail storefronts. By early eighteen 74 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: eighty six, as much as half of the city's Chinese 75 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: population had already fled due to the increasing thread of violence. 76 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: That left fewer than four hundred Chinese in the entire city. 77 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: On February seven, eighteen eighty six, those remaining residents were 78 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,919 Speaker 1: visited by a group of men posing as health inspectors, 79 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: possibly members of the Nights of Labor. They claimed the 80 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: Chinese occupied buildings, all of them were unfit for habitation 81 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: due to overcrowding. With the backing of many of the 82 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: local police, the group began forcing the residents from their homes. 83 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: One eye witness later recalled the violent scene, saying quote 84 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: During the riotous proceedings, the residence of Mr Chanee, he 85 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: was invaded by the mob and his pregnant wife was 86 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: dragged downstairs from the second story and out on the 87 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: street by the hair of her head. She later miscarried. 88 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: Once the mob had rounded up the three hundred and 89 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: fifty or so Chinese residents and most of their possessions, 90 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: they loaded them onto wagons and took them to the 91 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: city's waterfront to be put on a ship bound for 92 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: San Francisco. However, the phony inspectors hadn't actually arranged for 93 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,479 Speaker 1: the Chinese residents passage. Apparently, they just assumed the ship's 94 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: captain would give them hundreds of free tickets and a 95 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: show of solidarity When that turned out not to be 96 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: the case, the mob tried to course correct as best 97 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: they could. They passed around a hat and quickly collected 98 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 1: enough funds to pay the way of at least some 99 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: of their captives, six people, to be exact. On the 100 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 1: plus side, that delay gave city officials enough time to 101 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: send a group of cadets known as the Home Guard, 102 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: down to the harbor to protect the immigrants. Before the 103 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,279 Speaker 1: steamership could set sail, the captain was served with a 104 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: writ of habeas corpus, charging that the Chinese passengers were 105 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: being illegally restrained on board the ship. He was ordered 106 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: to appear with the passengers at the city courthouse the 107 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: next morning. In the meantime, the ship and everyone on 108 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: board would remain docked right where they were. As for 109 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: the Chinese residents still on the docks, the guards escorted 110 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: them to a nearby warehouse, which was deemed safer than 111 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 1: returning to their homes. On the morning of the eighth 112 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: the Chinese residents, both on and off the ship, were 113 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: taken to the court house and asked one by one 114 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: whether or not they wanted to leave Seattle. Given the 115 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: events of the previous day and the fact that many 116 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: of their homes were in the process of being demolished 117 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:51,119 Speaker 1: by the mob. The majority of those presents said yes, 118 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: now they did want to leave. They were escorted back 119 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: to the dock and began boarding the ship. After a 120 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: hundred and ninety six Chinese residents were on board, the 121 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: captain announced that the ship was full and that the 122 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: one hundred or so residents who still wanted to leave 123 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: would have to wait for the next ship to arrive 124 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: a few days later. The guards began escorting the remaining 125 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: Chinese back to what was left of their homes, but 126 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: they didn't make it far before they were confronted by 127 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: a screaming mob of about two thousand people. The mob 128 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: demanded to know where the Chinese were being taken. The 129 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: guards ordered the mob to let them pass, but the 130 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: men refused. Some of the guardsmen tried to arrest the 131 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: most aggressive members of the mob, and things turned violent 132 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,880 Speaker 1: in an instant. Some in the mob grabbed the guardsman's 133 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: guns and tried to yank them away. In response, several 134 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:51,079 Speaker 1: guardsmen fired into the crowd, injuring five people, one of 135 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: whom died the following morning. Caught in the middle once again, 136 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: the Chinese threw their bags to the ground and lay 137 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,320 Speaker 1: face down in the street, hoping not to be shot. 138 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: The mob fell back so that the wounded could be 139 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: carried away, but then they began to mass around the 140 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: guards once again. Though badly outnumbered, the guardsmen formed a 141 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: protective barrier around the Chinese men who were still lying 142 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,679 Speaker 1: in the street. The tent standoff lasted for the next 143 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:23,200 Speaker 1: half hour, until finally the crowd gradually dispersed and the 144 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: Chinese were taken back to Chinatown. Soon after, Governor Squire 145 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: imposed a dusk to don curfew in downtown Seattle and 146 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: stationed armed guards and local police on every block to 147 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:41,439 Speaker 1: enforce it. The next day, February nine, President Grover Cleveland 148 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: declared martial law and dispatched three hundred federal troops to 149 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: quell the riots and prevent more coerced expulsions. Cleveland justified 150 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: the move saying it was necessary due to the actions 151 00:09:54,200 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: of quote evil disposed persons. Once army forces arrived, the 152 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: city slowly calmed down over the next few days. On 153 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: February fourteenth, the second steamership finally departed, with another one 154 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: hundred and ten Chinese immigrants on board. This left only 155 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: between fifty and eighty Chinese people in the whole city. 156 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: Some of them eventually left too, until only a few 157 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: dozen remained in Seattle. Martial law was lifted a week 158 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,959 Speaker 1: later on February twenty second, but federal troops held their 159 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:33,559 Speaker 1: positions until the summer, just in case. In the aftermath, 160 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: Congress paid the Chinese government more than two hundred and 161 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,599 Speaker 1: seventy six thousand dollars equivalent to about three hundred and 162 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: thirty million dollars today. The money was given as compensation 163 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: for the expulsions, another attempt to stay on China's good 164 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: side for the sake of trade deals. However, Congress was 165 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: careful to note that the payment was made quote out 166 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:03,080 Speaker 1: of humane consideration and without reference to liability. As for 167 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: the victims, the Chinese immigrants who had been illegally attacked, threatened, 168 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,680 Speaker 1: and forced or coerced into leaving their homes, they got nothing, 169 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: and in that way, along with many others, their story 170 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,959 Speaker 1: is the same story as other immigrants and indigenous people 171 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 1: in the United States and across the world. A few 172 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: years after the expulsion, Chinese laborers were welcomed back to 173 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 1: Seattle after the Great Fire of eighteen eighty nine destroyed 174 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: much of the city and made their help necessary to 175 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: rebuild it. Still, it took twenty years for Seattle's Chinese 176 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: population to return to even the meager level it was 177 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: at in eighteen eighty five. Eventually, though the community did recover, 178 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:51,080 Speaker 1: those few who never left had kept a foothold in 179 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: the city, preserving Chinatown so that later generations could turn 180 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:59,440 Speaker 1: it into the vibrant, diverse neighborhood it is today. But 181 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,200 Speaker 1: that does mean that anti Chinese sentiment has disappeared from 182 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: Seattle or from the United States in general. Sadly, just 183 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: the opposite. On January one, Seattle became the first US 184 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: city to report a COVID nineteen case. It didn't take 185 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: long for fearmongers to get to work, scapegoating Chinese Americans 186 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: once again and declaring COVID nineteen the quote China virus. 187 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: This led to a still ongoing surge of violence and 188 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: discrimination against Asian Americans, particularly Chinese. Just like before, people 189 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: with so much in common are being pitted against each 190 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:43,960 Speaker 1: other through the manipulation of those with more wealth than power. 191 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: While it's disheartening to see how well the same old 192 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: tactics still works, the cycle can be broken, Fear of 193 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:56,119 Speaker 1: the other can be unlearned. It's not an easy process 194 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: or a quick one. But if we don't speak up 195 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 1: in defense of those who need it, this dark day 196 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: in history will be repeated again and again. I'm Gay 197 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little more about 198 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to 199 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 1: keep up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 200 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show, and if 201 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,080 Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, you can always send 202 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 1: them my way at this Day at I heart media 203 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks as always to Chandler Mays for producing 204 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: the show, and a special thanks to Joey pat our 205 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,200 Speaker 1: guest editor for this episode, and of course thank you 206 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 1: for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow for 207 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 1: another Day in History class. For more podcasts for my 208 00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,840 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, vis the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 209 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:01,679 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.