The Chinese must go : violence, exclusion, and the making of the alien in America / Beth Lew-Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lew-Williams, Beth, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese--United States--History--19th century.

Chinese.

Chinese--Violence against--United States.

Border security--United States--History and criticism--19th century.

Border security.

Race discrimination--United States--History--19th century.

Race discrimination.

Emigration and immigration law--United States--History--19th century.

Emigration and immigration law.

Noncitizens--United States--History--19th century.

Noncitizens.

United States--Race relations--History--19th century.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (349 pages) : illustrations, maps

Other Title:

Violence, exclusion, and the making of the alien in America

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

In 1882, the United States launched an unprecedented experiment in federal border control--which promptly failed. The Chinese Must Go examines this formative moment when America's lackluster attempt to bar Chinese workers provoked a wave of anti-Chinese violence across the U.S. West. In 1885 and 1886, white vigilantes in over 150 communities used intimidation, harassment, bombs, arson, assault, and murder to drive out their Chinese neighbors. This little-known outbreak of racial violence had profound consequences. Displacing tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants, the expulsions reshaped America's racial geography. In response, the federal government not only overhauled U.S. immigration law, but also transformed its diplomatic relations with China. The Chinese Must Go recasts the history of Chinese exclusion and its importance for modern America. During a period better known for the invention of the modern citizen, the Chinese in America defined what it meant to be an alien. The significance of the "heathen Chinaman" on American law and society far outlived him.-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction: The Violence of Exclusion

PART 1. Restriction

The Chinese Question

Experiments in Restriction

Part 2. Violence

The Banished

The People

The Loyal

Part 3. Exclusion

The Exclusion Consensus

Afterlives Under Exclusion

Epilogue. The Modern American Alien

Appendix A

Appendix B

Abbreviations

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Aug 2018)

ISBN:

9780674919921

0674919920

9780674919907

0674919904

OCLC:

1022945329