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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 citizenship. But the picture presented so far is far from complete. Americans also received other images in Popular Culture that prevented the grinning, cunning rat eating chinaman from becoming an allconsuming archetype. Mixed in with the negative imagery were human, noble and admirable chinese characters. Such characters challenged the common stereotypes. Novelists in fact revealed the split personality when portraying the chinese. In description, the chinese often fared poorly. But in action, chinese individuals appeared positive and strong. They could demonstrate enviable, admirable qualities, and even on occasion emerge as heroes and champions. To focus on just the negative image and more shocking portrayals, which ive done so far, would distort the total picture the total portrait americans encountered. The few historians who have examined the chinese immigrant Popular Culture have overlooked them in the dime novel. Claiming as one wrote that they rarely appeared as characters. They remained hidden in the archives for well over a century. But a careful reading of dime novels reveals a rich drove of chinese figures. People in the west in playing a key role in the nations unfolding history. And sometimes they are genuine saviors. In the 1880 novel, little odd sins, or the curse of blood, the chinese immigrant is the central protagonist appearing on the front cover brandishing a pistol. The novel opens in colorado where edith, a young white woman, is traveling through the Rocky Mountains to live with relatives. Helping her, her escort, a chinese man. A stage coach attempts to kidnap edith, at once the chinaman whipped out a knife and foils the plot. They continue to their new home in the rockies where they settle with in ediths uncle and aunt, both of whom the reader soon learns are fanatic christian religious nuts. The chinaman befriends their dilt lawyer and in one of the most lurid scenes involving a chinese character in all of Popular Culture, he leads her to a cave and teaches her to pray to an idol. When her father discovers this, he emits a yell of insane fury and seizes the chinaman. With his wife urging him to kill the heathen, he is tied to a post and beaten. The whipping continues until edith interposes her body between them and orders her uncle to stop. He puts the lash down but remains unsatisfied. A few days later, he conkokcoct plot to frame him for murder. A plot is devised, then convicted and sentenced to death. As the novelist explains, a heathen chinese guilt accused was a heathen chinese guilty. While the chinaman languishes in jail, edith convinces some of her friends to rescue him which is easy to do because the constable believes they are going to lynch him. The next scene finds edith outside at night alone in the woods. Suddenly outlaw jack swain leaps out, seizes her, around threatens to rape her. Edith stands petrified in the moonlight. Then at that very moment, coming she knew not whence, little odd things suddenly appeared at her side with a revolver leveled at jack swains heart. Remembering his actions and warding off his attempted holdup, jack jumps back. He had one little taste of the metal. Somebody told him the one shot had been a scare but that this one would mean business. Jack releases edith and runs away. A sobbing edith throws her arms around her protector and the confident man leads her back to the house. Upon reaching it, he was outfeared all hands of ranch about him firing off his revolver. As the novel ends, the chinaman proudly tells everyone how twice, by himself, he had fought off the rockys most notorious outlaw. He is an unlikely hero. He possesses many many of the common chinese stereotypes. He wears a pig tail, speaks in the usual demeaning accent. He is di diminuitive. Despite be a heathen chinese who prays not to the true god but to some hideous wooden image, he is nonetheless defended by the novelist. He had human feelings as keen as any of us, he wrote, to whom his god was as dear and reverend as anyones. Contrasted with the fanaticism is tolerance. As edith exhorts, i pit his paganism against their christianity any day. The novelist clearly wants the reader to sympathize with the chinese. The evil character all loathe him while good and decent ones love him. Like chingo, he helps define right and wrong. With the chinese immigrants squarely on side of morality and justice. Amid the backdrop of antichinese racism, asin emerges a hero contemporary to the popular image of the devious rateating chinaman, he tempers the asummits thsumption that on of inevitable exclusion. The chinese immigrant has redeeming, even enviable qualities. And osin is not alone. Perhaps the most heroic chinese figure in all of 19th century Popular Culture appeared in the boy phantom. Unlike the diminuitive, everything about this protagonist is large with his great broad shoulders and head surmounted by a black sombrero and broad rim, china is taller than the average of his race, by far. To complement his powerful physique, he carries on his person numerous weapons. About his waist was a belt of arms, two revolvers and a longbladed knife. At his back g rifle. China carries yet another weapon in a manner perhaps unique in american literature. Quote, his hair was worn according to the style of his country men and one long pig tail behind. And to the end was tied a revolver, which swung to and fro as he moved like a pendulum. China plays a vital role in the novel, from atop a tree he witnesses a holdup, three gunmen attacked young guy marsden and his mother, recent pioneers from kentucky. The mother is killed instantly, the boy left for dead. China climbs down and finds guy still breathing. He extracts the bullet, dresses the wound, and applies a soothing ointment. He carries the boy to a nearby cabin and cooks him a hardy meal of venison and rice. Under chinas steady eye, guy slowly recuperates, suddenly the three outlaws reappear, there was blood in chinas eye and he meant mischief. China grabs his weapon, shoots two of the outlaws to death and stabs the third one in the heart. He then constructs a rope hammock and in his strong arms carries the boy and a long trek in search of his family. We certainly have been blessed after all of our sorrows, guys father says at the novels conclusion. And we owe our preservation to our noble chinese friend, whom i love as though he were my brother. Huskier and more imposing than ah sin, china is a fearsome figure in genuine fighter. His brute strength and sharp survival instincts place him in a class with white dime novel heroes of the period. Though he possesses, quote, the traditional cunning look and childlike grin for which his country men are so noted, chinas chineseness is not emphasized. He possesses few of the demeaning qualities normally attributed to his brethren. He has adapted to many western ways and western rules. Even more than ah sin, he is a strong and noble individual. China and ah sin are by no means unique in the literature. In countless stories, the chinese defend themselves, associate closely with whites and agents of their own destiny. Sam young, john lee and wild wing all carry guns. Lee sing brandishes heavy revolvers. Bad lung is like a warrior bold who arms himself not with a gun but a massive bowling pin, which he hurls or swings at oncoming assailants. In that crowd, the author wrote, the chinaman had his say and no one molested him as he trotted home with his ten pin under his arm. Numerous chinese displace skill at hand to hand combat. Lee sing, quote, had given ample proof that when put to the test he could fight as well as a white man. John lee knew a few points about the manly art of boxing. And challenging a white man to combat he reigned a perfect shower of stinging blows upon the americans face. In silver plated sole, the mountain rover, sing so possesses muscles of iron and fights like a full blown cyclone. And accomplished wrestler, the chinese immigrant turned on sole like a tiger and caught him by the throat with a grip which bade fair to crush everything between his fingers. In horseshoe hank, the man of big luck or gold brick of idaho, roy hoe throws hank over a cliff in a rushing river. Hank survives as novel heroes always do and seeks revenge. He and roy hoe, a somewhat remarkable man, go at it again in a long, tough drawn out fight. With his steellike arms, roy hoe pounds hank brutally and hank pounds him back, never before the novelist noted had he met such a foe man. Hank always looked with scorn on the children of the orient, and considered himself capable of whipping their best man with one hand. But in roy hoe, he found a power only equaled by his own skill. The struggle continues. Hank gains the upper hand and roy hoe stops fighting only when his bones are finally broken. Oh, you rib cracking heathen, hank exclaims. Youll knock the rag right off the American Flag and make the british lie and roar in the key of g. Roy hoe is a fighter and fights in the language the american respects, braun and muscle. He fights on their terms and their country. With his fists and firearms, the chinese immigrant challenges the white protagonist and participates in the rock em sock em western drama. Theyre not nearly wiley ay and cunning, but fierce and fearsome. The chinese are often treated with respect in the novel and become confidants and companions if not true equal of whites. In red richard, man from red dog, or the brand of the crimson cross, lee sing attaches himself to dick talbot, dick talbot is on the bottom left there. Who is described as the only christian who had ever done him an act of kindness. Lee is part of talbots inner circle in shasta bar, california. Together, talbot and his fourth faithful friends gamble, fight and defend one another from outsiders. The novels cover picture presents lee in the top right, a little dark, but you can see lee in the top right, in a confident, determined, even manly pose staring straight forth rightly ahead. In cinnamon chip, the girl sport, or the golden idle of mount rosa, pig tail pete is part of a similar though less abiding gang. Admiration of his fighting abilities, the gang leader refers to him as the roaring equinoxal thunderstorm of china. In banker bill, the bowling pin wielding bad lung develops a close relationship with gentle john, who refers to the chinese immigrant as his pard, western vernacular for partner. He calls him the squarest heathen in nevada. You cant fool him and nobody can fool him. After the two heroes fight the forces of evil together, the novel concludes with them both attending a friends wedding. Reappearing in another story, the two are separated in colorado during the course of their adventures. And at the end, gentle john announces hes heading to nevada to find his darnation chinaman bad lung who waits for me. Similarly, pinnacle pete swears he will never desert wow wing, his companion. Novel after novel provide instances of interethnic cooperation and solidarity. Despite the stereotypes, the chinese still come across as good and decent individuals. Capable of forming alliances and friendships, with white characters. Perhaps more significant was the length to which dime novelists went to sympathize with and defend the chinese. Or let the chinese defend themselves. Although forbidden in most western states from testifying in court, the chinese appear in various trials and fiction. In Rocky Mountain rob, the gang of thieves plots to steal gold from a camp of chinese miners. The heathen ought to be cleaned out says one gangster, they have no business taking the bread out of the mouths of honest white men. The outlaws torched the camp, kill the chinese and the chinese leader. Because this, is quote, too much for decent white men to stand, says one character, a posse forms to track down the outlaws. And the novel climaxes with their trial. The chinese are asked to testify. They are reluctant. One finally comes forward, quote, very unwillingly, his experiences with the man had not been particularly pleasant and led him to look upon the whole white race as foes and oppressors. Nevertheless, the chinese immigrant testifies, so does another, both presenting incriminating evidence. As the outlaws appear increasingly guilty, their attorney rises. I protest against this testimony, he yells indignantly. Is the life of a white man to be sworn away by a chinaman . The answer, quite simply, was yes. The authors sympathies and by implication the readers are with the chinese. The simple hard working sons of the flowery land. Their testimony stands in and the outlaws are convicted. Time and again, dime novels portray the chinese as positive, sympathetic characters. And those who dislike them is mean, rascally creatures. In apollo bill, the trail tornado, rowdy kate from right bower, chin chin is a good person who comforts passengers after a robbery on a stagecoach. He is later vilified, and threatened with death by modest mike, a bull whacker and roughian. Novelists condemn such bullies who abuse the chinese as inhuman hoodlums. In story after story, the chinese hating characters are invariably the bad guys. The chinese and those who defend them, the good guys. Is nora the white heroine after a white mob attacks a group of chinese minors. This is shameful, cant those vile roughians be driven out and the poor fellows be protected in their rights . Protected in their rights. What rights are we talk ing about here . The right to emigrate to the United States, find work and stake a claim . In the real world of late 19th century america, most Chinese People were barred from ever obtaining citizenship. They were restricted from testifying against whites in court, and widely discriminated against. But in the fictional world of the dime novel, the chinese individual was a human being, a man, and an agent pursuing his own destiny. In examining the image of the chinese in Popular Culture, it is easy to highlight the demeaning and often offensive stock descriptions, how they were portrayed as wretched parodies of men. To fully understand the chinese image, it is essential to look beyond these negative stereotypes and analyze the actual roles that chinese figures played in the story lines and dramas. In most die novels, these characters are legitimate individuals as developed or undeveloped as their white protagonists. Fully participating in the breathless thrill a minute action that defined the genre. In these cartoonish tales of daring do, they fight, they die, they compete. Like white male characters, they defend women, track down outlaws, drink whiskey and uphold the law. They make friends, work hard, and rely on their wits and muscles to survive. Like white characters, they might not be respectable. They might be gamblers, con men or thieves, but the chinese are seldom evil. As novelist wj hamilton remarks in the gulch miners in 1867, people in the states are apt to form a wrong opinion of these men. Though trampled on and abused by whites, they are for the most part quiet and inoffensive to the last degree. In the vibrant world of the dime novel, the chinese neither threaten nor undermine american society. In fact, they are part of it. In presenting the chinese, the purveyors of Popular Culture drew unpopular stereotypes. Within these parameters die novelists invented characters, chiefy chingo, asin, china, lee sing and dozens more to both interest and amuse and entertain their readers. They never asked that our noble chinese friend be loved. But in humanizing them and defending them, they did ultimately call for some measure of acceptance. They constantly presented the chinese as victims of problems, not the cause. Nor were the chinese themselves the problem. Rather, the chinese were fellow actors in the epic drama of civilization and violence playing itself out on the vast scale of the american west. More often than not, the chinese were good. In analyzing the image of chinese immigrants and Popular Culture, and especially in dime novels in the late 19th century, one finds a rich and varied constellation of characters, attributes and features. But one does not find a cause for chinese exclusion in second class citizenship. For that, we must examine not culture, but politics. Paul, whats the procedure here . Do we go next . Do we have questions . Questions. You call on them. Any questions. Yes. Excuse me. I have laryngitis. What was the primary audience for the dime novels . There is a disputed historians love to dispute that. In fact, i was going to include that, but i didnt have time. It was mostly a working class audience. The images there is the images that appear in upper middle class, upper class magazines have similar the same stereotypes appear everywhere. But the ones that are more middle class oriented and in childrens magazines as well, they usually compare the chinese to irish. And it is often who makes the better servant or the better lower class is kind of how theyre portrayed. In dime novels, that aspect is not included. And the most recent account there is a historian Michael Dannon who wrote in mechanic accents and he emphasizes that this was really for working people, for the mechanic in the factory and the north, or for the honest working girl in the city, that this was sort of the proletarian literature of the time. It is hard to really know, but they were by far the biggest selling pieces of literature of the time. Yeah. Can you remind me, i forgot when the china exclusion act and when did it come off . It was passed on may 6th, 1882, for ten years. It was repassed in 1892 for ten years, passed again in 1902, made permanent in 1904. And it was repealed finally in 1943, during world war ii, largely because china was our ally and yet when it was repealed, it set a quote of 105 per year. So it really was not repealed, and it is not until the 1960s with the immigration act that immigration opens up again for chinese. 1882. So there were sympathetic views in among the working class, so the people who excluded, wanted them excluded were not the working class or not voters. And was there anyone in china who had any voice, any power at all to respond . China at this point was an extremely weak country. It was also on the verge of being dominated by japan. This is really when japans rise over asias just emerging. And china actually wants u. S. Friendship is a bulwark against the japanese because and also a lot of European Countries are going into china, not to colonize it per se, but to force trade on them. And so chinas looking for u. S. Friendship to keep this open door as it is called, open door policy. So they dont like it. But they sort of are forced to accept it. And there are a couple of chinese ministers to the u. S. That fight against it, but they have virtually no power, authority to change it. [ inaudible ] when it passed in congress in 1882, it passes overwhelmingly. The vote in the house of representatives is Something Like 25037. There is a lively debate and several people, several congressmen, several senators speak eloquently against it. There is one senator from massachusetts, George Frisbee hore, almost forgotten today, he leads the fight against it. And he does for his whole life in the senate for the next 20 years. But every time it comes up for a vote in 1882, 92, 1902, it has fewer and fewer defenders and it becomes national policy. Yeah. Im struck by the dichotomy of the culture which is kinder to the chinese, and the politics. So can you talk about how that was so different, because you would think that the one would influence the other. Thats an extremely complicated question. What happens is the chinese, many chinese are coming to america, in late 1800s, and white workers accuse them of working for lower wages. And being imported here, meaning being carried in on contracts. And American Workers and unions protest that the importation of Chinese Workers in the late 1800s and they go out of their way to say, were not against chinese immigration, were just against them being brought here on contracts. Politicians in this period, the 1870s and 1880s is kind of like an era today in terms that the democratic and republican parties are virtually equal in numbers. For the last 20 years or so, there have been exceptions, but we have had some of the closest elections in American History. And now as were going to see this year, there are, like, a half dozen battleground states and whoever wins ohio, florida, a few others will likely win the election. It was very similar in the 1870s and 1880s. Republicans and democrats were nearly evenly divided. And anything that could gain a few votes could switch an election. And what politicians do is they start they claim they kind of fudge over the argument about importation, say, if we keep the chinese out, this will be good for the american economy, it will be good for the working man, and it will help the United States. And even though workers have never really been asking for this, except for several in california, it is different. But east of the rockies, workers could care less about this