Short Essay Questions Flashcards
(32 cards)
As discussed in “Western European New World and the New Americans,” what were the Alien and Sedition Acts?
laws passed in 1798 by the Federalist Court aimed at target the Irish and French
- Naturalization Act: required 14 years of living in US instead of 5 to apply for citizenship
- Alien Friends Act: authorized president to “deport aliens dangerous to the peace and safety of U.S.
- Alien Enemies Act: allowed wartime arrests, imprisonment, and deportation of any alien subject to enemy power
- Sedition Act: declared that any treasonable activity was a high misdemeanor and was punishable by fine or imprisonment
What was significant about the Alien and Sedition Acts? (Western European New World and the New Americans)
- showed fear of foreign influence
- provided a demonstration of an attempt at protecting the “American Way”
- targeted different political beliefs
- first attempt at federal immigration control
What was the 1864 act to Encourage Immigration and what was its significance? (Western European New World and the New Americans)
- established the first US Immigration Bureau whose focus was to increase immigration so that American Industries during the CW would have workers
- first comprehensive immigration law
- in an effort to reduce the number of immigrants who left industry for homesteading or arms it made pre-emigration contracts binding
What three countries did the vast majority of immigrants in the U.S. come from during the 19th Century? (Western European New World and the New Americans)
Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom (about 70% of immigration came from here)
In “Chinese Immigrants in Search of Gold Mountain” author Erika Lee notes how popular opinion often mischaracterized Chinese laborers in the U.S. as unfree coolies. According to Lee how did most Chinese pay for their passage to the U.S.?
- they either paid themselves or borrowed money for tickets
- “credit-ticket system”: lent money from family or district associations and borrowers would pay back with interest (some at insane rates that would take decades to repay)
Lee also describes how the vast majority of early Chinese immigrants in the U.S. were male. Discuss two key reasons for why many Chinese women did not immigrate to the U.S. during the 19th century. (Chinese Immigrants in Search of Gold Mountain)
- Chinese patriarchal system forbade it (married women were expected to remain in China, take care of their husband’s parents and do other duties in the husbands absence)
- Harsh living conditions in California
- High levels of anti-chinese violence
- transportation was expensive
- lack of available jobs
- U.S. Immigration Laws (1875 Page Act) made it really difficult
In your answer, please explain why immigrants worked in these trades and what the working conditions were like. (Chinese Immigrants in Search of Gold Mountain)
Railroads: dangerous conditions, the companies were willing to hire them because they were expendable cheap labor
Industries: cheap labor again, they would work for less than white people for long hours
Agriculture: harsh, backbreaking work for cheap labor
Judy Wu explains in “Bound Feet” the rise of Chinese prostitution in California. According to Wu, what was the biggest difference between white and Chinese prostitutes in San Fransisco?
- majority of the white prostitutes come to San Fransisco as “independent professionals” and worked for wages in brothels
- Chinese prostitutes were often imported as unfree labor (indentured labor or slaves that had been kidnapped or lured against their will)
For Chinese prostitutes, how was work in parlor houses different from that in cribs? (Judy Wu, “Bound Feet”)
- Parlor houses: nice, furnished with bamboo furniture, 4-25 nicely dress courtesans were made available to select clientele, “sing-song girls”
- Cribs: shitty, hawked their wages to anyone willing to pay, harshly treated and often got venereal diseases and were left to die
What factors accounted for why a high percentage of Chinese women in San Fransisco worked as prostitutes? (Judy Wu, “Bound Feet”)
- race and class dynamics created a need for Chinese prostitutes
- gender and class created poor Chinese daughters
- Chinese cultural values and immigration policy skewed the amount of men to women
Finally, what were some “escape avenues” for Chinese prostitutes? (Judy Wu, “Bound Feet”)
- marry or running with lover
- suicide by drowning or ingesting opium
- going to the police
- refused bail and saying that they were brought to the U.S. for immoral purposes
- rise to the rank of modern
- protestant mission homes
Ronald Takaki recounts in “Raising Cane: The World of Plantation Hawaii” that they housing pattern of Hawaiian sugar plantations resembled that of a “pyramid”. Detail and discuss the racial structure of this housing hierarchy.
- managers lived in mansions with spacious verandas that over looked the plantation
- foreman and technical employees often lived in bungalows with well kept lawn and gardens or in packed houses (if unmarried)
How did planters benefit from dividing workers into separate ethnic camps? (Ronald Takaki, “Raising Cane: The World of Plantation Hawaii”)
- supported the planter’s strategy of “divide and control”
- air of exclusivity: no groups co-mingled (which prevented large scale strikes)
Describe two important cultural celebrations and festivals Asian immigrants brought over to Hawaii? (Ronald Takaki, “Raising Cane: The World of Plantation Hawaii)
Obon: festival of souls
- celebration of the reunion of the living with the spirits of the dead (dressed in kimonos and danced to drums)
Tenchosetsu: the emperors birthday
- sumo wrestling, ordering bento boxes and playing shamisens
Rizal Day: day that the Spanish executed the famous revolutionary leader Jose Rizal (play mandolins and guitars and told stories that slowly would get wilder recounting his execution and how he “survived” it or was ressurrected)
Why were these celebrations important for Asian plantation workers? (Ronald Takaki, “Raising Cane: The World of Plantation Hawaii)
it was a way to remain connected to their native homelands
According to Takaki, over time workers from different nationalities began to develop a common language. What is that common language called and what is important about this new language? (Ronald Takaki, “Raising Cane: The World of Plantation Hawaii”)
- “Pidgin English”
- before they shared a common language, it was very difficult for different groups to communicate
- allowed for foreman to give commands to a multiethnic workforce all at once
A central point of Dean Itsuji Saranillio’s article, “Why Asian Settler Colonialism Matters,” is that Asian settlers in Hawaii both resisted and supported U.S. systems of violence. Please explain what Saranillio means by his analysis.
American white planter elite may have held a “mega-hierarchy” position
- the Japanese are having injustices committed against them by this group but they are also partaking in injustices against the Native Hawaiian population (displacing them from land ownership and the area they have occupied for years)
And provide one example of how Asian settlers in Hawaii resisted U.S. systems of violence and one example describing how Asian settlers supported U.S. systems of violence. (Ronald Takaki, “Raising Cane: The World of Plantation Hawaii”)
- Governor Cayetano gave a speech in which he describes all the ways the Japanese have overcome the obstacles but doesn’t mention anything about the native population (erasure of natives)
- Japanese tourists industries and hotels have taken away indigenous lands (even if unintentional, still happens)
- RESIST: Japanese and Filipino strike for equal pay for both groups, blood unionism and interethnic Japanese and Filipino
According to Jack Chen, how did the economic context of California, the interest of labor unions, and the electoral politics contribute to the passing of a federal policy restricting the immigration of Chinese laborers in 1882?
- Economic: there was an influx of labor resulting in a sharp competition for jobs and mass unemployment, and the economic crisis that began in the Eastern states brought to the West (after the building of the RR)
Labor: labor just beginning to organize, split between those who pressed the demand for laborers rights and those who were willing to sacrifice for convenience of immigrant labor (new immigrants were seen as cheap labor and willing to accept lower wages)
Electoral Politics: the exploitation of the “Chinese Issue” (more were willing to support this if it meant they would gain followers and support)
How did Ethine Luibheid in “A Blueprint for Exclusion” answer the question “why target Chinese prostitution in particular”?
- Chinese prostitution put the white morality at risk (Chinese prostitution would result in moral decay of the nation)
- they brought immorality and disease
- put the idea of “family” and “sanctity of marriage” at risk
Discuss two major techniques that immigration officials developed to differentiate “real” wives from prostitutes. (Eithine Luibheid, “A Blueprint for Exclusion”)
- interrogations: 1 in Hong Kong and one done by the Harbor Master meant to determine their moral character
- photographs sent in advance
- their appearance (looking for specific marks, prostitutes features were considered to be degenerate and mannish, looking for bound feet, their clothing, etc.)
What was significant about the strategies that were developed to control the immigration of Chinese women? (Eithine Luibheid)
- formed the first official case file (first group of people who passport control was attempted on)
- immigration control (immigration control reproduces social inequality)
According to Erika Lee in “Chinese Exclusion and American Gatekeeping,” the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act laid the foundation for immigration regulation in the U.S. Discuss three ways that clearly show the impact that Chinese exclusion had on U.S. immigration regulation.
- Provided legal architecture on 20th century American immigration policies (introduced “gate keeping” ideology, politics, law and culture that transformed the ways America thought about race
- legalized the restriction, exclusion and deportation of immigrations deemed “dangerous” to the U.S. (Chinese became the yardstick to measure desirability (and whiteness) of other immigrant groups)
- set in motion new modes and technologies of immigration regulation (i.e. federal immigration officials and bureaucracy, passports, “green cards”, and illegal immigration and deportation policies)
In “Enforcement of the Exclusion Laws,” Erika Lee describes three ways in which immigration inspectors relied on presumed “class” difference to differentiate Chinese merchants form Chinese coolies. What were these three assumed differences?
- where they sat on the ship (1st class were less likely to be held for long periods of time)
- their appearance: should appear wealthy, educated, refined (i.e. literacy tests, good clothing, the appearance of their handwriting)
- if they looked as though they worked or not/did they engage in labor? (through interrogation they asked questions like do you know how to sew buttons?, looked for calloused hands, skin color (if darker, they must’ve worked out in the sun))
