Dennis Kearney
Dennis Kearney. Photo Courtesy
of Spartacus Educational.
|
Prominent Leader of
the Workingman's Party in the West, Kearney coined the slogan
the "The Chinese Must Go!" He felt the Chinese
robbed white men of their jobs in the United States because
these recent immigrants worked for such low wages. Kearney
even campaigned in the east coast to rally support for his
cause.
For more information on Dennis Kearney go to these sites:
"Our
Misery and Despair": Kearney Blasts Chinese
Immigration
Kearneyism
in California
Kearneyism,
the Chinese, and Labor Unrest
"You
Sabe Him?" Kealney Must Go!"
"The
Sandlot and Kearnyism"
The
Kearney - Kalloch Epoch
|
Henry George
Henry George. Photo
Courtesy of
Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
|
Author of Progress
and Poverty, this transplanted San Francisco businessman
opposed Chinese immigration. His reasons mirrored those of
Kearney in the terms of disliking the Chinese because they
worked for cheap wages and took American jobs, but George also
believed the Chinese would never be able to assimilate into
American Society. For more information on Henry George visit:
Who
was Henry George?
|
James Blaine
James Blaine. Photo
Courtesy of Biographical Directory of the
United States Congress. |
Republican
Representative and Senator from Maine, Blaine was one of the
only Congressmen to support Chinese immigration restriction east
of the Rockies. He believed by supporting immigration
restriction would help him gain support from westerners for the
1876 and 1880 presidential nominations. Blaine also
championed the Fifteen Passengers Bill for Chinese immigration
restriction, but this bill was eventually vetoed by President
Hayes. For more information on Blaine visit:
The
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
|
|
John Franklin Miller
John Franklin
Miller. Photo Courtesy of the Biographical Directory of
the United States Congress.
|
A Republican Senator
from California, this man was one of the first men to crack
under the pressure his constituents put on him about
implementing Chinese exclusion. During the forty-seventh
session of Congress, in 1882, Senator Miller introduced a bill
to suspend the immigration of Chinese laborers to the United
States for a period of twenty years. President
Arthur vetoed this bill, but passed the second bill Miller
proposed including an exclusionary period of only ten
years. For more information on Miller visit:
The
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
|
John Percival Jones
John Percival
Jones. Photo Courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the
United States Congress. |
A Republican Senator
from Nevada, this man supported the Chinese Exclusion Act
because he believed the intermingling of races did not
work. He stated" We oppose their coming because out
sturdy Aryan tree will wither in root, trunk, and branch, if
this noxious vine be permitted to entwine itself around
it." The noxious vine Jones is referring to is the
Chinese. For more information on Jones visit:
The
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
|
|
John Tyler Morgan
John Tyler Morgan.
Photo Courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the United
States Congress. |
A Democratic Senator
from Alabama, Morgan supported exclusion because he feared the
Chinese would team up with African-Americans and destroy
American society. He stated, "It has become the
solemn necessity on our part to protect the Caucasian race on
this continent against the intrusion of Oriental
people." For more information on Morgan visit:
The
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress .
|
Edwin Willits
(no picture available)
|
A Republican Representative from
Michigan, Willits supported Chinese exclusion in the name of the
workingmen. He stated, "My chief reason for
supporting such a measure is that I believe in the interest of
American labor." For more information on Willits
visit:
The
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
|
| Anti-Exclusion: |
|
Hannibal Hamlin
Hannibal Hamlin.
Photo Courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the United
States Congress. |
Republican
Representative from Maine, Hamlin opposed Chinese exclusion
because he felt the bill went against the American ideal of
equal rights for all men.
For more information about Hamlin visit:
The
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
|
|
George Frisbie Hoar
George Frisbie
Hoar. Photo Courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the
United States Senate. |
A Republican
Representative and Senator from Massachusetts. he took the
leadership role for those who were opposed to Chinese exclusion
in Congress. Like Hamlin, he believed Chinese immigration
restriction opposed the doctrine of equal rights for all
men. For more information about Hoar visit:
The
Biographical Directory to the United States Congress. |
|
Henry Dawes
Henry Dawes. Photo
Courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the United States
Congress. |
A Republican
Representative and Senator from Massachusetts, Dawes was a
prominent adversary of Chinese exclusion. He asserted,
"the right of emigration belonged to all humanity and the
political organization which I am proud to belong to, was
summoned into existence to the very purpose of vindicating the
equality of the human race upon this continent in all political
rights." For more information on Dawes visit:
The
Biographical Directory of the United States Senate. |
|
Joseph Brown
Joseph Brown. Photo
Courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the United States
Congress. |
A Democratic Senator
from Georgia, Brown was against Chinese exclusion because he
believed the United States could profit from Chinese goods and
expanding the market to the Far East. He stated,
"China is a vast field open to commerce which ought to be
great for white men's energy, thrift, and gain." For
more information on Brown visit:
The
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
|
Elbridge Lapham
Elbridge Lapham.
Photo Courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the United
States Congress. |
A Representative and
Senator from New York, Lapham opposed the Chinese
Exclusion Act for much the same reasons as Senator Brown.
Lapham believed the Act would destroy the America's growing
commerce in China, which he felt would be of great importance to
the industrial and financial interests of the United
States. For more information about Lapham visit:
The
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. |
|
Mark Twain
Mark Twain. Photo
Courtesy of weta.org.
|
Mark Twain was one of the leading
supporters for Asian immigration to the United States.
Alteration of the Burlingame Treaty limiting Chinese immigration
to the United States greatly angered Twain. He believed
the Chinese were as able bodied as any American and respected
those Chinese who entered the United States as evidenced in this
passage:
Mark
Twain's Observations about Chinese Immigrants in California.
Twain was also appalled by the
treatment the Chinese received in the United States. You
can read Twains feeling in his article to The Galaxy:
"Disgraceful
Persecution of a Boy"
|
|
|
