“...that rigid exclusion is the only solution of the Oriental immigration problem.” - Proceedings of the Asiatic Exclusion League, December 8, 1907
While Chinese Exclusion dominated anti-Asian discussions in the latter half of the 1800s, hateful sentiments began to expand leading into the 20th century. Disapproval of Chinese immigration evolved into a disapproval for Japanese and Korean immigration, eventually culminating in the call to bar all “asiatics,” or people with Asian heritage, from entering the United States. While immigration policies took time to develop and gain traction, a specific group focused on spreading anti-Asian sentiments in the country. Beginning on the West Coast, the anti-Asian group gained the support of various organizations and companies to lobby for the adoption of anti-Asian immigration policies.
Although anti-Japanese racism first appeared in the 1890s as an extension of anti-Chinese racism, it would not gain traction until the early 20th century. As the Russo-Japanese War instilled discomfort among Americans between 1904 and 1905, the largest anti-Japanese group introduced itself to society. The Japanese and Korean Exclusion League, later coined the Asiatic Exclusion League, began official operations in May of 1905. Preceding the official end of the Russo-Japanese War by about four months, the League supported the rigid exclusion of Japanese immigrants to the United States. According to Izumi Hirobe, the creation of the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League served as the “most symbolic” representation of the growing anti-Japanese movement in the United States (Hirobe 4).
While past iterations of anti-Japanese racism adopted similar arguments as the Chinese exclusion movement, the rise of the Japanese exclusion movement of the early 1900s experienced arguments unique to Japanese immigration. Japan’s growing military power caused unease among Americans, allowing the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League to latch onto such fears to advocate against Japanese immigration (Hirobe 3). While exclusionists used Japan’s military success as an argument against Japanese immigration, many leaders in the United States, including President Theodore Roosevelt, did not support strict Japanese exclusion as they did not want to damage relations between the United States and Japan (Daniels 121). The exclusion movement thus had to adopt other arguments, such as the perceived protection of American laborers, to further expand their movement.
The Asiatic Exclusion League was almost an extension of labor unions and the labor movement on the West Coast, with strong connections to the Building Trades Council of San Francisco and the Sailor’s Union (Hirobe 4). Since the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Chinese immigration had been brought to a stand-still, and racial tensions shifted from the Chinese to the Japanese as Japanese immigration to the United States increased (Chin 19). The League wanted to achieve complete exclusion of Japanese immigrants, first and foremost, followed by more extreme exclusion of additional Asian immigrants, in order to prevent white labor workers from competing with Asian laborers for jobs (Asiatic Exclusion League Minutes, December 1907). Thus, several years into its existence, the organization adopted the Asiatic Exclusion League as its new name, using the term “asiatic” to encompass all Asian immigrants (Kurashige 93-95).
Prominent figures in the Asiatic Exclusion League’s ranks included its president, Olaf Tveitmoe; the head of the Building Trades Council, Patrick Henry McCarthy; and James D. Phelan, who served as mayor of San Francisco from 1897-1902 and as a U.S. senator from 1915 to 1921 (Geiger 160). Both Tveitmoe and McCarthy were European immigrants, like many other members in the Asiatic Exclusion League. The roots of European immigration present in the League contributed to principles of “assimilable” immigrants, or those who could eventually adapt to American society, and “unassimilable” immigrants, or those unable to adapt. The League believed that Japanese immigrants, as well as other Asian immigrants, would never be able to assimilate to American society, no matter how many generations had lived within the United States (Asiatic Exclusion League Minutes, December 1907). While Asian immigrants were viewed as "unassimilable," European immigrants of many backgrounds were considered "assimilable" (Geiger 160). This was a widely held belief by many white Americans, although it did not always lead to support for Japanese exclusion.
“[The West Coast] can welcome the German, the French, the Italian, the Swiss, the English, the Slavs, and even the Turks, for although on their arrival they are generally uncouth and sometimes unclean, they in a few years pick up the American ideas and adopt American customs.” A. Sbarboro, Address to the Asiatic Exclusion League, September 20, 1908
Even Theodore Roosevelt held doubts about the ability of Japanese immigrants to assimilate to American society. However, while he privately admitted to this belief, he did not publicly support Japanese exclusion as he did not want to jeopardize U.S.-Japanese relations while Japan increased their military power (Daniels 122). However, exclusionists continued to advocate for strict Japanese exclusion, even though they did not see many national results. Even without legislative success, the exclusionists did receive certain consolations. One such consolation was the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907, which consisted of six notes between Roosevelt and Japanese officials that led to immigration restrictions imposed by the Japanese government (Daniels 125). The Agreement led to a limitation of Japanese laborers from immigrating to the United States, with the Japanese government restricting laborers who had not previously been in the U.S. from receiving passports that would permit them to enter the United States (Daniels 125). While this appeased some exclusionists, the more vocal members continued to advocate for rigid exclusion.
In 1913, exclusionist efforts would lead to a legislative victory with the passage of the California Alien Land Law of 1913, banning immigrants that were considered “ineligible for citizenship” from owning agricultural land and limiting their land lease terms to three years (Daniels 143). The term, “ineligible for citizenship,” referred to all Asian immigrants. Even with such a victory, the Japanese exclusion movement continued to strive for more restrictions. However, while the Asiatic Exclusion League continued operation throughout the years of World War I, or 1914 through 1918, the nation’s focus was on more pressing matters. Although the war led to a decline in Japanese exclusion efforts, such sentiments did not disappear. Anti-Japanese exclusion efforts would rise once again at the end of the war, leading to stricter immigration legislation and other victories for the Japanese exclusion movement throughout the 1920’s.
The Asiatic Exclusion League represented widely held racist beliefs not only against the Japanese, but also against all immigrants or Americans with Asian heritage. While the League, and subsequently the exclusion movement, did not make national gains in the early 20th century, their continued pressure provided a foundation for later actions against Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans. Reflecting on the League’s presence in American history allows us the chance to admit the wrongs of our nation’s past and work towards a more inclusive society in the future.
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