From Plantation Laborers to Ardent Nationalists: Koreans' Experiences in America and Their Es Arch for Ethnic Identity, 1903-1924
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1989 From Plantation Laborers to Ardent Nationalists: Koreans' Experiences in America and Their eS arch for Ethnic Identity, 1903-1924. Young Ho Son Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Son, Young Ho, "From Plantation Laborers to Ardent Nationalists: Koreans' Experiences in America and Their eS arch for Ethnic Identity, 1903-1924." (1989). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 4744. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4744 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 9002172 From plantation laborers to ardent nationalists: Koreans’ experiences in America and their search for ethnic identity, 1903-1924 Son, Young Ho, Ph.D. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical CoL, 1989 Copyright ©1990 by Son, Young Ho. All rights reserved. 300N.ZeebRd. Ann Aibor, M I 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. FROM PLANTATION LABORERS TO ARDENT NATIONALISTS: KOREANS’ EXPERIENCES IN AMERICA AND THEIR SEARCH FOR ETHNIC IDENTITY, 1903-1924 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College ir. partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Young Ho Son B.A., Kyung Hee University, Korea, 1981 M.A., Central Missouri State University, 1982 May 1989 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In memory of my mother, Myung-Rim Cha, with belated gratitude for her love and dedication 1 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have been supported and encouraged by many individuals and institutions in the course of researching and writing this dissertation. I hope that the acknowledgements here will express my profound gratitude and appreciation for their help. First, 1 am most deeply indebted to Dr. Burl L. Noggle who first suggested my research in this field and who became my dissertation supervisor. He gave me invaluable guidance, encouragement, and suggestions not only in completing this project but also during the course of my doctoral studies at Louisiana State University. He has been a constant source of inspiration, reassurance, challenge, and sometimes frustration. I am also indebted to Dr. Robert A. Becker and Dr. John B. Henderson for their continual guidance and insights throughout my graduate studies. They have given me indispensible advice on numerous occasions. Their comments and suggestions were helpful beyond measure, shaping a great deal of what was finally written. I am grateful to Dr. John L. Loos, who has constantly shown a deep interest and concern with my work, and to Dr. Thomas C. Owen and Dr. Cecil L. Eubanks, who read my manuscript with care and offered important evaluations. I have received great help from many institutions. The Government Publications Office and Interlibrary Loan i i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Office of the LSU Middleton Library facilitated this study by obtaining public documents, microfilms, and many secondary sources from other libraries. The National Archives in Washington, D.C. and the National Library & Government Records Office in Seoul, Korea were of great help in securing precious source materials in both English and Korean otherwise unavailable. I am also thankful to the History Department of LSU which has provided me with graduate assistantship and research funds. The Coates Memorial Fund was of great help in typing, drawing, copying, and binding of this dissertation in the final form. 1 would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my mentors, Dr. Won-sul Lee, President of Han Nam University, and to Dr. Yong-guk Tak, Director of Central Archaeological and Historical Museum of Kyung Hee University in Korea. Ever since my freshman year, I have had the privilege of being close to them both personally and academically. They encouraged and supported me throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies. They gave personal inspiration that made possible the accomplishment of this task. Last but not least, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my lovely wife, Hae Kyung and my son, David, for sharing the many hardships and trials which I have had during the past six years of my graduate studies at LSU. To them 1 owe the most. i v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE QF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................ iii LIST OF TABLES................................... ....... vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................................... viii NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION................................. ix ABSTRACT.................................................. x Chapter I. INTRODUCTION...................................... 1 PART ONE: THE MASS MIGRATION OF 1 9 0 3 - 1 9 0 5 ___ 6 II. THE DEMAND FOR FOREIGN LABORERS IN HAWAII 7 III. LABOR RECRUITING EFFORTS IN KOREA: NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE FORCES FOR EMIGRATION............ 30 IV. KOREANS IN AMERICA: A SOCIOECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS............................ 52 V. WHY THEY LEFT: "PUSH” AND "PULL" FACTORS...... 80 PART TWO: A NEW SOCIETY IN THE NEW WORLD 103 VI. "TRANSPLANTED” CULTURAL HERITAGES AND INTER-GENERATIONAL CONFLICTS................... 104 VII. PLANTATION LIFE AND LABOR IN HAWAII............ 133 VIII. MARRIAGE AND "P ICTURE-BRIDE" SYSTEM............ 165 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PART THREE: SEARCH FOR KOREAN IDENTITY........ 189 IX. SEARCH FOR INSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY: THE CHURCH AND VILLAGE COUNCIL................. 190 X. SEARCH FOR NATIONAL IDENTITY: POLITICS OF KOREAN NATIONALISM........................... 225 XI. SEARCH FOR RACIAL ACCOMMODATION: KOREAN RESPONSE TO THE "YELLOW.PERIL"................. 260 XII. CONCLUSION........................................ 294 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................. 309 VITA...................................................... 338 v i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Cost of Importation and Average Wages of Each Racial Group (per person)............. 18 Table 2. Population of Hawaii in 1900 by Race and Sex.............................. 20 Table 3. Number of Korean Immigrants by Each Specified Occupation, Fiscal Years 1899 to 1910..... 64 Table 4. Korean Immigrants to America, 1899-1910.... 69 Table 5. Age and Sex Distribution of Koreans in Hawaii, 1910 and 1920.................... 71 Table 6. Sex Distribution Between Ages of 20 to 4 9.................................. 74 Table 7. Educational Status of Korean Immigrants, Fiscal Years 1899 to 1900................... 76 Table 8. Working Hours and Wages of Korean Laborers.............................. 155 Table 9. Index of