Nevada's Odd Response to the "Yellow Peril": Asians and the Western Ineligible Alien Land Laws
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2004 Nevada's odd response to the "Yellow Peril": Asians and the Western ineligible alien land laws Lance David Muckey University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Muckey, Lance David, "Nevada's odd response to the "Yellow Peril": Asians and the Western ineligible alien land laws" (2004). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1690. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/jn5r-hiz9 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NEVADA’S ODD RESPONSE TO THE “YELLOW PERIL”: ASIANS AND THE WESTERN INELIGIBLE ALIEN LAND LAWS by Lance David Muckey Bachelor of Arts University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa 2001 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in History History Department College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 2004 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1422873 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 1422873 Copyright 2005 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thesis Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas J u ly 16 . 20û 4_ The Thesis prepared by Lance David Muckey Entitled Nevada's Odd Response to the "Yellow Peril":__ Asians and the Western Ineligible Alien Land Laws_________________________________ is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History_________________________________ Examination Committee Chair Dean of the Graduate College Examination Committee Member amination Com m ittee Menibe^n b e y 4ULpvJ\fi-—. Graduate College Faculty Representative PR/1017-53/1-00 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Nevada’s Odd Response to the “Yellow Peril”: Asians and the Western Ineligible Alien Land Laws by Lance David Muckey Dr. David Tanenhaus, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor of History University of Nevada, Las Vegas On November 4, 1924, the voters of Nevada amended the state constitution to bar foreigners from owning land. A mere twenty-two votes decided the outcome of the election. This was the first step toward the passage of an ineligible alien land law that would have prevented land ownership by Japanese or persons of any other nationality deemed ineligible for United States citizenship by Congress. For reasons not completely understood, Nevada’s lawmakers never passed further anti-Japanese legislation. This study examines Japanese immigration and the growth of anti-Japanese agitation across the American West, and specifically in California, between 1885 and 1924 in order to understand how this influenced the decision of the Nevada Legislature to try to institute racially discriminatory legislation. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................iii LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................................vii INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE THE CHINESE EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA AS A PRELUDE TO THE “YELLOW PERIL,” 1890-1882 ...................................................... 1 Chinese Immigration to America, 1847-1882 .................................................................... 3 Chinese Employment in the American West and the Anglo Response ............................8 Anglo Efforts to Exclude the Chinese ................................................................................ 13 CHAPTER TWO THE JAPANESE DIASPORA.................................................................24 Events Leading to Japanese Emigration .............................................................................25 The First Japanese Emigrants and Hawaii..........................................................................29 Japanese Immigration to the United States .........................................................................34 CHAPTER THREE NATIVISM AND THE JAPANESE IN CALIFORNIA, 1895-1913 ..................................................................................................38 Japanese Immigrant Occupations ........................................................................................40 Japanese in Western Agriculture.........................................................................................43 Changing Anglo Perceptions of the Japanese .................................................................... 46 The "Japanese Problem" ....................................................................................................... 51 California and the Alien Land Laws ................................................................................... 60 CHAPTER FOUR NEVADA'S "INELIGIBLE ALIEN" LAND LAW .......................... 67 No Japanese Question in Nevada .........................................................................................69 Nevada's Early Attempts at Anti-Japanese Legislation ....................................................78 Nevada Takes A Stand...........................................................................................................86 EPILOGUE.................................................................................................................................100 TABLES.....................................................................................................................................107 APPENDIX A: CHINESE PROSTITUTE CONTRACT..................................................114 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPENDIX B: BURLINGAME—SEWARD TREATY OF 1868 ................................. 115 APPENDIX C: ANTI-JAPANESE RESOLUTIONS FROM FALLON, NEVADA, 1920............................................................................................. 116 APPENDIX D: “INELIGIBLE ALIEN” LAND LAWS, CALIFORNIA.....................120 First California Ineligible Alien Land Law, 1913 .........................................................120 Second California Ineligible Alien Land Law, 1920 .................................................... 123 Third California Ineligible Alien Land Law, 1923 ....................................................... 128 APPENDIX E: “INELIGIBLE ALIEN” LAND LAWS OF SELECT WESTERN STATES...................................................................................133 W ashington ........................................................................................................................... 133 Arizona ................................................................................................................................... 136 Oregon.................................................................................................................................... 138 M ontana .................................................................................................................................143 Kansas .................................................................................................................................... 146 Wyoming................................................................................................................................151 Arkansas .................................................................................................................................153 Utah.........................................................................................................................................154