This thesis/project/dissertation has been reviewed for 508 compliance. To request enhancements, please email [email protected]. "NEW ERA": THE POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE HINDUSTANI GHADAR PARTY Karen Singh Almquist B.S., University ofCalifornia, Davis, 1994 THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS m HISTORY at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO SPRING 2009 "NEW ERA": THE POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE HINDUSTANI GHADAR PARTY A Thesis by Karen Singh Almquist .______, Committee Chair ________, Second Reader Charles Postel Date 11 Student: Karen Singh Almquist: I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual and that this Thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the Thesis. Department of History l1l Abstract of "NEW ERA": THE POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE HINDUSTANI GHADAR PARTY by Karen Singh Almquist No close examination ofHindustani Ghadar Party literature has been completed in order to ascertain the Ghadar Party view ofthe political relationship between British­ controlled India and America. This thesis will provide an analysis oftheir newsletters and other correspondence in order to understand how their ideological perception evolved in relation to the United States and British India. Specifically, the Hindustani Ghadar Party's view ofthe political relationship between Indian freedom and American freedom will be studied. I will focus on three distinct time periods: from the beginning of the Ghadar Party movement up until the end ofthe quixotic revolution to invade India; during the federal trial of1917-1918; andfinally, the time period between 1918 and the 1920 's where the political perceptions ofthe Ghadar Party diversified. The timeframe of this study is 1913-192 8. My examination shows that the political ideology changed significantly during the years 1913-1925. Notably, the federal trial acted as a milestone for the group's ideology-the pre-war ideas expressing similarities between America and India changed to an idea that America had lost its way and that the Indian expatriates were the true holders ofAmerican virtues offreedom. IV The sources usedfor this thesis include Hindustani Ghadar Party newsletters, autobiographies ofmembers and leaders, political writing ofthe leaders, newspaper excerpts from the New York Times and Berkeley's Daily Californian, trial transcript from the neutrality trial US. v. Franz Bopp, San Francisco Chronicle coverage ofthe federal criminal trial brought against Hindustani Ghadar Party members, general files from the Department ofJustice related to the conspiracy case, records from the Immigration and Naturalization service, andpost-trial telegrams to affiliates in New York City. This thesis references a large number ofprimary sources, several translated specifically for this thesis, in addition to numerous secondary sources as well as the Forei n Relations ofthe United States, Lansing Papers. , Committee Chair V PREF ACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have been told that completing a thesis is like giving birth. The gestation ofthis particular work has lasted nearly seven years. I initially believed that the topic was of such great interest, it would be "easy." As months dragged to years and the offspring was born a piece at a time not at once, my once cheery attitude changed dramatically. I dreaded the inevitable, "Done yet?" and answered with a curt, "no." This eventually morphed into, "I'll let you know when it's done," "back off," and (my personal favorite), "I gave that up ages ago." I initially fell in love with this project because it reminded me of my father who told me numerous stories describing his life as a new American-- a Punjabi Sikh immigrant in 1953, alone and with only $7 dollars to his name. My two stories that reminded me of this thesis topic involved his first days in California. The first involved a cross-country train trip to Yuba City. He didn't understand why people kept getting up at regular intervals and going to another car and then came back. A day and a half passed before someone noticed that my father looked exceptionally hungry. An older lady and her husband took pity on my dad and explained that people were going to the dining car to eat; they then invited him to dine with them. The second story occurred after he disembarked from the train. After walking several miles from a train station in Yuba City, he attempted to purchase a soda from a gas station vending machine. Puzzled as to why the machine didn't dispense the soda, my dad inquired and was subsequently chased away by the establishment's owner who had armed himself with a rifle. Vl The antithesis of most Indian immigrant men, he despised being a part of whflt he considered a "backward thinking" Victorian-based community and embraced American life, including, unfortunately, its propensity to overindulge in tobacco. Paradoxically, he clung to the idea that his children would "marry Indian" and that no reason existed for his children to date because marriages would be arranged. He personified the immigrant experience by showing loyalty to his new country and yet retaining some of the cultural characteristics from his birth home. He ultimately sided with his new country in the tug­ of -war but continued to push me along a many-forked path so that I had to choose and defend my identity as the daughter of immigrants-sometimes even to him. My mother continued his crusade after his death. Fully immersed in American life, she realized that my brother and I were also "Amreekan" but lacked the counterweight of "Punjabi-ness." My mom's pioneering spirit has always awed and inspired me since she too immigrated to an unknown country, nearly twenty years after my father, and successfully transformed from "wife" to "provider." Unfortunately, the early Indian immigrants and the Ghadar Party participants did not bring wives to America, and it is their absence that is most acutely felt in this story. Those who assisted me with this project are too many to count, but I would like to give special thanks to my mom, Jyoti, for her translation services; the Desh Bhagat Yagdar Ghadar Party Museum in Jullunder Punjab, India; Ted Sibia who loaned to me numerous documents and brought the Sikh perspective to my attention; to my brother Jesse who listened without criticism or comment on long-distance phone calls as I tried Vil to explain what I was doing and why it was taking me so long; and to David and Sahara who put up with my moodiness and tantrums. It was the memory of my father that finally got me to finish this work. I knew he would be disappointed if,. after seven years, I never saw the product gathering dust on the shelf in the basement of the CSUS library. Lastly, I would like to thank all those family members, friends, acquaintances, and co-workers who pushed me relentlessly by asking, "Are you done with your thesis yet?" I can finally answer, "Yes I am." Vlll DEDICATION This Thesis is dedicated to Pops, Momma and Jesse. IX TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgements .................................................................................. vi Dedication .................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures .............................................................................................................. xi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Overview and Background ................................................................................ 1 Literature Review ..............................................................................................5 2. THE PRE-WAR YEARS: 1910-1917 ................................................................... 14 Immigration and Racism .................................................................................. 14 3. THE FEDERAL TRIAL, UNITED STATES V. RAM CHANDRA, ET. AL: 1917-1918 ...............................................................52 4. POST TRIAL ERA: 1919-1925 ............................................................................72 5. CONCLUSION......................................................................................................90 Bibliography ................................................................................................................92 X LIST OF FIGURES 1. Figure 1 : Hindus Driven Out.. ............................................................................. 25 2. Figure 2: A New Problem for Uncle Sam ........................................................... 27 3. Figure 3: First Sikh Temple in the United States, Circ. 1912 ............................. 34 4. Figure 4: Independent Hindustan ........................................................................46 5. Figure 5: Yugantar............................................................................................... 47 6. Figure 6: Ghadar Issue, June 23, 1917 ............................................................. 59 7. Figure 7: Ghadar Issue, July 1, 1917 .................................................................. 59 8. Figure 8: Ghadar Issue, July 7, 1917 .................................................................. 59 9. Figure 9: Ghadar Issue, June 9, 1917 ................................................................. 59 XI "We get our ideas offreedom not from