The Asiatic Exclusion League (often abbreviated AEL) was an organization formed in the early 20th century in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

that aimed to prevent immigration of people of Asian origin.

United States

In May 1905, a mass meeting was held in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

to launch the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League.Buell, Raymond Leslie. 9221992. "The Development of the Anti-Japanese Agitation in the United States." ''

Political Science Quarterly ''Political Science Quarterly'' is an American double blind peer-reviewed academic journal covering government, politics, and policy, published since 1886 by the Academy of Political Science. Its editor-in-chief is Robert Y. Shapiro (Columbia U ...

'' 37(4):605-38. . . Among those attending the first meeting were labor leaders and European immigrants,

Patrick Henry McCarthy Patrick Henry McCarthy (March 17, 1863 – July 1, 1933), generally known as P. H. McCarthy and sometimes, more jocularly, as "Pinhead", was an influential labor leader in San Francisco and the 29th Mayor of the City from 1910 to 1912. Born i ...

of the Building Trades Council of San Francisco,

Andrew Furuseth Andrew Furuseth (March 17, 1854 – January 22, 1938) of Åsbygda, Hedmark, Norway was a merchant seaman and an American labor leader. Furuseth was active in the formation of two influential maritime unions: the Sailors' Union of the Pacific ...

, and Walter McCarthy of the

International Seamen's Union The International Seamen's Union (ISU) was an American maritime trade union which operated from 1892 until 1937. In its last few years, the union effectively split into the National Maritime Union and Seafarer's International Union. The early yea ...

. Following the first meeting, the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'' published a picture of laborers who collected at the meeting saying: "Some present owned their own little homes; while a majority know what it is to sit with the good wife of an evening, figure on approaching rent day and make up the cash on hand to see if there is enough to carry the family over to the next day." The ''Chronicle'' also mentioned of resilience coming from the men attending the meeting, angrily ranting against the foreign men who were preventing them from owning homes and achieving a middle class life. In December 1907, the organization was renamed the Asiatic Exclusion League to include the exclusion of Indians and

Chinese immigrants Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ...

in their agenda. Advocating for the "white man's country" and the prohibition of Asian labor immigration, the AEL set up branches across the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

of North America, achieving transnational status and cross-border labor organization. Once the league was started they immediately began working to prevent any increase of Asians along the Western coastlines. The league used strong-arm methods and violence against Asians to try to ensure the rigorous enforcement of the

Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplo ...

and expand its provisions to other Asian immigrants. They moved quickly to broaden their goals and aimed to prevent immigration of all people of

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

origin. Their collective aims were to spread false anti-Asian information and to sway legislation towards restricting immigration. In response to their efforts General

Ulysses S. Webb Ulysses Sigel Webb (September 29, 1864 – July 31, 1947) was an American lawyer and politician affiliated with the Republican Party. He served as the 19th Attorney General of California for the lengthy span of 37 years. Webb's parents were C ...

, Attorney General for the state of California began to apply a markedly greater effort into enforcing laws that prohibited Asian ownership of property.Arnold, K. R. 2011. ''Anti-Immigration in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 48-52.

Education

AEL framed a campaign geared towards the

San Francisco Board of Education The San Francisco Board of Education is the school board for the City and County of San Francisco. It is composed of seven Commissioners, elected by voters across the city to serve 4-year terms. It is subject to local, state, and federal laws, an ...

to exclude Japanese and Koreans from public schools. The San Francisco school board ruled in October 1906, that all Japanese and Korean students would be forced to join their Chinese counterparts at the segregated Oriental School which was established some two decades earlier in 1884. Many Japanese Americans challenged the school board's ruling by stating that the segregation of schools went against the Treaty of 1894. The Treaty did not address education; however, it did guarantee that equal rights be given to Japanese Americans. As part of the Japanese Americans' challenge, they secured the right to attend San Francisco public schools, but as part of the

Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 The was an informal agreement between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan whereby Japan would not allow further emigration to the United States and the United States would not impose restrictions on Japanese immigrants alrea ...

, the Japanese government agreed to stop issuing passports to Japanese laborers.

Government

Applying active pressure on Congress, in March 1907, Congress approved amending existing immigration legislation, thereby allowing President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

to issue

Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

589 that ended migration by Japanese or Korean laborers from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

to the continental United States. This was taken together with the Gentlemen's Agreement (1907–1908) with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, in which the Japanese government agreed not to issue passports for those laborers seeking work in the United States. This ended the immigration of much-maligned Japanese laborers. The league enhanced its activities by recruiting members, pledging political candidates to an exclusion law and by attempting to organize all of the western states in a concerted movement that would force Congress to grant their aspirations. For the forces against congress the AEL created a platform of five planks to bring forth to Congress: "(1) Extending Chinese Exclusion Laws to exclude Japanese and Koreans, except those exempt by the terms of the Chinese Exclusion Act, from the United States and its territories; (2) the members are to pledge not to employ or patronize Japanese or to patronize any person or form employing Japanese or dealing with products coming from such firms; (3) actions of the School Board to adopt a policy segregating Japanese from white children be approved; (4) a campaign calling the attention of the President and Congress to this "menace", be taken over; (5) all labor and civic organizations in the state California are asked to contribute a fixed assessment to the cause." On May 19, 1913 Governor Hiram Johnson signed the Webb–Haney law, commonly recognized as Alien Land Law of 1913. These laws limited land leases by "aliens ineligible to citizenship." Consecutive amendments followed Webb-Hartley, passed in 1919 and again in 1920, only further restricted the leasing of land. The latter amendment, represented the most demanding measures this far and was praised to close one and for all any and all loopholes that allowed for Asians to gain ownership. It passed overwhelmingly as a ballot initiative and went into effect on December 9, 1920.

Canada

Damage done by the Asiatic Exclusion League

A sister organization with the same name was formed in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, on 12 August 1907 under the auspices of the Trades and Labour Council. Its stated aim was "to keep Oriental immigrants out of British Columbia." On 7 September, riots erupted in Vancouver when League members besieged

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Aust ...

after listening to inflammatory racist speeches at

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

(then on Main Street near Georgia Street). 4,000 people shouting racist slogans, by the time the riot reached City Hall, it had reached 8,000 people. The crowd marched into Chinatown, vandalizing and causing thousands of dollars' worth of damage. The mob then rampaged through Japantown, where they were confronted by residents armed with clubs and bottles with which they fought back. The organization flourished immediately following the riots, but began to dwindle by the following year. The AEL resurfaced in the early 1920s, this time claiming a membership of 40,000 in the province in the period leading up to the passage of the ''Chinese Immigration Act'' of 1923, which ended virtually all

Chinese immigration to Canada There has been a significant history of Chinese immigration to Canada, with the first settlement of Chinese people in Canada being in the 1780s.Chan, Anthony B. 013 July 302019 May 22.Chinese Canadians." ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Ottawa: His ...

. In August 1921, there was a meeting held by the AEL bringing together church leaders, businessmen and veterans from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

as well as representatives from six trade unions and the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council. During this meeting the League issued a program that called for the abolition of all Oriental immigration which later led to a campaign resulting in the ''Oriental Exclusion Act of 1923''. Another important, albeit indirect, consequence of AEL activity was that the

1907 Vancouver riots The Pacific Coast race riots were a series of riots that took place within the United States and Canada. The riots, which resulted in violence, were the result of anti-Asian tension caused by white opposition to the increasing Asian population du ...

led to the first drug law in Canada. The

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

(and future Prime Minister),

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...

, was sent to investigate the riots as well as victim claims for compensation. One claim was submitted by

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy '' Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which ...

manufacturers, which sparked an investigation into the local drug scene by King. Particularly alarming to the minister was that opium consumption was apparently spreading to young white women. A federal law was soon passed "prohibiting the manufacture, sale and importation of opium for other than medicinal purposes." Both Asiatic Exclusion Leagues were the product of an overall atmosphere of white racism against Asians that prevailed in Canada and the United States from the 1800s on, culminating in the imposition of a

head tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments f ...

and other immigration policies designed to exclude Asians from Canada, as well as

Japanese American internment Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and Japanese Canadian internment during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Further references

In 1908, the Asiatic Exclusion League reprinted the 1901 pamphlet "Some reasons for Chinese exclusion. Meat vs. Rice. American Manhood against Asiatic Coolieism. Which shall survive?" published by the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutua ...

, adding an introduction and appendices.

References

External links

Asiatic Coolie Invasion
on the Virtual Museum of San Francisco.

by Chuck Davis {{Authority control History of racism in the United States Chinese diaspora Japanese diaspora Asian-American history Asian-American issues History of Vancouver Riots and civil disorder in Canada 1907 riots 1905 establishments in California 1907 establishments in British Columbia Anti-immigration politics in the United States Anti-Chinese sentiment in Canada Anti-Asian sentiment in Canada Immigration to North America Immigration to the United States Organizations established in 1905 Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States History of immigration to Canada Immigration to British Columbia Defunct migration-related organizations based in Canada Asian immigration to Canada