Wikipedia

Japanese-American life before World War II

(Redirected fromJapanese American life before World War II)

People from Japanbeganemigrating to the U.S.in significant numbers following the political, cultural, and social changes stemming from the 1868Meiji Restoration.Japanese immigrationto the Americas started with immigration toHawaiiin the first year of theMeiji erain 1868.

Early immigration

edit

Following theChinese Exclusion Actof 1882, Japanese immigrants were increasingly sought by industrialists to replace theChinese immigrants.However, as the number of Japanese in theUnited Statesincreased, resentment against their success in the farming industry and fears of a "yellow peril"grew into an anti-Japanese movement similar to that faced by earlier Chinese immigrants.[1]Around the turn of the century, around four thousand Japanese immigrants lived in San Francisco, funding their education asdomestic workers.[2]

Anti-Asian litigation

edit

TheNaturalization Act of 1790restricted naturalized U.S. citizenship to "free white persons," and an1870 amendmentextended the right to African Americans, but the Issei and other Asian immigrants were excluded from citizenship. As a result, the Issei were unable to vote, and faced additional restrictions such as the inability to own land under many state laws. These laws would remain in effect until 1952, when the Supreme Court ruledalien land lawsunconstitutional and theWalter-McCarran Actremoved race-based requirements for naturalization.

In 1907, theGentlemen's Agreementbetween the governments of Japan and the U.S. ended immigration of Japanese laborers (i.e., men), but permitted the immigration of spouses and children of Japanese immigrants already in the U.S. TheImmigration Act of 1924banned the immigration of all but a token few Japanese.

The ban on immigration produced unusually well-defined generational groups within the Japanese American community. Initially, there was an immigrant generation, theIssei,and their U.S.-born children, theNisei Japanese American.The Issei were exclusively those who had immigrated before 1924. Because no new immigrants were permitted, all Japanese Americans born after 1924 were — by definition — born in the U.S. This generation, the Nisei, became a distinct cohort from the Issei generation in terms of age, citizenship, and English language ability, in addition to the usual generational differences. Institutional and interpersonal racism led many of the Nisei to marry other Nisei, resulting in a third distinct generation of Japanese Americans, theSansei.Significant Japanese immigration did not occur until theImmigration Act of 1965ended 40 years of bans against immigration from Japan and other countries.

TheCalifornia Alien Land Law of 1913was specifically created to prevent land ownership among Japanese citizens who were residing in the state of California. This law was strengthened in 1920, and several other western states adoptedalien land lawsduring the 1920s.

Timeline of life before World War II

edit
  • 1815:Japanese castawayOguri Jukichiwas among the first Japanese citizens known to have reached present day California.[3]
  • 1834:Three castaways Iwakichi, Kyukichi, andOtokichi,were the sole survivors of a Japanese rice transport ship that had been caught in a typhoon, damaged, and blown far off course before beaching on the northwest corner of theOlympic Peninsulain present-dayWashingtonstate, where they were briefly enslaved by the indigenousMakahpeople. Upon hearing of the three Asian captives,John McLoughlin,theChief Factor (agent)for theColumbia Districtat theHudson's Bay Company,secured their release and had them delivered to Fort Vancouver. They stayed there, along the banks of theColumbia River,for several months before eventually heading toLondonand then back to Asia.[4]
  • 1841:June 27 Captain Whitfield, commanding aNew Englandsailing vessel, rescues five shipwrecked Japanese sailors from the uninhabited Japanese island ofTorishima.Four disembark atHonolulu,howeverManjiro Nakahamastays on board returning with Whitfield toFairhaven,Massachusetts.After attending school in New England and adopting the name John Manjiro, he later became an interpreter for CommodoreMatthew C. Perry.
  • 1850:Seventeen survivors of a Japanese shipwreck are saved by the American freighterAucklandoff the coast of California. In 1852, the group is sent toMacauto join CommodoreMatthew C. Perryas a gesture to help open diplomatic relations with Japan. One of them,Joseph Heco(Hikozo Hamada), goes on to become the first Japanese person to become anaturalizedAmerican citizen.[5]
  • 1861:The utopian ministerThomas Lake Harrisof the Brotherhood of the New Life visits England, where he meets Nagasawa Kanaye, who becomes a convert. Nagasawa returns to the U.S. with Harris and follows him toFountaingroveinSanta Rosa, California.When Harris leaves the Californiancommune,Nagasawa became the leader and remained there until his death in 1932.[6]
  • 1866:Japanese students arrive in the United States, supported by the Japan Mission of theReformed Church in Americawhich had opened in 1859 atKanagawa.[7]
  • 1868:150 Japanese men immigrated to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations. Of them 43 stayed and many intermarried with native Hawaiian women and others.[8]
  • 1869:A group of Japanese people arrive at Gold Hills, California and build theWakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony.Okei becomes the first recorded Japanese woman to die and be buried in the United States.
  • 1882:TheChinese Exclusion Actof 1882. This arguably left room for agricultural labour, encouraging immigration and recruitment of Japanese from both Hawaii and Japan.[9]
  • 1884:The Japanese grants passports for contract labour in Hawaii where there was a demand for cheap labour.[10]
  • 1885:On February 8, the first official intake of Japanese migrants to a U.S.-controlled entity occurs when 676 men, 159 women, and 108 children arrive inHonoluluon board the Pacific Mail passenger freighterCity of Tokio.These immigrants, the first of many Japanese immigrants to Hawaii, have come to work as laborers onthe island's sugar plantationsvia an assisted passage scheme organized by the Hawaiian government.
  • 1886:The Japanese government legalizes emigration.
  • 1893:TheSan Francisco Board of Educationattempts to introduce segregation for Japanese American children, but withdraws the measure following protests by the Japanese government.
  • 1900s:Japanese immigrants begin to lease land and sharecrop.
  • 1902:Yone NoguchipublishesThe American Diary of a Japanese Girl,the first Japanese American novel.
  • 1903:InYamataya v. Fisher(Japanese Immigrant Case) the Supreme Court held that Japanese Kaoru Yamataya was subject to deportation since her Fifth Amendments due process was not violated in regards to the appeals process of the 1891 Immigration Act. This allowed for individuals to challenge their deportation in the courts by challenging the legitimacy of the procedures.
  • 1906:TheSan Francisco Board of Educationorders the segregation of Asian students in public schools.[11]
  • 1907:TheGentlemen's Agreement of 1907between United States and Japan results in Japan ending the issuance passports for new laborers.
  • 1913:California passed theAlien Land Lawwhich prohibited "aliens ineligible to citizenship" (i.e. all Asian immigrants, including Japanese) from owning land or property, though it permitted three year leases.
  • 1920–1925:Several states adopted similaralien land lawsto prohibit leasing or selling land to "aliens ineligible to citizenship".[12]
  • 1924:The federalImmigration Act of 1924banned immigration from Japan.
  • 1927:Kinjiro Matsudairabecomes the first Japanese American to be elected mayor of a U.S. city (town ofEdmonston, Maryland).[13]
  • June 1935:Congress passed an act making allowing aliens to become eligible for citizenship eligible if they (a) had served in the U.S. armed forces between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918 (during U.S. involvement in World War One); (b) had been honorably discharged, and (c) were permanent residents of the United States. Only a handful of Japanese residents gained American citizenship under this act before the deadline on January 1, 1937.[12]
  • 1940:The Alien Registration Act (theSmith Act) was passed by the US Congress that required all aliens to register with the US government and be fingerprinted. President Roosevelt signed the 'Two Ocean Navy Expansion Act'. This act was the first step in preparing America for war against Germany, Japan, or both.
  • 1940:The first military draft during peacetime in American history takes place.
  • 1940:Roosevelt is elected as President of the United States for a third term with 54 percent of the popular vote.[14]
  • August 18, 1941:Michigan representativeJohn D. Dingell, Sr.suggests in a letter to President Roosevelt that 10,000 Hawaiian Japanese Americans should be held as hostages to ensure "good behavior" on the part of Japan.
  • December 7, 1941:Attack on Pearl Harborand entrance of the United States intoWorld War II

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^Anderson, Emily."Anti-Japanese exclusion movement,"Densho Encyclopedia.Retrieved 16-07-2014.
  2. ^Linda España-Maram (25 April 2006).Creating Masculinity in Los Angeles's Little Manila: Working-Class Filipinos and Popular Culture, 1920s-1950s.Columbia University Press. pp. 22–23.ISBN978-0-231-51080-6.
  3. ^Schodt, Frederik L. (2003).Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan.Stone Bridge Press. p.59.ISBN978-1-880656-77-8.
  4. ^Van Sant, VE., 'Pacific Pioneers: Japanese Journeys to America and Hawaii, 1850–80'(2000)
  5. ^Jones, Terry.,The Story of Kanaye Nagasawa(1980), pp. 41–77
  6. ^A Digest of Constitutional and Synodical Legislation of the Reformed Church in America,Board of Publication of the Reformed Church in America, 1906
  7. ^Tsutakawa, Mayumi."Gannenmono Exhibition Reveals the Genesis of Japanese Settlement in Hawaii".Densho.RetrievedFebruary 5,2021.
  8. ^Kashima, T., ‘Nisei and Issei’, in. Personal Justice Denied (2nd edn, United States of America, 2000) p. 30
  9. ^Kashima, T., ‘Nisei and Issei’, in. Personal Justice Denied (2nd edn, United States of America, 2000) p. 30
  10. ^Imai, Shiho."Gentlemen's Agreement".Densho.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
  11. ^ab"Life before Internment Camps".Archived fromthe originalon 2007-03-10.Retrieved2007-05-23.
  12. ^"Edmonston Maryland: A Bridging Community".Archived fromthe originalon 2019-12-23.Retrieved2020-01-11.
  13. ^"Children of the Camps | WWII INTERNMENT TIMELINE".children-of-the-camps.org.

Further reading

edit
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese-American_life_before_World_War_II&oldid=1248808570"