Discrimination and Violence Against Asian Americans in the 20th Century
Brief Background
The discrimination against what is now collectively known as the AAPI population in the 19th century continued into the 20th century. In 1913, California enacted the Alien Land Law, barring Asian immigrants from owning land or renting it for more than three years. A decade later, the 1924 Oriental Exclusion Act, as part of the 1924 Immigration Act, banned all Chinese, Japanese, and Korean people from immigrating to the U.S.
Based on the 1924 Oriental Exclusion Act, except for Filipino nationals, Asian immigrants were denied citizenship and naturalization and prevented from marrying white Americans or owning land. The reason for the exception of Filipino nationals was due to the Spanish-American War. In 1898, under the Treaty of Paris, defeated Spain transferred its colony of the Philippines to the U.S., and rather than acknowledging the Philippines’ declaration of independence, the U.S. annexed the Philippines. For the next three years, Filipino nationalists fought against America, seeking independence instead of a change in colonial rulers, without success. During the 1920s, single Filipinos migrated in large numbers to the West Coast to work, providing cheap labor. However, in 1935, the Tydings-McDuffie Act was passed, limiting an annual quota of fifty on Filipino migration.
The discrimination against what is now collectively known as the AAPI population in the 19th century continued into the 20th century. In 1913, California enacted the Alien Land Law, barring Asian immigrants from owning land or renting it for more than three years. A decade later, the 1924 Oriental Exclusion Act, as part of the 1924 Immigration Act, banned all Chinese, Japanese, and Korean people from immigrating to the U.S.
Based on the 1924 Oriental Exclusion Act, except for Filipino nationals, Asian immigrants were denied citizenship and naturalization and prevented from marrying white Americans or owning land. The reason for the exception of Filipino nationals was due to the Spanish-American War. In 1898, under the Treaty of Paris, defeated Spain transferred its colony of the Philippines to the U.S., and rather than acknowledging the Philippines’ declaration of independence, the U.S. annexed the Philippines. For the next three years, Filipino nationalists fought against America, seeking independence instead of a change in colonial rulers, without success. During the 1920s, single Filipinos migrated in large numbers to the West Coast to work, providing cheap labor. However, in 1935, the Tydings-McDuffie Act was passed, limiting an annual quota of fifty on Filipino migration.
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Lesson Plans & Resources
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In Asia, Japan continued to expand its imperialistic influence, and in July 1941, the U.S responded to the growing power of Japan by seizing all Japanese assets in the U.S. The U.S. also put an embargo on sales of oil and scrap metal to Japan. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. About two months after the attack, an estimated 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced into what was then called “internment camps,” where men, women, and children endured harsh conditions, discrimination, and violence. Click here to read ESJF’s intern Esmé Lee-Gardner’s research on gender and race-based discrimination, in particular, that incarcerated multiracial Japanese Americans faced at the camps.