Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907

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The Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 (日米紳士協約, Nichibei Shinshi Kyōyaku^?) was an informal agreement between the United States and the Empire of Japan concerning the controversial issues of immigration and racial segregation.

Unlike many other diplomatic agreements which are made of only one document, this agreement was a series of six notes communicated between Japan and the United States. It ran from late 1907 to early 1908.

The immediate cause of the Agreement was anti-Japanese nativism in California. On 11 October 1906, the San Francisco, California Board of Education had passed a regulation whereby children of Japanese descent would be required to attend racially segregated separate schools. At the time, Japanese immigrants made up approximately 1% of the population of California; many of them had come under the treaty in 1894 which had assured free immigration from Japan.

In the Agreement, Japan agreed not to issue passports for Japanese citizens wishing to work in the continental United States, thus effectively eliminating new Japanese immigration to America. In exchange, the United States agreed to accept the presence of Japanese immigrants already residing in America, and to permit the immigration of wives, children and parents, and to avoid legal discrimination against Japanese children in California schools.

There was also a strong desire on the part of the Japanese government "to preserve the image of the Japanese people in the eyes of the world"^{[citation needed]}: Japan did not want America to pass any legislation confronting the Japanese immigrants, for what happened to Chinese under the Chinese Exclusion Act. President Theodore Roosevelt, who had a positive opinion of Japan^{[citation needed]}, accepted the Agreement as proposed by Japan as an alternative to more formal, restrictive immigration legislation.

The government of Japan continued to issue passports for immigration to the Territory of Hawaii, from where immigrants could move onto the continental United States with few controls. The Agreement was later unilaterally abrogated by the United States with the Immigration Act of 1924.

[edit] The beginning of Japanese immigration

Japanese immigration did not begin until after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first restriction of immigration in U.S. history. The Act prevented the migration of Chinese “skilled” and “unskilled” laborers. Chinese immigration boomed during the Gold Rush of 1852, but the strict Japanese government practiced policies of isolation that thwarted Japanese immigration. It was not until 1868 that the government lessened restrictions and Japanese Immigration began. Anti-Chinese sentiment motivated American entrepreneurs to recruit Japanese laborers^{[citation needed]}.

Anti-Chinese sentiment continued to increase^{[citation needed]} and many believed that the Japanese would be a better fit in America^{[citation needed]}. In 1885, the first shipment of Japanese workers arrived on the banks of the newly acquired territory of Hawaii. The Exclusion Act prevented the immigration of Chinese laborers and Japanese workers fulfilled the demand for unskilled labor on the west coast.

Japanese immigrants wanted to reside in America permanently. In order to more properly fit in, they tried learning American social norms and also began wearing American clothing. By 1898, the Japanese Methodist and Presbyterian churches witnessed a tremendous increase in members. Despite their efforts, the Naturalization Act of 1870 did not extend to Asian Americans. They were not seen as Americans but as burdens to the Japanese government^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Japanese oppression

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The Japanese population continued to grow. They began to inherit the hostility once felt by the Chinese^{[citation needed]}. They were blamed for "stealing" jobs and causing other problems like crime^{[citation needed]}. Many Californians^[who?] also feared that the increased Japanese-Hawaiian population would cause an influx of Japanese laborers in California.

By 1905, anti-Japanese propaganda^{[citation needed]} filled the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle. On May 7, 1905 the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League was established. The Japanese and Korean Exclusion League established four policies on May 14, 1905:

1. The Chinese Exclusion Act be extended to include Japanese and Koreans
2. That members of the League should not employ or patronize any person or firm employing Japanese
3. That the action of the School Board in adopting policy of segregating Japanese from white children, be urged
4. That a propaganda campaign calling the attention to the President and Congress to this menace be taken.^[1]

Japanese-Americans did not live in Chinatown, but lived all over the place. They were 93 Japanese students in 23 Elementary Schools. For decades policies existed that segregated Japanese schools, but they were not enforced as long as there was room and the parents did not complain. The Japanese and Korean Exclusion league appeared before the school board multiple times to complain. The School Board dismissed their claims because it was a financial impossibility. It was not a practical idea to create new facilities to accommodate on 93 students.

[edit] The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 and the segregation of schools

On April 18, 1906 an 8.5 earthquake shook San Francisco and left the city in flames for three days. Downtown San Francisco was destroyed and many residents of Chinatown fled to camps located throughout the city. The Chinese Primary School was destroyed and was closed for six months. When it was reopened in October of 1906 it was only at half capacity because of all the Chinese laborers that fled Chinatown. School board superintendent Roncovieri filled the vacancy by ruling that the 93 Japanese students enroll into the Chinese Primary School. A policy was adopted on October 11, 1906 that renamed the Chinese Primary School as The Oriental Public School for Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans.

The new policies outraged many Japanese parents. Japanese culture highly values education and parents were angered at the idea that their children were forced to receive an education that wasn't up to par with that of white children. Transportation was limited after the earthquake and many students could not even attend the Oriental Public Schools. Many Japanese argued with the school board that the segregation of schools went against the Treaty of 1894. The Treaty did not directly apply to education, but did agree that Japanese in America would receive equal rights.

Japanese Americans soon contacted the media in Japan to make the government aware of the segregation. Newspapers were written in Tokyo claiming the segregation as an “insult to their national pride and honor”. In Japan, many citizens^[who?] were disgusted that in America they were being compared to the Chinese. The Japanese government was also highly concerned with their reputation over seas. Japanese government wanted to protect their reputation as a world power. Government officials became aware that a crisis was at hand, and intervention was necessary in order to maintain diplomatic peace.

[edit] The birth of the Gentlemen's Agreement

President Roosevelt had three objectives to resolve the situation: show Japan that the policies of California did not reflect the ideals of the entire country, force San Francisco to remove the segregation policies, and reach a resolution to the Japanese Immigration problem. Victor Metcalf, Secretary of Commerce and Labor, was sent to investigate the issue and force the disbanding of the policies. He was unsuccessful but learned that local officials wanted Japanese exclusion. President Roosevelt took diplomatic and legal action against the School Board, but they would not budge^[specify].

On February 15, 1907 the parties came to a conclusion. If President Roosevelt could ensure the stoppage of Japanese immigration then the School Board would allow Japanese students to attend public schools. The Japanese government did not want to harm their national pride or suffer humiliation like the Chinese government in 1882. The Japanese government agreed to stop granting passports to laborers trying to enter America. The agreement was formalized in a note, consisting of six points, a year later. The agreement was followed by the admission of Japanese students into public schools on March 13, 1907.

The Gentlemen's Agreement was never written into formal law, but was a formal agreement between America and Japan. The Immigration Act of 1924 legally banned all Asians from migrating to America and nullified the Gentlemen's Agreement. This event in American history had many political implications that would be revealed throughout the 20th century.^[specify]

[edit] References

[edit] Additional reading

• Daniels, Roger. The Politics of Prejudice: The Anti-Japanese Movement in California and the Struggle for Japanese Exclusion. University of California Press, 1999, ISBN 0-520-21950-3
• Grusky, David. Social Stratification. Boulder: Westview Press, 2001.

[edit] See also

• List of United States immigration legislation
• Chinese Exclusion Act (United States)