Overview

Students explore the origins of Chinese migration, labor on the American frontier, exclusion laws, racial violence, family separation, community organizations, self-governance, urban development, and the lasting legacy of Chinatown in American history. The book integrates immigration history, urban history, legal history, race relations, and cultural studies to explain how Chinatown emerged as both a refuge and a symbol of resilience.

Table of Contents

  1. Chapter 1: Gold Mountain, Chinese Migration, and the Search for Opportunity
  2. Chapter 2: Labor, Railroads, and the Building of the West
  3. Chapter 3: Race, Violence, and the Anti-Chinese Movement
  4. Chapter 4: The Page Act and the Gendered Architecture of Exclusion
  5. Chapter 5: The Chinese Exclusion Act and the Federalization of Racial Immigration Law
  6. Chapter 6: Expulsions, Riots, and the Violence of Removal
  7. Chapter 7: Chinatown as Refuge, Boundary, and Urban Operating System
  8. Chapter 8: Family, District, Merchant, and Benevolent Associations
  9. Chapter 9: Family Separation, Paper Identities, and the Struggle to Belong
  10. Chapter 10: Tongs, Brotherhood, and Chinatown Self-Governance
  11. Chapter 11: Vice Economies and the Criminalization of Chinatown
  12. Chapter 12: The Tong Wars and the Politics of Chinatown Violence
  13. Chapter 13: Reform, Immigration Change, and the Transformation of Chinese America
  14. Chapter 14: Chinatown in American Memory, Popular Culture, and Public History
  15. Conclusion: From Gold Mountain to Chinatown
  16. Appendices and Back Matter

Learning Outcomes