Publication Date
Fall 1973
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
Abstract
For at least forty years prior to the 1920's immigration crisis, there was some form of agitation to restrict or exclude either the Chinese, the Hindus, or the Japanese. The highest level of ferment occurred during the period 1920-l933. Activity in the early 1920's focused particularly on restricting all immigration. This was successfully enacted in the emergency federal legislation of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 (popularly known as the Johnson Act) which placed permanent quotas upon all immigration and excluded Asians as permanent entrants into the United States.
The subject of this paper focuses on the course of the Japanese exclusion movement as it relates to the particular activities of the California Joint Immigration Committee. Functioning as a Steering Committee for four California organizations the American Legion, the Native Sons of the Golden West, the American Federation of Labor and the Grange, it served as the primary propaganda force for the exclusion movement on the West Coast after replacing earlier organizations with similar aims in 1924, After their goals were achieved in that year, the Committee functioned similarly until 1942 to prevent revision of the law which would provide Japan with a quota.
Recommended Citation
Van Brocklin, Donald, "The Immigration Act of 1924: The Role of the California Joint Immigration Committee" (1973). Master's Theses. 5817.
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/5817
