A Not so Gentlemenly Agreement

Nativism spread its roots throughout the early twenty-first century, posing a problem for the immigrants of the time. One group that was hit hard was the Japanese, who had been assured free immigration in 1894. However, with the surge of Japanese immigrants into California, people became disgruntled. There were simply too many coming into the state and racial tensions and nativist sentiments were further exasperated. 

Some attempts were made to lessen the issues as in 1900, Japan agreed to stop issuing passports to workers that were attempting to enter the United States. Even with this policy in place, Japanese immigrants continued to come to America via other countries. This caused tensions to rise even further until in 1906, Asian children in the San Francisco school board were segregated.

This caused the Japanese American relationship to worsen as Japan was deeply offended by the action taken against their people. In response, President Theodore Roosevelt tried to extend an olive branch as it was essential to maintain Japan as an ally to counter Russian expansion. President Roosevelt set up a meeting with the mayor of San Francisco and the school board of the district, persuading them to repeal the decision for segregation. He assured them that the federal government would address the issue and that a solution would be found.

Within a year in 1907, the federal government took the matter into their hands with the Gentlemen's Agreement. It stated that Japan would continue denying passports to laborers set on entering the United States and that the United States could reject Japanese immigrants coming from other countries. The school board withdrew the order and in 1908, the Gentlemen's Agreement went into action.

These restrictions on Japanese immigration and the response to the influx of immigrants goes to show how strong nativism was in the United States and how extreme measures, such as segregation, were taken. The Gentlemen's Agreement, while done to benefit both parties in the situation, serves as a reminder how hard it is to combat preconceived notions and how strong public opinion can be even if its decisions are immoral.


SOURCE : https://www.history.com/topics/gentlemens-agreement