Merchant Status: Life, Labor, and Politics in the Time of Chinese Exclusion

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Diverse and Enduring: Archaeology from Across the Asian Diaspora" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

From 1875 until 1943 treaties, laws, legal opinions, administrative rules, and regulations circumscribed the free movement of the Chinese immigrants in the U.S. and strictly limited the inflow of new migrants of Chinese descent. These efforts had a profound and lasting impact on the Chinese diaspora in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Navigating the ever-changing laws, rules, and regulations aimed at their exclusion shaped the nature of Chinese communities, and influenced their relations and interactions with their white neighbors. The merchandise store served a critical and multifaceted role in the formation, development, and decline of the rural Chinatowns throughout Oregon, as well as to the transnational lives of Chinese Oregonians. In addition, these businesses could be used to facilitate resistance and community persistence in the face of the ever-evolving U.S. immigration policy, examples of which will be presented by case studies in Ashland and The Dalles.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Diverse and Enduring: Archaeology from Across the Asian Diaspora   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology