The Crusade Against the Chinese

GREEN: Lynching

BLUE: Murder or killing

RED: Riot or mob violence

ORANGE: Arson

While this map uses newspaper reports to map violent episodes against Chinese laborers and residents in Western United States, it should be noted that nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century newspapers were mostly hostile to the presence of non-whites in the U.S. As such, many articles tend to be racist and demeaning. Articles that express sympathy for the plight of the Chinese were few and far in between. Even articles that condemn mob violence use highly reductive descriptions of the Chinese. These reports, nevertheless, capture the antipathy against the Chinese and, from them, the names of the victims and how they resisted can be grazed upon. In including these newspaper articles, this project seeks to incite further inquiry into each incident or to provide a starting point for future research.

The map above does not completely detail all violent incidents against the Chinese in the region. Users may contribute to this map by filling out a form at the bottom of the homepage.

If newspaper reports are not fully transcribed in the map, they can be found below: