The Forgotten History of Grover Cleveland's Troop Deployments: A Tale of Two Presidents

Strategic Insights -

Grover Cleveland's deployment of troops to Tacoma and Seattle in the late 1800s to protect Chinese immigrants from anti-immigrant riots stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump's recent invocation of this precedent to justify the domestic deployment of US troops for mass deportation. Cleveland's actions, motivated by a desire to prevent further violence and protect the rights of Chinese immigrants, are a far cry from Trump's efforts to use the military to facilitate the expulsion of undocumented immigrants.

Key Takeaways:

  • President Grover Cleveland deployed US troops to Tacoma and Seattle in 1885 and 1886 to protect Chinese immigrants from anti-immigrant riots, motivated by a desire to prevent further violence and protect the rights of Chinese immigrants.
  • Cleveland's actions were in stark contrast to Donald Trump's recent invocation of this precedent to justify the domestic deployment of US troops for mass deportation, which has sparked controversy and criticism.
  • The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first federal law to explicitly bar a group of people based on their race and class, separating families and stunting generations of Chinese Americans.
  • Chinese Exclusion was later ended in 1943, but US immigration law continued to discriminate against Asian immigrants until the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act.
  • During the 1880s, US immigration law restricted immigrants from Europe if they were "likely to become a public charge" or contract laborers, but these restrictions had limited impact on the arrival of immigrants from Europe.
  • President Cleveland's deployment of troops to Seattle in 1885 and 1886 helped to prevent the escalation of anti-immigrant violence and is one of the reasons that Seattle still has a Chinatown today.

Statistics:

  • 28 Chinese immigrants were massacred in Rock Springs, Wyoming, in 1885.
  • Over 300 Chinese immigrants were driven out of Tacoma, Washington, in 1885.
  • 200-300 Chinese immigrants left Seattle under duress in 1886.
  • Hundreds of Chinese immigrants remained in the United States, finding relative safety in Portland, San Francisco, or the Eastern states.
  • Over 800 Chinese immigrants fled to Canada or China from Tacoma.
  • The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred the vast majority of Chinese from immigrating to the United States.
  • Chinese Exclusion was in place for 61 years, from 1882 to 1943.

Sources:

  • Beth Lew-Williams, The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America
  • Francis E. Warren, Governor of the Wyoming Territory
  • Watson C. Squire, Governor of the Washington Territory
  • CNN, Donald Trump invokes Grover Cleveland to justify domestic troop deployment