The emigrant
Otto Reinhold poetically describes his experience of immigrating to the United States.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1911-03-06
Your TR Source
Emigration and immigration
Extracts from letters on the “Purity of the Ballot”
Extracts from numerous letters address the need to act against the ills of the day, including political corruption, partisanship, influence of money in elections, and the attack on democratic electoral principals.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1911-02-24
Creator(s)
The doctrine of expatriation
In this magazine article, John Bassett Moore discusses the concept of expatriation. In the early days of the American republic, the government inherited the idea of “indefeasible allegiance” from English common law, which was maintained for some time. The first Secretary of State to announce the doctrine of expatriation was James Buchanan, who believed it was the duty of America to protect naturalized and native citizens exactly the same. This opinion was not adopted by subsequent secretaries of state until Buchanan was president, and did not become law in the United States until July 1868. Since 1872, the United States has tried to secure naturalization treaties with all countries. Moore concludes his article discussing an incorrect impression about expatriation. Some people believe a declaration of intention to become an American citizen brings about the same protection as a citizen, which Moore firmly states is “altogether erroneous.”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1904-12
Creator(s)
Japanese passengers from Japan to the United States of America (Mainland) & Hawaii, June 1908
The report provides demographic information for Japanese passengers traveling from Japan to Hawaii and the mainland United States in May and June 1908. The handwritten numbers indicate figures for May, while the printed numbers are for June.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908
Creator(s)
A delicate mission
The Montreal Gazette argues that Canadian Minister of Labour Rodolphe Lemieux is the best official to discuss Canada’s immigration policy with Japan. It is rumored that Germany is sending a powerful naval fleet to the United States to show solidarity between the two countries. It is believed that President Roosevelt wishes to show Japan that the United States is close friends with Russia and Germany.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-10
Creator(s)
The yellow labour problem
An opinion piece from The Outlook magazine of London, England, discussing the debate over Japanese laborers in British colonies.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-10-12
Creator(s)
Memorandum from Luke E. Wright
Luke E. Wright, former American Ambassador to Japan, writes about the importance of cultivating a friendship between the United States and Japan. He praises Japan as an historically accomplished nation that has adapted to become a modern world power. Wright says that the United States does not plan to try to conquer the seas or to acquire more territorial possessions in East Asia. There is no cause for aggression between the two countries, and so Wright encourages his fellow Americans to support fair and generous treatment of the Japanese. He decries those who have spoken against immigrants from friendly nations and argues that treating immigrants of any ethnicity poorly only creates tensions between nations. However, Wright argues that the working people of the two nations should not come into conflict with one another, and believes this feeling should not be considered hostility towards Japan.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-09-25
Creator(s)
Memorandum on lunch at Arsenal Garden
A private communication describes the conversation between Marquis Kinmochi Saionji and Secretary of War William H. Taft during a lunch at the Arsenal Garden in Japan. Saionji expressed relief at learning that Taft’s views align with those of the Japanese government on relations between the United States and Japan and on the belief that the Philippines should remain under United States control. Taft was unable to secure another meeting with Saionji on the topic of immigration, but it was expressed to him that Japan could not act in any way on the matter that would impact their dignity on the world stage.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-10-01
Creator(s)
Report on Japanese immigration to the United States
The report provides data on Japanese immigration to the United States, including figures on ports of entry, occupation, and immigration figures by month.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-10-05
Creator(s)
Report on admitted Japanese
Commissioner General of Immigration Sargent presents statistical information on the Japanese immigrants admitted to the United States since March 26, 1907. These monthly statistics are divided into subsets based on entry point location and occupations.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-08-27
Creator(s)
Page from the Galveston Daily News
This page from the Galveston Daily News includes two articles on the Republican State Convention of Texas and the selection of delegates to be sent to the national Republican convention in Chicago later in 1904. The paper calls the convention a victory for Cecil Andrew Lyon. Other articles include mentions of other state conventions, work done by the Isthmian Canal Commission, calls for Grover Cleveland to become Governor of New Jersey, Chinese immigration to British territories, and an address by William H. Truesdale on labor and capital.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1904-03-23
Creator(s)
Letter from Katharine Lowell Roosevelt Bowlker to Theodore Roosevelt
Katherine Bowlker writes to President Roosevelt on behalf of Yamei Kin, a Chinese woman who is studying at the New York Women’s Medical College. Kin wishes to return to China to practice and teach medicine. Kin would like to meet with President Roosevelt, who is highly regarded in China; she will be in Washington, D.C., on February 20 for two days.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1904-02-17
Creator(s)
Human conservation and birth control
Margaret Sanger discusses birth control in terms of several issues including infant mortality, population growth through fertility and immigration, unemployment, charity, abortion, and sterilization. She presents a great number of statistics and research. Sanger also states that birth control is an important topic that is not discussed as it should be. When former President Roosevelt called the first White House Conference in 1912, he addressed these issues but did not discuss how birth control was a remedy to these problems. The two following White House Conferences in 1929 and 1930 did not discuss birth control either.
Collection
The Margaret Sanger Papers Project
Creation Date
1938-03-03
Creator(s)
Swedish pamphlet No. 10
This pamphlet advertises the 1912 candidacies of Theodore Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson, as well as the platform of the Progressive Party. Emphasizing Theodore Roosevelt’s past success and popularity as president, the pamphlet outlines some of the Progressive Party’s beliefs–particularly with regards to immigrants and immigration–and compares them to those of the Republican and Democratic parties. It also includes a substantial excerpt from Woodrow Wilson’s American People’s History as an example of Wilson’s views on race and immigration. The pamphlet closes by reminding everyone of their duty to vote, and urges them to vote for Roosevelt and Johnson.
Collection
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
Creation Date
1912
Creator(s)
The fool pied piper
Uncle Sam, as the “Pied Piper,” plays a pipe labeled “Lax Immigration Laws” and leads a horde of rats labeled “Jail Bird, Murderer, Thief, Criminal, Crook, Kidnapper, Incendiary, Assassin, Convict, Bandit, Fire Brand, White Slaver, [and] Degenerate.” Some of the rats carry signs that read “Black Hand” showing a black hand print. In the background, rulers from “France, Russia, Germany, Italy, Hungary/Austria, Turkey, [and] Greece,” along with citizens of these countries, are cheering the fleeing rats.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1909-06-02
Letter from Lady Gregory to Theodore Roosevelt
Lady Gregory sends her book Saints & Wonders to President Roosevelt and discusses the challenges of isolating the Irish Christian literature from that of Rome and Judea. Gregory has heard of Roosevelt’s interest in old Irish literature. She remarks that the Irish are “more and more turning our back to England and our face to America” as so many Irish have gone to the “Land of Promise.”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1906-09-12
Creator(s)
Remarks of the President before the Convention of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
President Roosevelt thanks those assembled at the executive session of the convention but says he will reserve most of his remarks for the open session. He notes that when he was governor of New York, he had to deal with a lot of professional and trade associations, but he only felt he was truly able to meet the requests of the railroad workers as they had a natural common sense. Roosevelt expresses his great satisfaction with his appointment of former Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen head Frank P. Sargent to the position of Commissioner General of Immigration.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1902-09-08
Creator(s)
Letter from Terence Vincent Powderly to George B. Cortelyou
Terence Vincent Powderly knows the secret of Edward F. McSweeney’s power over Samuel Gompers. The statement on Chinese ports of entry on the Canadian border will be ready soon.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1901-12-10
Creator(s)
In his second childhood
“Germania” and “Columbia” hold hands above and behind a child-like Otto von Bismarck who is tearing papers labeled “Lasker Resolution” while sitting on the floor. Around Bismarck are torn papers labeled “German Emigration” and “French Lampoon,” and a broken pull-toy of a pig labeled “American Pork” into which he has driven nails with a hammer labeled “Bad Temper.” Caption: Germania to Columbia – “We shall still remain friends, in spite of this foolish old man!”
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1884-02-27
Creator(s)
Graetz, F. (Friedrich), approximately 1840-approximately 1913
A sop to Cerberus
Print shows Chester Alan Arthur offering a “Bill Excluding Chinese for 10 Years,” in the shape of a Chinese man’s face, to a three-headed Cerberus labeled “Western Vote” with the heads labeled “Demagogue, Hoodlum, [and] Irish.” At Arthur’s feet is a basket labeled “Sops for Everybody,” and he holds a rope behind his back labeled “2nd Term Aspirations.” The Cerberus is guarding the narrow path through the forest to the White House labeled “1884,” which shines in the distance.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1882-05-17