Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 facts for kids

The Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 was an informal deal between the United States and Japan. It wasn't a formal treaty, so the US Congress didn't vote on it.

In this agreement, Japan promised to stop its people from moving to the United States. In return, the US agreed not to create new laws against Japanese immigrants already living there. The main goal was to calm down growing tensions between the two countries. These tensions were caused by things like riots and the unfair separation of Japanese students in schools. This agreement was later replaced by the Immigration Act of 1924.

Why the Agreement Happened

A Japanese Day parade on Seattle's Second Avenue in 1909.

In the 1850s, many Chinese people moved to California during the California Gold Rush. But Japan had strict rules, so not many Japanese people could leave their country. This changed in 1868, and Japanese people started moving to the US.

At first, American business owners wanted Japanese workers. This was partly because there was a lot of anti-Chinese feeling at the time. In 1885, the first Japanese workers arrived in the Kingdom of Hawaii, which was an independent country back then.

Unlike many Chinese immigrants, most Japanese immigrants wanted to stay in America permanently. They often came with their families. They also tried to fit in with American customs, like wearing American clothes. Many even joined Christian churches.

As more Japanese people settled in California, some Americans became suspicious. By 1905, newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle were publishing articles against Japanese immigrants. A group called the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League was formed. They wanted to:

• Stop Japanese and Korean immigration, just like Chinese immigration had been stopped.
• Encourage people not to hire Japanese workers.
• Pressure schools to separate Japanese children from white children.
• Tell the US government that Japanese immigration was a "menace."

Tensions grew, especially after Japan won a big war against Russia in 1905. Japan felt it deserved to be treated as an equal world power. The main reason for the Gentlemen's Agreement was the anti-Japanese feeling in California. In 1906, the San Francisco Board of Education decided that children of Japanese descent had to go to separate, segregated schools.

At that time, Japanese immigrants made up about 1% of California's population. Many had come under a treaty from 1894 that promised them free immigration.

Under the Gentlemen's Agreement, Japan agreed to stop giving passports to Japanese citizens who wanted to work in the Continental United States. This meant fewer new Japanese immigrants would come. In return, the US agreed to let Japanese immigrants already living there stay. They also allowed wives, children, and parents of those immigrants to come. The US also promised not to legally discriminate against Japanese American children in California schools. Japan really wanted to avoid being treated unfairly, like China had been with the Chinese Exclusion Act. US President Theodore Roosevelt liked Japan and agreed to this deal to avoid stricter immigration laws.

School Segregation Issues

There were only 93 Japanese students spread across 23 elementary schools in San Francisco. For many years, schools had policies to separate students by race, but these weren't always strictly followed. The Japanese and Korean Exclusion League kept complaining to the school board. The board initially said it was too expensive to build new schools for only 93 students.

After a big earthquake in 1906, the school board sent the 93 Japanese students to the "Chinese Primary School." They renamed it "The Oriental Public School for Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans." Because transportation was difficult after the earthquake, many students couldn't even get to this new school.

Many Japanese Americans argued that separating students went against the Treaty of 1894. This treaty didn't specifically mention education, but it suggested that Japanese people in America should have equal rights. However, at the time, the Supreme Court of the United States had ruled in a case called Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that separate facilities for different races were allowed, as long as they were equal.

Newspapers in Tokyo were very angry. They said the segregation was an insult to Japan's pride and honor. The Japanese government wanted to protect its image as a strong world power. They knew they had to act to keep peace between the two countries.

US Government Steps In

President Roosevelt had three main goals to fix this problem:

• Show Japan that California's actions didn't represent the whole US.
• Force San Francisco to stop its segregation policies.
• Find a solution to the Japanese immigration issue.

He sent Victor Metcalf, a government official, to investigate and try to make San Francisco change its policies. But local officials in San Francisco still wanted to exclude Japanese people. Roosevelt tried to pressure the school board, but they wouldn't give in.

Finally, on February 15, 1907, they reached a compromise. If President Roosevelt could stop new Japanese immigration, the San Francisco school board would allow Japanese American students to attend public schools. Japan didn't want to be embarrassed like China had been with the Chinese Exclusion Act.

So, Japan agreed to stop giving passports to laborers who wanted to come to the US. However, they would still give passports to people coming to join family members (parents, spouses, or children) or to take over a farm they already owned.

A year later, the details of the agreement were finalized. After this, Japanese students were allowed back into public schools. This agreement also led to the arrival of "picture brides." These were women who married Japanese men in America through photographs, without meeting them first. By doing this, they could get passports to come to the US. This helped balance the number of men and women in the Japanese American community. Even with limits on new immigration, the Japanese American population continued to grow.

The Gentlemen's Agreement was never a US law. It was an informal deal made by President Roosevelt. It ended in 1924 when the Immigration Act of 1924 was passed, which legally banned almost all Asian immigration to the United States.

See also

In Spanish: Acuerdo de caballeros de 1907 para niños