The Anti Chinese Riot Seattle is a significant event in the history of Seattle. The riot was the result of a severe outburst which arose from the anti Chinese sentiment, which had culminated among the people for several years. This riot was a planned and an organized effort by the Knights of Labor Organization.
The Chinese first arrived in Seattle in the year 1860. Chinese men were employed as laborers and helped to lay the rail tracks. They also helped to build the rail track spanning between Seattle to Newcastle. Initially, the whites were happy with these laborers but gradually the pleasant attitude turned bitter, during the difficult times in the 1870s.
Anti Chinese Riot at Seattle was a deliberate and a planned effort to expel the Chinese from the town of Seattle in Washington Territory. Neither the police nor the Chinese people in Seattle had even a faint idea about the upsurge. The leader of the Knights of Labor Organization was Daniel Cronin. He was a 38 year old carpenter, who transformed the organization into a
|
militant 'brotherhood'. September 1885 Cronin issued a warning that there would be blood shed if the Chinese were not removed.
The mob tip toed into the Chinese settlement area of Seattle. After entering the Chinese houses forcibly, they dragged the Chinese out of their beds and forced them to board a steamer which would deport them to San Francisco. Watson Squire the Governor of Washington, did not allow the ship to leave the dock. The next morning more than 35 Chinese workers gathered near the dock for the next ship to San Francisco. When the police and their deputies tried to escort the groups back home the mob was furious. The police open fired on the protesters and as a result five of them died. The governor and the President Grover Cleveland declared martial law. Things began to settle down in Seattle and the Chinese departed. The Congress had to pay a lump sum amount as compensation to the Chinese government.
The Anti Chinese Riot Seattle was a black mark in the history of the peace loving city.
|
