JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Right to Return: Chinese Merchants, the Scott Act, and Legal Knowledge in an Era of Exclusion.

  • Published In: Modern American History, 2025, v. 8, n. 3. P. 375 1 of 3

  • Database: America: History and Life with Full Text 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Lee, Heather Ruth 3 of 3

Abstract

On October 7, 1888, approximately 176 Chinese passengers arrived in San Francisco aboard the S.S. Belgic. They carried laborer return certificates—documents that, until just days earlier, had guaranteed their right to reenter. But on October 1, President Grover Cleveland had signed the Scott Act into law, abruptly voiding those certificates. Officially, the act barred only Chinese laborers from returning. In practice, however, Chinese merchants and U.S.-born children of Chinese parents also traveled with laborer return certificates. They, too, would now be denied readmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Modern American History. 2025/11, Vol. 8, Issue 3, p375
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Law
  • Publication Date:2025
  • ISSN:2515-0456
  • DOI:10.1017/mah.2025.10040
  • Accession Number:191430532
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Modern American History is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Looking to go deeper into this topic? Look for more articles on EBSCOhost.