The Gentlemen's Agreement

The Munich Agreement, signed by Britain, France, Italy and Germany permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia. In 1938, Germans living in the border areas of Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland) started to demand a union with Germany but the Czechs refused. Hitler threatened war. On 30 September, the Munich Pact was signed and Britain and France gave the Sudetenland to Germany, without asking Czechoslovakia.

After reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz I realized I’ve been living dreams of other people in my life and not my own. It was decided early on what I should do, what’s possible and what’s not. Starting at birth we are told what to think by our parents, schools, and church. Subconsciously, we have made agreements with them to live our life according to their rules. Don Miguel believes that these agreements are self-limiting and shares four agreements that if we adapt into our lives we will reach true peace and happiness. The book made so much sense to me, but the hard part is to actually commit to living out the four agreements. In short, the four agreements are listed below:

The late 19th century marked a new chapter in American Capitalism. Hawaii and California were both looking for cheap laborers to fuel their new system at this time, and American planters found their answer in Chinese and Japanese immigrants. Even though Chinese and Japanese immigrants both flocked to America, the two countries had different reasons for leaving their homes. American laborers, on the other hand, were appalled by the surplus of laborers and demanded the government to monitor these Asian immigrants. While capitalism pulled Chinese and Japanese people in search of wealth to America, the American government held a strong grip on those that were allowed into the country.

One of the first significant pieces of federal legislation aimed at restricting immigration was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese laborers from coming to America. Californians had agitated for the new law, blaming the Chinese, who were willing to work for less, for a decline in wages.The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. Those on the West Coast were especially prone to attribute declining wages and economic ills on the despised Chinese workers. Although the Chinese composed only .002 percent of the nation’s population, Congress passed the exclusion act to placate worker demands and assuage prevalent concerns about maintaining white “racial purity.”

In 1849, an inundation of Chinese immigrants came to the United States to take part in the California gold rush. Relations between the Chinese and Americans started off neutral, but soon conflicts arose. White workers saw Chinese as a threat to their status and tried to solve this issue by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act; this severely limited the number of Chinese allowed to immigrate into the country at the time. Although this compromise satisfied the white protests, it only lead to more conflicts with how the Chinese were treated during immigration. These conflicts would not be resolved for another 61 years.

The Japanese Americans sustained many injustices during the pre-World War Two era, including exclusion from traditional establishments and occupations. It was noted, “the [economic] argument and the discriminatory measures are plain contradictions” (Goto 105-106). Although the stated goal of Californians was to have a unified population, their actions belied their true motives. The colossal nature of the assimilatory feats performed by Japanese dictated that “even Californian agitators themselves, in their moments of private reflection, admit the wonderful power of adaptability of Japanese,” but, “in public they do everything to prevent the process of assimilation from running its natural course” (Goto 106). Often, the bigoted owners of white establishments barred people of Japanese

To be a Japanese immigrant in the early 1900s was difficult but after December 7, 1941 things only got worse. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked the United States naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. “Although conflict had been underway in both Europe and Asia for years, the United States did not formally enter the hostilities until December 8, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously declared the attack on Pearl Harbor ‘a day which we live in infamy’ and asked Congress for a declaration of war” (Wu and Izumi). After the attack on Pearl Harbor “race became increasingly associated with loyalty in the United States” (Harth 254). “What Japan had done was blamed on Japanese Americans” (Wu 2). On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. Executive Order 9066 granted the secretary of war and his commanders the power “to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded” (Executive Order 9066). “Although the text of Executive Order 9066 did not specifically mention Japanese Americans, it was intended to apply to them exclusively” (G. Robinson and G. Robinson 4).

In 1892, the government required all new immigrants to undergo a physical examination. If they had a certain diseases, they were either faced quarantine, a time isolation to prevent spread of a disease or they were deported. The Chinese immigrants  tended to live in their own ethnic communities and this helped them avoid conflicts with non-Asian neighbors. Although, the union blamed Chinese immigrants for high unemployment and low wages in California. Others claimed that Chinese were not worthy of being Americans and some claimed that Asians were inferior to white Americans. These claims from the unions had Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. The act prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the country. In 1906, the Japanese government found out that Japanese kids were being segregated from white kids, in which they protested to the United State President Theodore Roosevelt. As a result, President Roosevelt and the Japanese government reached an agreement called the Gentlemen's Agreement. This compromise had San Francisco agreed to not segregate Japanese kids and Japan to stop issuing passports to laborers. In 1902, the Newlands National Reclamation Act was established to promote the irrigation of southwestern lands. New farmland meant new jobs in the Southwest.  In this case, Mexican Laborers were hired to work on farms, ranches, and mines. The new opportunities  were referred as a “pull”

In 1880, the Hayes Administration authorized a well known U.S. diplomat named James B. Angell. His job was to negotiate and control a new treaty they were planning with China. The treaty was called the Angell Treaty, which permitted the United States to restrict or prohibit Chinese immigration. In 1882, the Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which eliminated the process of immigration of any Chinese laborers, whether it were skilled workers or unskilled workers for 10 years. The Act also required every Chinese person going on a voyage in or out of the country to carry a certificate identifying his or her occupation as a laborer, scholar, diplomat, or merchant. This Act was the first in the whole American history to place broad restrictions

Roosevelt help with other foreign affairs, one being the Russo-Japanese War. Being the peacemaker and helping to end the war earned him the Nobel Peace Prize (Donnelly 131). He watched the war closely, he didn’t want any other nations to get involved with the conflicts. Even though Roosevelt helped end the war many people were still upset, Native Japanese and Japanese-Americans in particular. In 1906 Board of Education in San Francisco decided to segregate Japanese students, this infuriated Japan causing them to protest. To stop the protesting Roosevelt worked out the Gentlemen’s Agreement, which stated Japan would limit emigration of unskilled workers (Text Book 465). In 1906 he

In the late 1800s, America passed a fierce act due to the rising tension between the Chinese immigrants and whites. Chinese immigrants were troubled with biased laws and stereotyping. The Chinese Exclusion Act was one of these law. It... The immigrants were stereotyped as barbarians, anti-christian, anti-white, or as slaves. They were called heathens, racial slurs, and much worse; and the Chinese were seen as idolaters, the lowest, and the vilest. Some may argue they were taking over jobs because of how they were willing to work for less. But ultimately, the most influential factor in why Americans passed the Chinese Exclusion Act was racial prejudice toward the Chinese.

America was close to losing Japan’s friendship when many people in California started a campaign to stop Japanese immigration into the U.S. There were leagues formed to specifically exclude Japanese and Koreans from entering the nation. What these people wanted was for Asians to be prohibited from coming to America. These “exclusion leagues” believed that Asians “threatened American culture and unfairly competed for jobs that rightfully belonged to native-born white workers” (Keene, 585). California spoke out about protecting their nation from the “yellow peril” and they lumped all Asians together (Keene, 585). This was something that greatly angered Japan. Japan viewed Asian peoples as not being as good as themselves and was insulted to be grouped with them. In order to remain in good relations with Japan, President Roosevelt created the Gentlemen’s Agreement, which saved Japan from being lumped together with China. The social elements during this time showed just how racially motivated America could be. It also showed that some Americans did not care about their relations with other countries, as long as they had their jobs “that rightfully belonged to them” from being born in America (Keene, 585) This self-entitlement that America had would end up causing many more problems down the line. Also, the Gentlemen’s Agreement had many loopholes in it that Japan took advantage of,

Migrating to America in search of new opportunities, sadly, the Chinese were referred to as Chinks and coolies. Throughout history, Americans have been in debt to immigrant groups, like the Chinese, who were the only ones willing to do the most dangerous and underpaid work. Yet, Americans have been the most hostile towards the Chinese—the only racial group ever to face an Exclusion Act. During the 19th century, 80,000 Chinese immigrants arrived in the United States during the Gold Rush, but they found no gold—only nativists who did not want them there. So, instead of mining, many Chinese settled for odd jobs and labored on the Transcontinental Railroad, a previously unparalleled project to connect the American West Coast with the American

Others such as peasants and workers were not allowed to enter due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This Act set a precedent by being the first law to ban a specific group from the country. It included many rules and regulations, including a ban on Chinese laborers entering the country, and punishment for anyone who tried to sneak or transport Chinese into the country. It was impossible to absolutely prevent Chinese immigration from occurring, but America tried its best to limit the number that entered. The shared opinion of many in the United States during this time felt that the Chinese were inferior, for they did not realize the bigger picture and the actual effect that Chinese would have on the United States. The American and the Chinese governments agreed that the immigrants were endangering the government and economy of China. This led them to limit, regulate, or suspend the residency of Chinese in the United States (Archives 2). The only people they could not keep out were the Chinese who already had family in the United States.

There was breach of faith by withholding information and not being upfront during the communication process between different parties. This situation was also caused by cultural differences like relationship building, “Guanxi”, emphasis on personal relationships versus factual-based legalistic approach, completely varied styles of doing business, and also