Frederick Douglass on Chinese Immigration: The Composite Nation Speech, Part 2
Part 1 in this short series on Frederick Douglass’ “Composite Nation” speech is hosted on Amber O’Neal Johnston’s Heritage Mom website, but they are stand alone posts so can be read in any order!
When we started to educate ourselves on Asian American history, here and there we read that the great African American orator Fredrick Douglass had tried to convince the United States to not restrict Chinese immigration. This was an intriguing connection. When we finally tracked down more of the story it was remarkable.
The Chinese started coming in large numbers during the California Gold Rush of the 1850s and were recruited in large numbers to work on the Transpacific Railroad in the 1860s. The skills and techniques these Chinese men brought from China helped them build the hardest parts of the railroad. But despite the obvious need for labor, the Chinese faced discrimination and some agitated that they should not be allowed to come to the US. In the 1870’s the opposition turned violent, with forced removal from whole towns and even lynchings and massacres. In one of the first moves to limit immigration to the US, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited almost all Chinese from immigrating to the US. I read that the great abolitionist orator Frederick Douglass had advocated for the Chinese and was intrigued to know more. I encountered his 1869 speech entitled “Composite Nation” and was floored.
Frederick Douglass was born in 1818 to an enslaved mother in Maryland. This brilliant, self-taught man escaped from slavery and became a leading abolitionist voice. After the Civil War and the end of slavery, he advocated for full integration of blacks into society. He went beyond advocating for just equality between whites and blacks; he included the newly arriving Chinese in his “Composite Nation” speech, which he first gave in Boston in 1869. Then he took it on a speaking tour around the Northern States over the next few years.
In the “Composite Nation” speech Douglass’ case is clear and emphatic: immigration should not be restricted based on race. He argues not allowing the Chinese to immigrate because they are Chinese would be first wrong, and second, not in our best interest as a country.
“And here I hold that a liberal and brotherly welcome to all who are likely to come to the United States, is the only wise policy which this nation can adopt.”
In his speech, Douglass describes the US as “the most conspicuous example of composite nationality in the world,” with “composite” meaning made of different ethnicities and cultures. In describing America’s diversity, he refers to the final vision of the Christian Bible, where people from all ethnic groups are assembled to worship God – “In races we range all the way from black to white, with intermediate shades which, as in the apocalyptic vision, no man can name a number.” In 1869 he predicted that “differences both as to race and to religion are evidently more likely to increase than to diminish.”
Douglass explains his reasons for believing that immigration from China will increase, despite the opposition to it. Hard conditions in China will be the “push,” and America’s demand for labor will be the “pull.” Speaking right after the Civil War, he describes the “Southern gentlemen” who “would rather have laborers who will work for nothing; but as they cannot get the Negros on these terms they want Chinamen, who, they hope, will work for next to nothing.” He rightly predicts that Chinese newcomers will not long abide that arrangement. The Chinese brought to the Deep South in the late 1800’s quickly left plantation work and started grocery stores.
There are Biblical references throughout, but he also respects other creeds (and even people “of no creed”) and does not shy away from calling out hypocrisy in America’s Christianity. He states that the Chinese “had the Golden Rule in substance 500 years before the coming of Christ, and has notions of justice that are not to be confused or bewildered by any of our ‘cursed be Canaan’ religion” (referring to a notion some Christians at the time used to justify slavery).
His main line of argumentation boils down to two points:
1. Basic human rights demand allowing the Chinese to immigrate.
2. The diversity in skills and perspective that diverse immigration brings helps us as country.
On the first point he states:
“I reject the arrogant and scornful theory by with they [whites] would limit the migratory rights, or any other essential human rights to themselves, and which would make them the owners of this great continent to the exclusion of all other races of men.”
I want a home here not only for the negro, the mulatto and the Latin races; but I want the Asiatic to find a home here in the United States, and feel at home here, both for his sake and for ours. Right wrongs no man.
On the second point he argues:
“Though they come as the waves come, we shall be stronger if we receive them as friends and give them a reason for loving our country and our institutions."
And:
“As a matter of selfish policy, leaving right and humanity out of the question, we cannot wisely pursue any other course.”
He contends that the great unique strength of the United States is its diversity. The cross-pollinations of ideas and practices from different cultures and constant infusions of new perspectives allows Americans to innovate in breathtaking ways. Douglass maintains that every culture and people group has its own great qualities and strengths, and if we keep any people group out, we are cutting ourselves off from what we can learn from them. If we let them in but don’t give them equal ground to stand on in society, we again will miss what they would contribute if allowed to freely flourish in all areas of culture, commerce, and government. In 1869 he was hopeful that if the US pursued such a course, it would “make us the most perfect national illustration of the unity and dignity of the human family, that the world has ever seen.”
“In whatever else other nations may have been great and grand, our greatness and grandeur will be found in the faithful application of the principle of perfect civil equality to the people of all races and of all creeds, and to men of no creeds….Gathered here, from all quarters of the globe by a common aspiration for rational liberty against caste, divine right Governments and privileged classes, it would be unwise to be found fighting against ourselves and among ourselves; it would be madness to set up any one race above another, or one religion above another, or proscribe any on account of race, color, or creed.”
Along with these lofty ideals he is not above appealing to frank practicality:
“Let the Chinaman come he will help to augment the national wealth. He will help to develop our boundless resources; he will help to pay off our national debt. He will help to lighten the burden of national taxation. He will give us the benefit of his skill as a manufacturer and tiller of the soil, in which he is unsurpassed.”
Not only does Douglass believe that contact between different cultures is good, he declares that the positive influences go both ways. His is not a paternalistic or exploitative attitude towards Chinese immigrants. He suggests his audience could learn a thing or two from them. When specifically addressing Chinese American children going to school with white children, he says this “would convince us that the points of human difference, great as they, upon first sight, seem, are as nothing compared with the points of human agreement. Such contact would remove mountains of prejudice.”
Wow. That is a key motivator here at Resilient Panda – using a diverse and inclusive American history to give kids contact with those that might at first seem different, but really are just humans like all the rest of us. Asian Americans are fellow Americans who have been here for centuries. That is why our Streams Asian American history guides are not just for Asian American families, but for Americans of all backgrounds.
We at Resilient Panda share Douglass’ belief that diversity gives more ways of looking at a problem and solving that problem, and we passionately believe diversity and immigration bring something needed, beautiful, and valuable to the US. That is why we named ourselves Resilient Panda. Scientists have found that wild giant pandas are more resilient because of their unusual genetic diversity. The panda’s diversity gives it more tools in its toolbox to use to adapt to change and challenges. That is just what Frederick Douglass was offering as a reason to not limit immigration to certain “types” of people. The idea is that we are stronger and more resilient together, as different backgrounds bring unique strengths and perspectives that help us all. I think Frederick Douglass might have liked our name.
If you want to read more about this ahead-of-its time speech, check out our guest blog post on Amber O’Neal Johnston’s Heritage Mom website. Even though I have written two long blog posts on this speech, there are more juicy tidbits I haven’t covered! It is a hopeful, rousing, and enjoyable speech to read, and I would recommend checking out the speech in its entirety.
We close with a final beautiful and optimistic line from Douglass:
“A smile or a tear has not nationality; joy and sorrow speak alike to all nations, and they, above all the confusion of tongues, proclaim the brotherhood of man.”
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