This book explores two critical strands in American Studies: policy conversations on legal and illegal immigration and social and educational conversations on diversity and multiculturalism. As author Benjamin Railton shows, a fresh look at the Chinese Exclusion Act overturns much of the received wisdom on immigration and American identity.

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About the author

Ben Railton is Associate Professor of English Studies and American Studies at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts, USA. He is the author of Redefining American Identity: From Cabeza de Vaca to Barack Obama (2011); Contesting the Past, Reconstructing the Nation: American Literature and Culture in the Gilded Age, 1876-1893 (2007); and numerous articles on American literature and culture.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title: The Chinese Exclusion Act: What It Can Teach Us about America
Authors: Ben Railton
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137339096
Publisher: Palgrave Pivot New York
eBook Packages: Palgrave History Collection, History (R0)
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-33908-9Published: 11 June 2013
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-33909-6Published: 11 June 2013
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 74
Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations
Topics: Asian History, US History, Modern History, History of the Americas, Cultural History, Social History

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Table of contents (5 chapters)

Front Matter

Introduction: Teaching Americans the Chinese Exclusion Act

What the Act Can Teach Us about Immigration History and Laws

What the Act Can Teach Us about Diversity

What the Act Can Teach Us about Forgotten and Inspiring American Stories

Conclusion: So What?

Back Matter

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