Chapter 8, pg. 294-314 Summary and Analysis

In 1865, Hawaiian planters began to recruit Asian Indian workers. Within twenty years, they were working in the lumber town of Washington and the agricultural fields of California. They were generally referred to as Hindus in America, even though some of them were Muslims or Sikhs.

In America, the men continued to wear turbans, their traditional headdress. Because they looked and dressed differently, they were subject to racial slurs. They were continually blamed for causing labor problems. There was constant conflict between them and white workers.

In 1910, the US courts ruled that Asian Indians were classified as whites and could be allowed citizenship under the 1790 law. In 1923, the Supreme Court ruled against Indian eligibility for citizenship on the basis that they weren't white.

Some of the Indian immigrants worked on the railroads and in lumber camps. When they...