The Knights of Labor was the most important union movement of the 1880s and organized Black as well as White workers. But in western states, the KOL advocated Chinese exclusion and was sometimes implicated in violence against Chinese people. The object of this assignment is to investigate the Knights' role in the anti-Chinese campaigns by reading newspapers of the 1880s from western states.

The assignment has three parts: (1) You will read primary sources (historic newspapers) and record information in an excel database; (2) You will read one or more recommended secondary sources; (3) You will write a 8plus page paper about your subject using information from both the secondary and primary sources

Primary source research (newspapers):

1) Begin by downloading this project database_hstaa353-excel.xlsx

2) We are using ProQuest Historical Newspapers for newspaper searches. Below is the link to the pre-arranged databases of newspaper articles that you should use. It delivers articles from newspapers and magazines related to this topic.

Press coverage in various newspapers

https://www.proquest.com/search/2344525?accountid=14784

a) you should see a page like this. If not, you may need to click the Library's login button top right and enter your UW-net ID

proquest results1.png

b) scroll the titles of articles, clicking on those that seem most relevant. Some will be mistaken entries triggered by the search terms. Others will be too short to be useful. Download copies of all articles that might be useful or interesting. It is more efficient to download them than to read them in ProQuest.

c) use "back to results" to return to the search results.

proquest results4.png

d) you can filter results using the menus on left side. Sorted by "oldest first" means the entries are in chronological order. "Relevance" is the other option. You can also open the Publication title menu and select articles from particular newspapers.

proquest results2.png

3) After downloading many articles, add at least 20 to your project database_hstaa353-excel.xlsx and write a short description of the event or issue described in each article. Feel free to add additional information in other columns. Your spreadsheet needs to include no less than 20 articles. You will submit the research database along with your paper.

4) Please DO NOT save or delete the ProQuest search. Others will not be able to use it.

5) Secondary source research (books):

Ebook & print book:
At America's Gates: Chinese Immigration during the Exclusion Era, 1882-1943. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
by Erika Lee

Ebook & print book:
Closing the Gate Race, Politics, and the Chinese Exclusion Act
by Andrew Gyory

pdf article:
"Unemployment, Disinheritance, and the Origins of Labor Militancy in the Pacific Northwest, 1885-1886" by Carlos Schwantes (Western Historical Quarterly, October 1982)-pdf. You can also try this download link.

Ebook & print book:
Grand Master Workman: Terrance Powerly and the the Knights of Labor
by Craig Phelen

Other print books (available in UW library):

The Chinese must go : violence, exclusion, and the making of the alien in America by Beth Lew-Williams

Driven out : the forgotten war against Chinese Americans by Jean Pfaelzer

Instructions

6) Use both the book and your newspaper research in your paper

7) Turn in both the database and your paper