Description
Book SynopsisCombining political, cultural, and social history, Coolies and Cane is a compelling study of race, Reconstruction, and Asian American history.
Trade ReviewIn this important and well-researched work, Moon-Ho Jung argues that southern sugar planters looked to Asian 'coolies' to solve their labor problems after the Civil War. -- John S. W. Park American Historical Review 2007 Argues that coolies played an important role in the social construction of 'whiteness' in the United States... Thoroughly researched. -- Edward Rhoads Agricultural History Review 2007 Brilliant and beautifully written... Jung's slim volume makes it clear that coolieism was not a marginal issue. The debate over coolieism was bound up in the most pressing issues of the Civil War era, from the policing of the slave-trade ban to the redefinition of citizenship in the postwar South. -- Cindy Hahamovitch Journal of American History 2007 Well researched study... These larger questions about race and labor are relevant not only for understanding the age of emancipation, but also for the current political climate of intensified debates on immigration and citizenship in the United States. -- Kathleen Lopez Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History 2007 The heart, strength, and originality of this riveting narrative rest in Jung's discussion of the debates concerning Chinese coolies among diverse sectors of white southerners... A model of the best of American history and, especially, studies of Asian American history and race and ethnicity. -- Evelyn Hu-DeHart Journal of American Ethnic History 2007 Not only enriches the texture of Asian American, African American, and southem history, but also offers a global perspective on 19th-century labor migrations. -- Carol Huang Journal of African American History 2007 Focusing on attempts to import Chinese contract labor to Louisiana sugar plantations in the decade after the Civil War, this book argues for the importance of the Chinese 'coolie' in the construction of race, nation, and citizenship in the United States. -- Adam McKeown Pacific Historical Review 2007 Jung's work contains real passion... It will have substantial appeal for academic specialists and university libraries with collections in southern, agricultural, and labor history. -- Michael G. Wade Journal of Southern History 2007 Breakthrough study... Coolies and Cane stands as an instructive study of race, Reconstruction, and Asian American history that points the way for further research. -- Walter T. Howard Louisiana History 2008 An ambitious book... A provocative invitation to reexamine our understanding of race in America in the 'age of emancipation.' -- Gordon H. Chang Agricultural History 2008 This book is bound to be valuable for comparative purposes... It is also a welcome contribution to transnational approaches to American history. -- Ian Tyrrell Labor History 2007
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. Outlawing Coolies
2. Envisioning Freedoms
3. Demanding Coolies
4. Domesticating Labor
5. Redeeming White Supremacy
6. Resisting Coolies
Conclusion
Notes
A Note on Primary Sources
Index
