
Journal of American History (2025)
The Place of Law:
Anti-Asian Violence and Community Advocacy
in the Early Twentieth Century
Abstract
What is the place of law in the history of anti-immigrant violence in the United States? Hardeep Dhillon historicizes several attacks on immigrants from India between 1907 and 1910. She argues that the lack of protection or justice for immigrant communities in the face of mob violence is not simply a history of law gone wrong or even a history of discriminatory law, but a history of anti-immigrant fervor and impunity structured through the law. Her article shows how law, immigrant advocacy, and transimperial diplomacy shaped both the violence immigrants faced and the possibilities for redress.
Classroom Primary Sources
Abstract
What is the place of law in the history of anti-immigrant violence in the United States? Hardeep Dhillon historicizes several attacks on immigrants from India between 1907 and 1910. She argues that the lack of protection or justice for immigrant communities in the face of mob violence is not simply a history of law gone wrong or even a history of discriminatory law, but a history of anti-immigrant fervor and impunity structured through the law. Her article shows how law, immigrant advocacy, and transimperial diplomacy shaped both the violence immigrants faced and the possibilities for redress.
Classroom Primary Sources

