After the United States acquired California in 1848, a large number of Chinese emigrated to the Pacific Coast, where they provided cheap labor for the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Anti-Chinese feeling steadily increased during the 1860s and 1870s as American workers found themselves competing unsuccessfully with Chinese laborers for jobs. The U.S. government responded by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which prohibited Chinese laborers from immigrating to America for ten years.
Dime novel imagery exhibits a strong anti-Chinese bias, as exemplified in this issue of Secret Servicepublished in March of 1909 [the New Nick Carter Weeklypublished in October of 1907]. The Bradys defend themselves against "a howling mob of Chinks," in San Francisco's Chinatown. The stereotypical Chinese villains in such stories run opium dens and take great delight in abducting white women who they attempt to hook on the drug. [In this cover illustration, the sole Chinese accused of espionage stands in the foreground. Wearing the traditional blue coolie suit and holding his head high so that the viewer can easily spot him as different, puts him in stark contrast with the Caucasian spies who keep their heads lowered and are dressed in dark clothing. The presence of the Capitol Building looming in the background creates the insidious suggestion that the Chinese represent a direct threat to the security of the nation.]