Asian Diaspora and Labor History U.S. Congressional Reports on the Chinese Coolie Trade 1856 and 1861 Maritime Exploitation and Forced Migration

Chinese Enslaved people

Pamphlets

U.S. Department of State. Report of the Secretary of State…relative to the coolie trade (1856) and Asiatic Coolie Trade, Message from the President of the United States (1861) document official correspondence, inspections, and policy concerns surrounding the transnational transport and exploitation of Chinese laborers in the mid-nineteenth century. These reports place the so-called “coolie” trade within the broader transition from Atlantic slavery to systems of indentured labor that supplied workers to Cuba, Peru, and other regions following the decline of the transatlantic slave trade. The documents include direct accounts of shipboard conditions, coercion, and violence, providing evidence of mortality and resistance during transit. One report describes an incident aboard a vessel carrying over 450 Chinese laborers, noting that when passengers attempted to go ashore under the mistaken belief they had reached port, “the captain, to prevent them, fired into them…after a short struggle, [they were] driven below and the hatches closed up,” an event that resulted in the deaths of more than 300 individuals. Such passages situate the material within the history of forced migration, maritime labor exploitation, and U.S. commercial involvement in global labor systems.

Report of the Secretary of State in Compliance with a Resolution of the Senate of April 24, calling for more information relative to the coolie trade. Washington: Department of State, 1856. Octavo pamphlet, 184 pages.
Asiatic Coolie Trade. Message from the President of the United States, in answer to a resolution of the House of 13th July last, in relation to the Asiatic Coolie Trade. Washington: Department of State, 1861. Octavo pamphlet, 37 pages. Both pamphlets issued as government documents compiling diplomatic correspondence, ship inspections, and policy discussions related to the transport and labor conditions of Chinese migrants.

Produced during a period of expanding global labor migration, these reports align with the growth of indentured labor systems that emerged in response to labor shortages in plantation economies after the abolition of slavery in many regions. The documentation of recruitment practices, maritime transport, and labor deployment in places such as Havana underscores the international scope of the trade and the involvement of American merchants and vessels. The 1861 report’s discussion of the suspension of Chinese labor importation in Cuba anticipates broader legal prohibitions that would follow, situating the documents within ongoing debates over labor, coercion, and international regulation. Minor foxing and edge wear, with some looseness to binding; overall very good condition.

Item #20032

Price: $885.00