Seattle riot of 1886

The Seattle riot of 1886 occurred on February 6–9, 1886, in Seattle, Washington, amidst rising anti-Chinese sentiment caused by intense labor competition and in the context of an ongoing struggle between labor and capital in the Western United States. The dispute arose when a mob affiliated with a local Knights of Labor chapter formed small committees to carry out a forcible expulsion of all Chinese from the city. Violence erupted between the Knights of Labor rioters and federal troops ordered in by President Grover Cleveland. The incident resulted in the removal of over 200 Chinese people from Seattle and left 2 militia men and 3 rioters seriously injured.

During the 1840s, the California Gold Rush brought many Chinese to the United States. Many had come in the hopes of improving their economic conditions, and their arrival was initially welcomed due to labor shortages. According to information from the U.S. Census, the Chinese population increased at a dramatic pace until 1890, though they never accounted for more than .2 percent of the U.S. population through the 1800s.

After the Gold Rush, many Chinese people moved into the northwest territories of Oregon, Washington, and Montana in search of work, especially with the new mining opportunities and railroad expansion. The Chinese workers developed a reputation for being efficient and willing to work long hours, but also for accepting less pay than white workers. This increased racial tensions in the West, as companies recruited Chinese workers in order to undercut higher-paid white workers.

Violent outbreaks against the Chinese occurred as early as the 1860s and continued to intensify in the 1870s, especially in California. As corporations continued to flood the labor market with Chinese workers, many Chinese were excluded from or refused to join unions in the fight against capital, which angered and threatened the white European immigrants who constituted these organizations. Unions such as the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor supported legislation that limited or excluded Chinese immigration. By the mid-1880s, a wave of anti-Chinese violence grew and spread into the Pacific Northwest.

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