Abstract
It is widely agreed that the Chinese Exclusion Acts were repealed to undermine Japanese propaganda against the United States during World War II and deepen the U.S. alliance with China. While these geopolitical considerations were essential, perceptions of China changed during the preceding period of Chinese exclusion which spanned from 1905 to 1943. These changes in public opinion arguably led to a decisive vote for the repeal of exclusion in Congress. This text explores the historical developments and cultural shifts that underlay these changes in perception. China’s transition from an empire to a republic was critical to this process, as was the missionary background of the country’s most popular chroniclers during its republican period. This paper utilizes newspapers, editions of Time magazine from the 1930s and 1940s, popular literature, and contemporary academic writings to explore Americans’ changing feelings about China during the exclusion era. These writings demonstrate that optimism about China derived from a paternalistic view of the country. Chinese people were only considered capable of assimilating in direct proportion to their receptivity toward Christianity and Western ideas, which they were believed to hold in increasing esteem.