Dennis Kearney
Dennis Kearney (
1847–
1907) was a
California political leader in the late
19th century, known for his
nativist political views toward
Chinese immigrants.
Kearney was born in
County Cork,
Ireland and emigrated to the
United States. He worked as a
sailor and then as a drayage proprietor in
San Francisco. During the
Long Depression, he became popular by speaking to the unemployed in San Francisco, denouncing the railroad
monopoly and immigrant Chinese workers (known as
Coolies.) His slogan was, simply,
the Chinese must go.
Kearney began his political life on the side of employers. He gained some notoriety for breaking up "sandlot" meetings of working men. He became involved with the infamous vigilantes for a time. With the onset of the depression of the 1870s, he saw a change in the political winds and helped organize the
Workingman's Party of California, and led often violent attacks on Chinese, including denunciations of the powerful
Central Pacific railroad which had employed them in large numbers. He was influential in the enactment of the
Chinese Exclusion Acts. The party was influential at the
California Constitutional convention of
1878.
Kearney travelled east to popularize his views, but found few takers. He faded from the public's eye by
1878, leaving only his legacy of
racialist laws to be overturned a few years later.
*
Dennis Kearney*
Dennis Kearney, President, and H. L. Knight, Secretary, "Appeal from California. The Chinese Invasion. Workingmen's Address," Indianapolis Times, 28 February 1878.*
The Kearney Agitation in California, by Henry George 
