224:, wrote that despite some issues with methodology and minor errors, "Morton's book is a good presentation of how British Columbians reacted to the Chinese". In regards to the methodology Worden argued that the first half of the book was "objective" and "reasonably well-documented" but that by the second half the author "seems to have been influenced by the same nine-teenth-century standards he weakly tries to justify". Worden also criticized the lack of "adequate expression of the Chinese view of their outcast position" by saying that it relied too much on Canadian newspaper articles.
228:
connections between
British Columbia, California and Australia" were positive and that Morton "tries to recognize the shortcomings of his own text". She concluded that "Although this text is outdated in many respects, the fact that it confronts discrimination toward the Chinese is testimony to an increasingly liberal climate of opinion."
227:
Scott criticized the lack of footnotes, the sourcing methodology, "explicit dialogue with previous texts," and the sourcing itself; Scott asserted that therefore "the conclusions drawn consequently appear unreliable." Scott stated that the book's efforts to get "an international scope through loose
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The book includes 10 chapters, an index, sixteen pages of black-and-white photographs in two sets, and a listing of key dates from 1843–1967, labeled "chronology." The dust jacket has three colours. Willmott stated that the chronology is "useful" and that the book overall is "well presented". Doug
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The book does not have footnotes. The book has few notes of exact sources of materials, and the book does not have a list of newspapers and dates. Scott criticized the lack of footnotes, saying that there was "little accountability" with them. The book has five titles in its "Sources Other Than
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The author argued that the anti-Chinese campaigners in the 19th century would have had different opinions if they had lived in another era, and that using mid-20th century standards to judge the 19th century campaigners is not fair. Morton added that his book is "not a necessarily sociological
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Each chapter is about an aspect of the
British Columbian perception of the Chinese people, and the chapters are arranged in a chronological manner. Willmott characterized the organization as "arbitrary." The book discusses the origins of anti-East Asian sentiment stemming from the
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The book uses six documentaries and secondary sources total. The book uses extracts from two Royal
Commission reports, as well as newspaper articles and editorials, particularly those of Canadian newspapers, spanning over 100 years. Newspapers represented include the
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Willmott, p. 135. "Such meticulous scholarship, which must have involved long hours of diligent searching through the entire file of several newspapers, is work for an historian, and Dr. Morton will be the first to admit he is not
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Willmott, p. 136. "Historians will remain indebted to Dr. Morton for this labour of love, but its usefulness to them is sadly and unnecessarily marred by the lack of any scholarly apparatus whatsoever."
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Newspapers" list; Willmott characterized two of them as being "trivial". Willmott argued that the overall lack of sourcing information decreases the amount of usefulness in this book for historians.
90:, wrote that "it is evident from the nature of his source material that Dr. Morton did not set out to write a book about the Chinese in British Columbia, but only about white reactions to them."
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In particular, the book addresses the non-Chinese
British Columbia community's belief that the Chinese were a "problem" that needed to be dealt with. William Willmott, of the
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While James Morton is not a historian, Willmott described the collection of newspapers as a "labour of love," and "meticulous scholarship." Samantha J. Scott, the author of
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196:'s preferential treatment of Japanese persons. Beardsley wrote "Morton is not afraid to pinpoint those most responsible for fanning the flames of prejudice."
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Willmott wrote that the book "sorely" lacked "scholarly judgment" and that it is "disappointingly limited" in terms of being a reference book.
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history of the
Chinese in the sea of sterile mountains nor, for that matter, a particularly accurate or complete one."
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wrote that there are too few photographs in the book, but that overall the "beautifully produced" book is "handsome."
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615:). Posted at the Critical Thinking Consortium. - A collection of primary sources, some of which were taken from
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The title of the book originates from a comment towards the province in an 1874 speech by
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Beardsley stated "Morton has documented it well by means of the newspapers of the time."
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110:. He called British Columbia "an inhospitable country, a sea of sterile mountains."
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In the Sea of
Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia. by James Morton
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Text as
Discourse: The Chinese in Canada in Historiographical Perspective
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Discourse: The Chinese in Canada in Historiographical Perspective
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In the Sea of
Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia
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In the Sea of
Sterile Mountains, The Chinese in British Columbia
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In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia
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Proper, H. "In the Sea of Sterile Mountains" (book review).
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Robert L. Worden, the author of a book review written for
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Lim, H. "In the Sea of Sterile Mountains" (book review).
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is a 1974 book, written by James Morton and published by
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Beardsley, Doug. "Chicken Chow Mean" (book review of
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609:Primary source: Early Chinese Contributions to BC
570:"In the Sea of Sterile Mountains" (book review).
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658:Books about immigration in Canada
83:from 1858 until the early 1970s.
648:Anti-Chinese sentiment in Canada
663:Immigration to British Columbia
617:In the Sea of Sterile Mountains
253:In the Sea of Sterile Mountains
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332:Association for Asian Studies
653:History of Chinese Canadians
587:, May 2, 1975, Vol. 88, p59.
567:, May 1975, Vol. 55, p21-22,
327:The Journal of Asian Studies
221:The Journal of Asian Studies
584:Far Eastern Economic Review
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16:1974 book by James Morton
291:University of Canterbury
88:University of Canterbury
638:English-language books
633:1974 non-fiction books
598:Excerpts from the book
239:A White Man's Province
525:Beardsley, p. 21, 23.
280:University of Alberta
156:(Vancouver), and the
264:Scott, Samantha J. "
108:South Bruce, Ontario
104:Parliament of Canada
320:Worden, Robert L. "
289:Willmott, William (
284:See article profile
194:Sir Wilfrid Laurier
144:(New Westminster),
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314:2018-10-12 at the
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37:James Morton
309:See profile
45:History of
627:Categories
304:BC Studies
246:References
94:Background
208:Reception
190:Opium War
61:Publisher
53:Published
312:Archived
232:See also
173:Contents
141:Guardian
129:Colonist
613:Archive
602:Archive
299:Archive
270:Archive
135:Gazette
42:Subject
572:Choice
147:Herald
34:Author
418:one."
346:Notes
339:JSTOR
106:from
293:). "
153:News
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