What was the Gentleman's Agreement?

• A. An informal agreement to limit Japanese immigration in exchange for desegregating San Francisco schools
• B. A formal treaty to promote trade with Japan
• C. A policy to end all immigration from Asia
• D. An urban development plan

Answer: (A)

The essence of this topic is how diplomacy and domestic policy intersect in U.S. immigration history. The Gentleman's Agreement was an informal understanding between the United States and Japan in 1907–1908. The United States agreed not to impose further restrictions on Japanese immigration, while Japan agreed to limit the emigration of Japanese workers to the United States. In exchange, San Francisco’s authorities promised to desegregate Japanese students in its public schools, ending the policy of separate facilities for Japanese children.

This was not a formal treaty; it was an informal pact, designed to ease ethnic tensions on the West Coast without a broad, countrywide ban on immigration. It helps explain how urban issues—like school segregation in San Francisco—drived international diplomacy and immigration controls during that era.