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Famine in China
"This reached a crisis point when, in 1834, the British East India Company lost its monopoly over British opium." (Asia Pacific Curriculum)
“a year of typhoons, bad harvest, and famine; the vast land china was overrun with beggars and bandits” (187).
The narrator speaks about Tao Chi'en descriptively about his early life and the obstacles he had to go through in order to survive. The famine sets the tone for the problems during this time period and how Tao had to support his family. -
Conception Earthquake
"It was not just the large-scale devastation wreaked in the towns and villages that made an impression; Darwin and FitzRoy also noticed the small but measurable, and apparently permanent, effects on the land surface itself"(Darwin Project).
"Two hundred years before, a devastating earthquake had leveled the capital, completely destroying the church of San Agustin except for the altar that held this christ"(40).
The narrator used vivid description to show how scared people were during the event. -
Opium War
"The Opium War arose from China’s attempts to suppress the opium trade.” (Britannica)
“When the Opium War between China and Great Britain broke out, Tao Chi’en was sixteen years old.” (200)
The author incorporates this event as a flashback of Tao Chins story and to learn more about what he was going through during this time. -
Treaty of Nanking
“Treaty that ended the first Opium War, the first of the unequal treaties between China and foreign imperialist powers”(Britticana).
"When the treaty of Nanking was signed, it was the final blow for the zhong yi" (202).
The narrator writes about how the Chinese were dishonored. This was a crucial event in history that created peace in between countries. -
Gold is discovered in San Francisco
“On January 24 his carpenter, James W. Marshall, found flakes of gold in a streambed. News of the discovery, however, soon spread, and they were besieged by thousands of fortune seekers.” (Britannica)
“ . . .rich veins of silver and gold were discovered in the north” (65).
The author uses this sentence when gold is found in California. In just a few months, California grew from a small settlement to 80,000 miners in the area completely changing San Francisco. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
"This treaty, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the war between the United States and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory..." (National Archives)
"The yellow pellet that unleashed the madness was found nine days after the war between Mexico and the united states ended with the singing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo" (145).
The narrator states that before gold struck, the war had just ended entailing the events to give the audience more depth about the time period. -
Summer 1849
"The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy" (Wikipedia). “During the summer and autumn months of 1850 Eliza rode the length of the mother load from south to north, from Mariposa to Downieville and back again, following the ever fainter trail of Joaquin Andieta..."(328). Eliza continued searching for Joaquín while facing the challenges of life among gold prospectors and traveling among hills and floods south to north. -
Tax on Miners, 1850
"California legislature passed a Foreign Miners' Tax that required miners who were not U.S. citizens to pay $20 every month for the right to mine in the state. The tax was only collected from Chinese and Latino miners, while European miners were not forced to pay it." (shec.edu)
“That year 1850, the legislature of California approved a tax on mining operations designed to protect whites”(329).
The narrator wrote about California approving tax on mining symbolizing discrimination. -
California Becomes 31st State
"California entered the Union as a free, non slavery state by the Compromise of 1850. California became the 31st state on September 9, 1850."(California State Park)
"In September of 1850, Tao was present at the noisy patriotic celebration when California became the newest state in the union” (386).
The author used exciting adjectives to display how everyone was so thrilled with joy and excitement about California entering the union from Tao's perspective.