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Darwins account on the 1835 earthquake in Concepcion
"On Feb 20th 1835, a large earthquake shook the cities of Concepción and Talcuahano in Chile, and generated a large tsunami which battered the Chilean coastline." (disaster-analytics.com)“That was the year of the floods, which were immortalized in schoolchildren’s textbooks and in their grandparents’ memories...a series of minor temblors, which came like God’s wrath, finished destroying everything..” (Allende38-39) Allende uses a simile, creating an image of how bad earthquakes and tsunamis are. -
Opium War
“In 1839, when the Opium War between China and Great Britain broke out, Tao Chi’en was sixteen years old.” (200). The Opium War was an event that led to violence due to the British smuggling opium into Chinese ports against the will of the Chinese government. There were two opium wars. -
Chilean Silver Rush
"Between 1830 and 1850, Chilean silver mining grew at an unprecedented pace which transformed mining into one of the country's principal sources of wealth." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_silver_rush) “ . . .rich veins of silver and gold were discovered in the north”. (Allende 65) Allende explains that in 1845 there was a economic boom brought on by the discovery of silver and gold in Northern Chile. -
California Rangers kill Joaquin Murrieta
Allende writes "Eliza read in the newspaper that Joaquin Murieta and his follower, three-finger-jack, had attacked a camp of six peaceful Chinese, held by their queues, and slit their throats."
This compares to the real life situation, where, in 1853 the rangers attacked the outlaw camp. Eight of the bandits were killed, including Murrieta and his right hand man, Tres Dedos (also known as Three Fingered Jack). -
News of Gold in California reaches Chile
“The news of the gold discovered in California reached Chile in august.” (144). Gold was found in California and people started to head over there in hopes to make a fortune. -
James Marshall finds gold
(Allende) writes, James Marshall is recognized for beginning the gold rush when he found gold in the Sutter's mill in Coloma, California. SF received almost 300,000 visitors looking for gold.(329) this Happened on January 24th 1848 when James Sutter discovered gold near Colma California. -
Argonauts arrive
“The hordes of argonauts kept arriving, ever faster and in greater numbers.” (295). Argonauts, desperate and poor people from Europe, began flooding in to San Francisco in June in hopes of making a fortune through mining gold. -
California joins union
On September 9th 1850, California became the 31st state joining the union as a free non slavery state. Part of the reason people of ethnic groups came to California is because of the Opportunities they would have in this free state. This is seen in the story when (Allande) writes, "Tao was present at the noisy patriotic celebration when California became the newest state in the union."