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Conception Earthquake of 1835
“A large earthquake shook the cities of
Concepcion and Talcuachano in Chile and
generated a large tsunami” (Analytic For Society) “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 . . .” ( Allende 38-39). Allende uses imagery, similie, personification to show how distructive the earthquake was, by comparing it to gods wrath. -
Opium Wars
“The First Opium War eventually
broke out on 4 September 1839 when
Elliot issued an ultimatum stating
that, if the British would not be
allowed to trade for food with locals in
Kowloon, British ships would open
fire." (National Archive) "In 1839, when the Opium War
between China and Great Britain
broke out, Tao Chi’en was sixteen
years old” (Allende 200) Allende uses Tao Chi'en's age to highlight his youth and vulnerability, foreshadowing the war's impact on him -
Booming of San Francisco (1848-1849)
"San Francisco was a sleepy port town. There were less than one thousand inhabitants in the city… By 1849, as the gold rush fever swept through the country, the city's population exploded to a staggering 25,000." (NPS) “With the first news of gold. Within a
few months, that innocent village
awakened with the name San
Francisco" (Allende 269-270) Allende uses "awakened. " to personify the village, showing its change from innocence to chaos with the gold rush. -
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,including the present-day states California, Nevada,Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado,and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming." (National Archives) “Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo” ( Allende 145) Allende simply refrences the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, empahsing its importance and also what is going on behind the secenes of DOF. -
Vicente Perez
“The sight of California riches captivates Chileans. Peres began to make plans to receipt the family fortune… he sailed for California on December 28,1848” (PBS) “ . . .rich veins of silver and gold were discovered in the north” (Allende 65). Allende uses imagery and personification to show how the land geels alive and full on silver and gold, which foreshadows the rush for wealth and chaos that will follow -
California becomes a State
“California became the 31st state on September 9, 1850.” (Parks) “In September of 1850, Tao was present at the noisy patriotic celebration when California became the newest state in the union” (Allende 386) Alenge uses imagery to capture the patriotic energy of people celebrating california becoming a state. -
Founding of Levi Strauss
In 1853, Levi Strauss, an immigrant from Bavaria, While he was working, he recognized a need among hardworking people: clothes built to endure anything. “The ones getting rich were the impresarios, as avid for sudden wealth as the adventurers of ‘49, but much clever like that tailor names levi who was making pants with double seams and metal studs” (Allende 387) Allende uses irony to show that bussinessmen like Levi Strauss where finding sucess but not the miners. -
California Rangers
By 1853 countless murders had reached such alarming proportions, that citizens from all parts of the State petitioned Governor Bigler to organize a military company to capture Murietta and his gang of marauding outlaws. ”Then the outlaw who was none other than the famous Joaquin Murieta, Captain Love Claimed, took off like an antelope, and they had no choice but to empty their pistols into his chest” (Allende 482) Allende uses similie to depict Joaquin's escape, comparing him to an antelope.