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Chile’s great flood
“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 . . .” (38-39). This flood caused over 5,000 people to end up homeless, destroyed homes, stores and building. The Chilean flood caused many people to end up losing something they love and took years to regain. -
The Opium War Between China and Britain started in 1839
“In 1839, when the Opium War between China and Great Britain broke out, Tao Chi’en was sixteen years old. At that point the country was overrun with beggars.” The narrator (Tao Chi’en) describes the state of China and how the situation of the country was at the time of the Opium Wars breaking out. The fight led to the treaty of Nanking, and China ceded Hong Kong. -
Great Britain arrives to Chile
“And that was the state of things at the end of 1845 when the commercial maritime fleet of Great Britain assigned a chaplain in Valparaiso” (Allende, 76). This was Allende explaining that the British were trying to integrate their religion and culture upon the people in Chile and they wanted to use their resources to open new trade networks which benefitted them because of the geographical location relative to trade partners. -
Beginning of the 49ers 1848
“In January of that year, near a Swiss farmer’s mill on the banks of the American River, a man named Marshall had found a flake of God. That yellow speck, which unleashed madness, was discovered nine days after the war between Mexico and the United States ended (144-5) She was telling the people why the gold rush started to happen and the conflict it caused between california and mexico as California no longer was part of mexico but it had all the gold in it. -
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848
“The yellow pellet that unleashed madness was founded nine days after the war between Mexico and the United states had d]ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo” (145) The treaty prevented conflict between Mexico and America, which caused an influx of people due to the gold rush and it couldn't have come at a better time because the people all over the world that were coming to America had just gained the opportunity to make a new life for themselves because of the treaty. -
Snow in San Francisco
”In December, overnight, winter descended upon the foothills and thousands of miners had to abandon their claims and move to town to wait for spring.”
During the gold rush snow appeared in San Francisco making it difficult for the miners to work and find gold. This is because it made the conditions so bad and it was too difficult for the miners to work. -
California becoming a state
“In September of 1850 Tao was present at the noisy patriotic celebration when California became the newest state in the union.” ( Allenede 386) When California became a new state it impacted the gold rush in a great way by getting thousands of people flooding in because it was a new state. Once California was a certified state it also helped them by having economic growth. This is because all of the people flooding in. The original group of miners were selling products to new people coming in. -
San Francisco economy and population growth
“ By that time there were more than 100,000 argonauts…”( 329) Once California became a new state thousands of people were flooding in and everyone was trying to come to California and become free. Everyone was trying to do some type of work to make money and to start a new life. And because of this their economic growth was through the roof. They had railroads, gold mines, oil, and agriculture. -
Women in the gold rush era
In daughter of fortune there are many cases of women being consumed like when Allende says “Come in and do what you want with a little Chinese girl”
This signifies that girls in this time period had very little variation with jobs and that they had to do heinous things just to earn money to live. This quote goes deeper as many of the women in the brothels were young and immigrants who had nowhere else to go which contradicted the illusion of the American dream and that anyone could be free.