Bittersweet Roots
What fraction of Chinese men were able to get married?
1 in 10
What was the record number of miles laid in 12 hours?
10
How long have the presence of the Chinese been stable in the California Delta?
150 years
What was the push factor for Chinese emigration?
1800s Clan warfare, political turmoil, economic recession, Opium War with Great Britain and Guangdong
What was the pull factor, and what were the methods of transportation to get to the US?
1848 gold discovery, thousands rushed to SF; trade routes and steamships
In what year did the Federal Swampland Act pass, and what did it provide?
1850; acres of swampland at cheap costs if turned into fertile land
What year did White miners drive the Chinese out of bars?
1852
When did the building of the Trans-Continental Railroad start?
1863
In what year did the Trans-Continental Railroad join?
1869
In what year did the Chinese Exclusion Act take place?
1882
In what year was the Compulsory Education Act pass, and what/when was the amendment?
1919 created; 1921 allowed segregation of schools
What year was the 1882 Exclusion Act repealed?
1943
When was the Compulsory Education Act repealed?
1947
In what year did the fire break out in Walnut Grove?
1950
How much did Chinese people earn in the swamplands?
25 cents per cubic yard, 1 dollar/day
How many people reached Gold Mountain in 1852?
25,000
How many people were in SF in 1849, and how many were women?
40,000 people; less than 2% women (700)
Between the 15 year period of 1855-1870, how much money was taxed from Chinese miners and what percentage of tax revenues did they make up?
5 million; half
How many workers were used at the beginning, and how many were eventually used towards the end?
50; 11000
What accomplishments did Schoong achieve?
Chinese school teaching the arts and culture
Regarding faith, whose values were spread by the Chinese?
Confucius
Where is California's pear capital?
Courtland
Who was the man that praised and recognized the Chinese?
E.B. Crocker
Where is largest Chinese community in the US and how many residents live there?
Fiddletown; 2000-5000 residents
Where is the temple of Bok Kai located?
Marysville
Where did the Chinese gain their agricultural experience from, and what other skill was incorporated in their work?
Pearl River, Guangdong; engineering
What diseases did the Chinese face, but conquer?
Pneumonia and malaria
How many people moved to Locke after the fire, and how many are still living there now?
before: over 1500 now: 100
What was the land before and after Chinese immigration?
before: swampland with floods after: nation's richest farmland
How did the Chinese irrigate the land?
built irrigation canals, levees and ditches by hand and wheelbarrow
How young did prostitutes die and what was the reason?
didn't outlive contract terms; disease
In what industries did women go into?
garment and prostitution
When were Chinese-Americans allowed to marry Whites, as permitted by law?
late 1940s
What entertainment did the Chinese engage in?
morning lottery; Dai Loy gambling
How much money was sent back to China for war relief?
over $5 million
How many Chinese people lost their lives in the work of the Trans-Continental Railroad?
over 1000
How many men and women were eligible to participate in education because of the 1944 GI bill, and how many signed up?
over 15 million eligible; 8 million signed up
How many Chinese served in armed forces in World War II, and what was the percentage?
over 20000; 20%
In the 1850s to the mid1920s, how many steamships sank?
over 3 dozen
What percentage of Asian Americans earn a Bachelor's Degree or more?
over 42% (highest rate)
What crops were grown in the San Joaquin Valley?
pears, tomatoes, asparagus, almonds, corn, sugarbeans
What were the dangers of steamships traveling inland seas?
prone to blowin gup
What other positions did the Chinese hold?
sharecroppers; cannery
How did most women enter the prostitution field?
tricked, sold, kidnapped by poor parents
