Midterm take home activity topic worksheet Tan Ngo
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Philosophy
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Feb 20, 2024
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Midterm Exam Take Home Activity
Topic Worksheet
Instructions:
Points Possible: 50 points
What is your topic?
Discrimination against Chinese Immigrants in the U.S
Secondary Source
Author and Title of Secondary Source:
The bloody history of anti-Asian violence
in the West – by Kevin Waite
Citation for the Secondary Source (URL):
Kevin Waite is an assistant professor of history at Durham University in the
UK and the author of West of Slavery: The Southern Dream of a
Transcontinental Empire (2021), https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/the-
bloody-history-of-anti-asian-violence-in-the-west
What is the author’s thesis? Rewrite it in your own words
The author’s thesis is he believes one of the ethnic groups that get targeted for mass lynching the most in the west, are Chinese immigrants.
What evidence do they use to prove it (provide specific examples from the source with page numbers)?
In paragraph 1 he writes about the events that happened in 1871, where a frenzied mob of 500 people stormed the city’s Chinese quarter. Some victims were shot and stabbed, and others were hanged from makeshift gallows. By the end of it, there was about 19 mangled bodies laying in the streets of L.A.
How could you use this article to help you build an argument about your chosen topic?
This article would help me a lot because it lists many big events where Chinese immigrants were being mistreated and massacred. The info provided me with more data and talking points to argue that they were probably the ethnic group that got heavily lynched the most in the west.
Make a list of 2-4 potential main ideas you might use to prove your argument (use complete sentences)?
1.
A well-organized group known as the Central Pacific Anti-Coolie advocated for a ban on Chinese immigration and even defended white vigilantes.
2.
the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, was a legal discriminatory measure used to discriminate against Chinese immigrants.
Primary Source #1 Author and Title of Primary Source:
A Chinese Immigrant Recalls the Dangers of Railroad Work – by Wong Hau-hon
Citation for Primary Source (URL):
Wong Hau-hon, “A Chinese Immigrant Recalls the Dangers of Railroad Work,” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed October 17, 2023, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/614
.
Provide a short summary of the primary source (one full paragraph, 5-7 sentences)
This source mainly talks about the mistreatment and extreme dangers the Chinese immigrants faced when they were working. Most of the Chinese workers were poorly fed, leading them to get weak, which ultimately causes an epidemic. Many workers died and there weren’t enough coffins to burry them all, so they had to stuff the bodies in rock crevices. The actual work wasn’t
any better. Many Workers had to use dynamite to blast rocks in caves, but the problem with dynamite is that it sometimes won’t explode. Thinking that all the dynamite had went off, the white foreman would order the Chinese workers to get back in the mines, only to have the unset dynamite explode, scattering blood and flesh everywhere.
How does this document support or expand on information you learned through reading the secondary source? (Give a specific example from the primary source)
I think this document further proves how badly white people mistreated the Chinese immigrants. They had to work in a worse condition and were often paid lower than their white counterpart.
What piece of evidence would you use from this primary source to support an argument about your chosen topic? (be specific, feel free to quote sections of the document)
I would use the piece where it talks about the living conditions of the Chinese immigrants. In paragraph 1, it states that “there were no coffins to bury the dead, the bodies were stuffed into
rock crevices or beneath the trees to await their arrival. Those whose burials could not wait were buried on the spot in boxes made of crude thin planks hastily fastened together.”
Primary Source #2
Author and Title of Primary Source:
Foreign Miner's License – by California State Legislature
Citation for Primary Source (URL):
California State Legislature, “Foreign Miner's License,” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed October 17, 2023, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1714
.
Provide a short summary of the primary source (one full paragraph, 5-7 sentences)
This source primarily talks about a legislature that was passed to solely discriminate against Chinese and Latino workers. It was called the “Foreign Miners’ Tax,” and it states that anyone who were not a U.S citizen, be charged $20 a month for the right to mine in the state. This tax however only applied to the Latinos and Chinese miners. The European Miners was not forced to pay the tax despite being a foreigner. The high tax would eventually push many of the Latino and Chinese immigrants back to their home country.
How does this document support or expand on information you learned through reading the secondary source? (Give a specific example from the primary source)
I think it expanded my knowledge because I learned that it wasn’t just Chinese immigrants that were mistreated, but also Latinos.
What piece of evidence would you use from this primary source to support an argument about your chosen topic? (be specific, feel free to quote sections of the document)
The piece of evidence I would use in this source is when it says, “In reality, the tax was only collected from Chinese and Latino miners, while European miners were not forced to pay it.” This clearly shows me that they were indeed being discriminated.
Your Research Question: Now that you have your topic and have read three sources, try writing
a focused question (thesis!) about your topic.. (Actually, try writing a few. Circle your favorite.)
Based on the events and discrimination recorded throughout history, can we consider that Chinese Immigrants had it the worse than any other immigrants?
Reflect! Is your question... ●
Open and Debatable-- Does your question leave open the possibility for multiple points of view on your topic? Could someone argue the opposite?
I think it could leave for the possibility of multiple talking points because the Chinese immigrants were discriminated in many ways. Examples would be Lynching, unfair taxation, passed a law called the Chinese Exclusion act to solely discriminate Chinese Immigrant, and hate groups whose main goal is to ban Chinese immigrants.
I think someone could argue against this and say that maybe the Latinos, or some other immigrants, had it worse than the Chinese.
●
Focused (not broad)-- Does your question narrow the topic down to a smaller size? I think it does because I’m strictly arguing that the Chinese immigrants had it worse than
any other immigrants.
●
Specific (not vague)-- Can you name the particular elements you’re studying?
I was studying the Documents on Immigration during the 1860s-1880s
●
Answers the “so what?” question – Are you making a meaningful argument? Are you offering an interesting argument?
I think my argument is meaningful because it can be left up for debate. Someone could make a counter argument against me.
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