Labou... ... middle of paper ... ...ers. They also fought and died for Canada in the war along side Canadian forces. Once again their efforts and contributions went unrecognized as they were met with contempt and disdain upon the soldiers return home. They were accused of taking jobs away from white men and resentment toward the Chinese grew deeper with the realization that some of them owned land and farms in Canada. The hardest and most heinous blow that the Chinese suffered was implementation of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923.
Farmers already had debt because of new machines and land that was purchased during World War I to keep up with the demand during the war. Then the depression caused banks to fail, so farmers lost all their money that was in the bank. Everyday life was treacherous, and there were few amenities in the home, with no plumbing or electricity. Life was awful for a farmer during the Great Depression. In the late 1920s, numerous banks failed around the nation.
Mortgages and rent payments could not be met, so people were moving into 'Hoovervilles'. These were 'shanty towns', nicknamed after Herbert Hoover, who was president at the time of the Wall Street crash. Even people who had expensive cars, etc, before now had nothing, some were even unable to pay for a bus fare. People with jobs and profitable companies even lost out because 5,000 banks went bust and the financial system virtually collapsed. Farmers suffered greatly, thousands of families who farmed had to sell their farms as it became uneconomical to grow crops.
A resupply ship arrived that prevented the colony from collapsing but hardship soon followed for the next two years when Captain John Smith, the leader of the colony was sent back to England. Following his departure, two-thirds of the colonist died during the winter. This did not hinder the rising popularity of Jamestown because an abundance of young English settlers kept coming. They were primarily poor and the new world was a way for them to work off their debt so they could begin a new life with their own piece of land. Those who did come with money hoped to become successful growing tobacco but the majority of those who came found no prosperity because around 80% of the people... ... middle of paper ... ...d in Jamestown kept them from reaching their goal of a better life.
The Great Depression was a terrible point in Canadian history, and for most of the world. It was a point in time where thousands of people lost their jobs, and even lost their homes because of the depressed economy. Business was booming in the early 1920s, but when companies tried to expand, and therefore issued stocks, the economy was thrown off. Some investors sold their stocks for high prices, and as a result, everyone else followed. With less of a demand, stock prices became fractions of what they used to be, and on October 29, 1929, the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, followed by the Toronto and Montreal Stock exchanges.
Had China remained in contact with the Western world it would have been possible for them to be as advanced a civilization as the Western world. As the Chinese government had their head buried in the sand with worry over losing control of their empire, they neglected to maintain the basic essentials of a functional country. All of China's canals eventually decayed as they were left unrepaired for years, the ironworks that China once prided itself one became obsolete with out a second look, and the army itself was no match for any Western army. The merchants were of no avail to the poor Chinese civilians as their profits on land and education. Upon shutting out the rest of the world China had forbidden the us... ... middle of paper ... ...Sun Yat-sen was to be sworn in as the first president of the provisional government of China's new Republic.
The factors that caused the Chinese exclusion was the mindset of most whites in that time. They were afraid that the Chinese were taking too many jobs for the whites. Another factor is that congress wanted to maintain racial purity. In other words, whites did not like the idea of people who did not look like them come to the united states and apply for citizenship and be able to take their job and able to live like they belong in the united states. I wouldn’t go as far as saying whites were afraid of the Chinese’s it was just they only wanted them for a short time to help build the things they needed and then they wanted them to go back.
Agriculture and the 1920's Boom In the 1920's, farmers and people alike were struggling to keep up with the highly efficient Canadian wheat producers. Many European countries suffered great bankruptcy from World War one and could no long afford to ship things like grain to they're countries. To add to this, the American population had been gradually falling so there were fewer mouths to feed. New machinery and technology were being made ad farmers tried to take advantage of this. This backfired.
Some of them went to the western cities to settle. They also worked in sweatshops and mines. Mines were very dangerous and dreadful according to Stephen Crane McClure’s. (www.peterpappas.com) Americans began to worry that there wouldn’t be enough jobs for everyone. So Congress banned Chinese immigrants for the next ten years they called this the Chinese Exclusion Act.... ... middle of paper ... ...people first came here they all bunch up in one area.
But after many years of working hard, Wang Lung gained enough money to own lots of land. The only difference between a pheasant l... ... middle of paper ... ...h he forgot it for many months together, when spring came each year he must go out on to the land." (Chapter 34, pg. 257) Wang Lung was not aware of his son's interest in selling the land though, and thus died contently. He wished he had done things differently with O-lan and probably would have been happier if he was still a pheasant but we all wish there were things we could have done differently.