The Play in the World: Historical Context of Afong Moy’s Life
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Spring 1829 – Andrew Jackson is elected the seventh President of the United States.
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May 28, 1830 – The Indian Removal Act is signed into place by President Andrew Jackson.
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1834 – The 14 yearold Afong Moy arrives in the US and is put on display at Peale’s Museum. Admission for her exhibit is 25 cents per adult and 10 cents per child.
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May 1838 – The forced removal of indigenous people from the East of the Mississippi River officially begins. This is known as the Trail of Tears. At least 4,000 people do not survive the journey.
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Spring 1842 – The British fleet that attacked and occupied Canton in May of 1841 is counterattacked by Chinese troops. The British fleet pursued the overtaking of Canton following the confiscation and destruction of 1,400 tons of opium that had been illegally smuggled from India. This counterattack signifies the beginning of the First Opium War.
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August 1842 – Treaty of Nanjing is signed. The First Opium War comes to a close.
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1849 – Peale’s Museum is sold to P.T. Barnum for his American Museum. The cost of viewing Afong’s exhibit is included in the admission fee for the museum.
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1849 – The Gold Rush is signified by the rapid migration of people to the West in search of gold.
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Late 1857 – Military operations begin that signify the beginning of the Second Opium War.
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August 1860 – Beijing Convention is signed into place, ending the Second Opium War.
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Spring 1860 – Abraham Lincoln is elected the sixteenth President of the United States of America.
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April 12, 1861 – Confederate troops bombard Union soldiers at Fort Sumter which marks the beginning of the American Civil War.
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Jan. 1, 1862 – P.T. Barnum’s American Museum opens to the public in New York City.
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Jan. 1, 1863 – President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation decreeing that “all persons held as slaves” within rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”
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1863 – Work begins on the Transcontinental Railroad.
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1864 – Afong Moy, now 44 years old, is dismissed by P.T. Barnum in favor of a newer, younger, more talented 14-year-old girl from Peking. Her feet are bound to be one half inch smaller than Afong’s.
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April 9, 1865 – Confederate troops are defeated by the Union Army at the Battle of Appomattex. General Robert E. Lee surrenders and the American Civil War ends.
