T imeline of Historical Events

The Pla y in the Worl d: His torical Context of Afong Moy’s Life

Spring 1829 – Andrew Jackson is elected the seventh President of the United States.

Ma y 28, 1830 – The Indian Removal Act is signed into place by President Andrew Jackson.

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.

Ma y 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.

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.

Aug us t 1842 – Treaty of Nanjing is signed. The First Opium War comes to a close.

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.

1849 – The Gold Rush is signified by the rapid migration of people to the West in search of gold.

Late 1857 – Military operations begin that signify the beginning of the Second Opium War.

Aug us t 1860 – Beijing Convention is signed into place, ending the Second Opium War.

Spring 1860 – Abraham Lincoln is elected the sixteenth President of the United States of America.

April 12, 1861 – Confederate troops bombard Union soldiers at Fort Sumter which marks the beginning of the American Civil War.

Jan . 1, 1862 – P.T. Barnum’s American Museum opens to the public in New York City.

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.”

1863 – Work begins on the Transcontinental Railroad.

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.

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.

April 14, 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth. He dies the following day.

May 10, 1869 – A golden spike is driven into the ground in Promontory, Utah to signify the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, officially connecting the East to the West.

1871 – a race riot in Los Angeles, California leaves seventeen Chinese Americans dead.

1882 – Afong is sixty-two years old. The Chinese Exclusion Act is signed into place by President Chester A. Arthur. It is the first major law restricting immigration into the United States.

1885 – The Rock Springs Massacre marks one of the most significant acts of violence against Chinese immigrants in United States history. At least twenty eight Chinese American coal miners are killed.

1886 – Karl Benz pattens his Benz-Patent Motorwagon, known widely as the First Modern Automobile.

Ma y 1887 – Afong Moy is sixty-seven years old. As many as thirty four Chinese gold miners are ambushed and murdered by a gang of horse thieves and school boys from Wallowa County, Oregon. Though it goes to trial, no one is punished for the crime.

1892 – Afong is seventy-two years old. The Geary Act is signed into place by the 52nd Congress of the United States, renewing the Chinese Exclusion Act for another 10 years.

1902 – Afrong Moy is now eighty-two years old. The Geary Act is extended indefinitely. The Chinese Exclusion Act is regarded as being permanent.

1908 – The Model T produced by the Ford Motor Company is regarded as the first affordable automobile.

April 15, 1912 – The RM S Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic Ocean on her maiden voyage.

Jun e 28, 1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is assassinated in Sarajevo and sparks the First World War.

Jun e 28, 1919 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed, formally ending WWI .

Sept 1, 1939 – Germany invades Poland. Great Britain and France respond by declaring war on Germany, signifying the beginning of the Second World War.

Dec 17, 1943 – The Magnuson Act is signed into law. It allows Chinese immigration for the first time since 1882 and permits some Chinese immigrants already residing in the country to become naturalized citizens. The Magnuson Act provides for the continuation of the ban against the ownership of property and businesses by Chinese people. In many states, Chinese Americans (including US citizens) are denied property-ownership rights either by law or de facto until the Magnuson Act is fully repealed in 1865.