San Francisco Earthquake and Fire or 1906
Introduction:
The San Francisco earthquake and fire was a huge catastrophic event that affected the city people, the city as a whole, and the Chinese people and culture. Within the 40 seconds of terror, everything San Francisco was known for was leveled to the ground.
How it affected the City
This 8.3 magnitude earthquake ruined the whole city and broke the hearts of the people inside of it. The two plates that moved were the North American tectonic plate and the Pacific tectonic plate. The plates moved about 15 feet, this is huge because the average movement of tectonic plates during an earthquake is only 2 inches. The earthquake only lasted a minute but it quickly destroyed the city. The earthquake
…show more content…
When this happened, the congress responded in many different ways. The white house and senate made the city pay for food, tents, blankets, water, and medical supply. They also gave money to rebuild many of the buildings that were damaged. The house also had to handle claims from store owners, many people wanted money for their destroyed property. A good example was that several saloons and liquor stores wanted money paid back to them because their alcoholic beverages were destroyed by law enforcement to prevent the fire from getting worse and spreading. There was $30,000 worth of liquor destroyed. These fires lasted 3 full days and it also burned almost 500 city blocks before being …show more content…
The gold rush was in 1848 and by 1870 over 30,000 Chinese laborers had settled down in San Francisco. They had made their own community inside the city of Sn Francisco, this community was called Chinatown. Even though they had their own little community inside the city, the Chinese people were not welcomed by others. A Chinatown historian, Chingwah Lee, put it best, "At the time there was no work for white men, never mind the Chinese. But the Chinese would take any work at any pay. This just increased their unpopularity." Since they were not welcome by the city officials and the people in general, the earthquake and fire gave the city officials a good excuse to get rid of the Chinese people. There was about 15,000 Chinese people in San Francisco at the time of the earthquake, and they all lost almost everything they had in the earthquake and fire. Although Chinatown was destroyed it wasn’t a good thing. The City Hall was also destroyed. This is where all the immigration records were and also vital statistics. Since these were destroyed with the city hall many Chinese were able to claim their citizenship in America. After
In 1911, a tragedy happened in the great state of New York. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire put a huge hole in many citizens hearts as lives were lost and injuries were severe and some untreatable back in the days. With one hundred and six lives that were lost and seventy-one people injured, this event was the most deadliest in the New York city until the terrorist attack ninety years later and still remains one of the deadliest in the United States. It affected America socially, politically and economically by owners being unfair, women not being treated equally and victims not getting the care they needed or deserved.
The Massive Earthquake The earthquake in 1906 was one of the most tragic things that happened in history . Mainly approximately 3,000 people died in this natural disaster .Also a woman named ¨Emma Burke ¨ was one of the survivors to live to write her story . Also the is a story that tells the reader about the 1906 earthquake .The name of that book is called ¨Dragonwings ¨ The disaster was really bad for those who lost their lives and to those who were injured .
When the fire finally came under control it was October 10, 1871, when rained helped the firefighters finally control it and eventually stop the flames. The fire had a devastating ending leaving up to 100,000 people homeless and an estimate of 300 people killed. The fire had also destroyed about 17,000 buildings leaving up to an estimate of 200 million
There was a downward spiral of looting and lawlessness. The city officials actually had to call in soldiers to come and protect the structures and belongings of the businesses and residents. Martial law was eventually declared, ending the 3 days of chaos. It took several weeks for them to feel safe enough to lift the martial law. Once the smoke cleared and the soot settled the city jumped on the opportunity to rebuild.
Many Chinese people came to America to seek work on the railroad and other places. The cheap labor they provided angered the European immigrants, and tensions grew between the Americans and Chinese-Americans. An act was passed that stopped the immigration of Chinese people to America and the government forced them to wear identification badges at all times. It was very difficult to be of this race during this time period. Therefore, Chinese immigrants faced many adversities through discrimination in the work force, government, and daily life.
Personal interview. 11 Sep. 2017. Montgomery, David R. “Effects of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, October 17, 1989, San Francisco Bay Area.” Effects of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, October 17, 1989, San Francisco Bay Area, University of California, Berkeley, 2010, www.johnmartin.com/earthquakes. Web.
Through publication, people developed a new perception on Los Angeles as a corrupted city. People were highly encouraged to avoid visits to Chinatown. Years leading up the 1938, Chinatown received many
The Chinese immigrants were not only harassed by men in their adulthood but also young children. The immigrants could not do anything about it, because because they were not a citizen, therefore they had no rights, in addition, the Supreme Court decided that the Chinese could not give testament against an American. One of the major political results of the anti-Chinese movement was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The act was the first significant law containing immigration into the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 suspended Chinese immigration
San Francisco, California has experienced fourteen earthquakes above a magnitude above 5.1 since 1836. The earthquakes of 1865 and 1906 both brought on varying forms of destruction. Twain, writing about the earthquake of 1865, found amusement and humor in the devastating event; while London only saw the destruction and loss in the earthquake of 1906. To inform and to entertain are, respectively, Jack London’s and Mark Twain’s purposes in writing about the two different earthquakes that struck San Francisco. Both writers experienced the earthquakes’ destruction first-hand, but had very different interpretations of it.
Leading to about 25,000 Chinese immigrants in America in the 1850's. And eventually because of how many Chinese there were they made some acts that stopped them from coming
“The formation of an urban Chinese community and the industrial development of the city paralleled each other. In 1860, only 2,719 Chinese resided in San Francisco, representing 7.8 percent of the Chinese population in California. Ten years later, the Chinese population in the city had soared to 12,022, a 343
During the 1800s, many Chinese immigrants entered America to seek substantial economic wealth and a prosperous life. The first surge of Chinese immigration occurred in 1848 at Sutter’s Mill, California when gold was discovered. Since then, many Chinese immigrants entered the American workforce, and the Americans despised the fact that these incoming immigrants were taking “their jobs”. In the year 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress to limit the amount of Chinese Immigrants entering the country. There are many factors that contributed to the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act; however the most influential factors included the prevention of economic competition, Chinese persecution, and discrimination.
One of the many results of the Chinese experience was the Chinese Exclusion Act, which
It was a ten year moratorium on Chinese labor immigration. In order to legally immigrate, citizens were required to have certification from the government to prove they were not laborers. The act defined the excludables as skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining. (Chinese
“Late one night, when we were all in bed, Mrs. O’Leary lit a lantern in the shed. Her cow kicked it over, then winked her eye and said, ‘There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight!’ (Abbott)” In 1871, a disaster arose in Chicago and reshaped the city permanently: a fire scorched around three square miles of land, leveled thousands of buildings, and stole hundreds of lives (“Chicago Fire of 1871”). Although the effects of this tragedy were harrowing, it actually served as the catalyst which allowed Chicago to become one of America’s largest, most influential cities.