Views on Chinese Labor in 19th Century U.S.

Primary Source Analysis Instructions

Image: A Picture for Employers: Why they can live on 40 cents a day, and they can’t. Illus. in Puck, 1878, Au. 21, 16. Drawn by J. Keppler. Library of Congress Prints and Photographic collection. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002720432/

Images present their own unique challenges in terms of interpretation and analysis. There are several kinds of images that historians often use in their work – such as photographs, film clips, and advertisements. This is a political cartoon from 1878.

Building from what you have learned about immigrant labor, working-class culture and economic structural shifts in the late 19th century, compose an answer to each of the following questions. Be sure to support your answer with evidence from the readings.

Why do you think this cartoon was created? Provide specific examples from the cartoon to support your answer.

What can we learn about the lives of Chinese workers in the US from this cartoon? What can’t we learn? Provide specific examples from the cartoon to support your answer.

What can this cartoon tell us about the attitudes of native-born American workers towards Chinese immigrants? What can’t it tell us? Provide specific examples from the cartoon to support your answer.

What was happening in the nation’s economy at the time of this cartoon’s creation that might have impacted its message? Assess what the economy’s impact might have been, based on evidence from your readings.

Note that if you have trouble seeing the image above, you can go the Library of Congress site to view it more closely.

You should answer each question in one or two paragraphs, and each paragraph should have at least four, well-thought-out sentences.

Reference Books

1Labor in America A History Melvyn Dubofsky 2. City Of Women Christine Stansell 3Stayin Alive by Jefferson Cowie 4The voice of the people by Jonathan Rees Joathan Pollack

readings this week include chapters 3-6 from the Dulles / Dubofsky book, chapters 6 -8 of Stansell, pp 25-66 of Rees / Pollack, and Rosanne Currarino’s “Meat vs. Rice.” The link to this article is in the module overview and in the class scheduleYour readings this week include chapters 3-6 from the Dulles / Dubofsky book, chapters 6 -8 of Stansell, pp 25-66 of Rees / Pollack, and Rosanne Currarino’s “Meat vs. Rice.” The link to this article is in the module overview and in the class schedule. Currarino, “Meat vs. Rice: Working-Class Manhood and Anti-Chinese Hysteria”