1. What does Takaki mean by the phrase “giddy multitude,” and how does it relate to his larger argument that I (Tania Maync) calls the wedge thesis?
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Image: The burning of Jamestown, 1676. Workers in the canefields (sugar) in Hawaii.
2. Becoming American: According to Takaki, Eastern European Jews went through a process of “purification” and to become American meant to acquire “civility.” What is civility in this context and how is this similar to the experience of other immigrant groups such as the Irish and the “ethnic strategy” he argued they used to assimilate?
3. What were the ramifications of the Mexican War for the “foreigners in their native land” as Takaki called it and how did it influence the issue of the expansion of slavery in the United States?
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4. How does Chinese immigration to the United States serve to support Takaki’s larger argument about racial caste? (chapter 8) Note that CASTE denotes a LEGAL category.
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Image 1: Cartoon, The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things. Image 2: Cartoon, Pacific Chivalry
5. What was the relationship between the Black Codes and the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution that were passed during Reconstruction? Please include a discussion on the issue of the role of the federal vs. state/local government.
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6. What was the difference between the goals and the results of the Dawes Act of 1887 according to Ronald Takaki in “A Different Mirror” book (chapter 9)
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Essay Question
Answer ONE of the following in 4-5 paragraphs. You must use Ronald Takaki in “a different mirror” to answer this question but you are welcome to refer to documents we’ve read if it makes sense. Do not use outside sources. (50 points)
It has been suggested in this class, by me as well as by your textbook, that the category of “race” is not an immutable physical construct but rather a relatively modern social contract that has evolved over the course of the last half-millennium according to historical developments. What historical factors led to the emergence of the “racial hierarchy” and a “caste labor system” in the British colonies and later United States?
Please make sure you use examples from Ronald Takaki or by referring to documents we’ve read. (Note that Takaki does not use to term “caste labor system” to refer solely to slavery but also when discussing “vaqueros,” Chinese and all “Calibans of color.”)
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Image: Johann Heinrich Ramberg, Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban (left) Dancing from the Tempest (ca. 1810)
How does Ronald Takaki utilize the terms “civilization” and “savagery” to tell the story of American history from “a different mirror?” Note that he presents these terms as “mirror images” of each other and the definition of one says a lot about the fear and self-identification of the other. Please make sure you present Takaki’s definition of these two terms in your response (that is what are the characteristics of civilization and what are the characteristics of savagery) and give at least TWO examples of ethnic or immigrant groups branded as “savage” or at least “less civilized” and how this was used to justify unequal treatment.
Image: “American Progress” John Gast 1872.jpg
