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[Anonymous]

Though Americans have views upon ourselves, we need to acknowledge that what matters just as much, if not more, are the views other non-Americans have towards America(ns). The most famous account of such views comes from Toqueville's "Democracy In America". Regarding China/Chinese views on America, "Liang Qichao On His Trip to America" is a source which will provide my students a unique view on America...from that of a young Chinese man in 1903. Liang Qichao's views on America do not seem positive. The treatment of African-Americans(Lynchings), the poverty in the cities, even the concept of Democracy in America do not appeal Liang Qichao. Even his meeting with a secluded JP Morgan and his observations of university libraries do not have positive overtones for Liang Qichao. His only positive views about America are the one day of rest from the 6 day work week, the cleanliness in American public transportation, and the organized speaking manners of the Americans. These positive and negative insights of American life/culture can be shared with my students so that they can compare and contrast 1903 American culture with that of China in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, and students can even expand and compare and contrast 1903 American culture with American/Western culture today.

[Anonymous]

I was reading the article on Liang Qichao and it reminded me of other articles I have had my students read. There is one by Engels who describes the effects of industrialization on Manchester, England and then the kids compare his description with another article entitled The Voyage of Muhammad As-Saffar, (from Morocco) who is describing Paris and the conditions of the French and how industrious the French are. Now I am able to add a third point of view into the mix with the Liang article. It will be interesting to see how much the students can analyze differing viewpoints from different parts of the world and how a country is "seen" from the eyes of a different culture. Just because a country is industrialized does that make living conditions good?

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

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[Anonymous]

This article reminds me of a lesson I have done with students in my U S History class. The lesson, like the article talked about the over crowded conditions in New York in the 1900's with the increase of immigrants. The lesson has a hand out that shows a floor plan of a tenement apartment building and talked about how many families would share the space. A few of my students, who had experienced similar conditions understood what was happening, but for the most part all I got from them where blank stars. In order for my students to understand the health issues and other problems that come from over crowding, we continued the lesson the next day, but I moved them outside into the schools parking lot. I brought with me a 25 ft tape measure, a roll of Duct tape and four orange parking cones. I had some students read off the de-mentions of one apartment off of the hand-out while others measured and taped it off. Once this was done, I invited everyone into their new living space, all 37 of them. They said it was to small and cramped and uncomfortable to be so close together. This is when they started to understand.

[Author]

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