Chinese Head Tax in Canada

One of the ‘Big 6 Historical Thinking Concepts’ used here is that of historical significance. It is defined as people, places, or events that resulted in great change over a long period of time for a large number of people. Events that are historically significant are typically present in school textbooks and part of what we learn growing up as a child. Some historically significant positive events include the speech of Martin Luther King Jr., and negative events such as the Second World War. This is important as there are many lessons to be learned from such events, in order to have a better world.        

        The issue of the Chinese Head Tax is significantly personal to me because of my Chinese heritage. It is significant to Canada because of its discussion for more than 100 years. It is also significant to the world because of hot issues about immigration surrounding the United States and Western Europe. It is important that we look back on the historically significant event of the Chinese Head Tax and take some lessons to the current immigration issues.

Thesis Statement: It is important for policymakers to use historically significant lessons, like the Chinese Head Tax, when planning for new policies.

Summary: This essay will analyze politics of Canada in the past, the marginalization of Chinese immigrants, and the argument of it being fair, to create lessons for policy-making.

First Supporting Paragraph: Political forces caused Head Tax to become higher.

• Canadians afraid of new immigrants
• Politicians quick to react

Second Supporting Paragraph: One single group affected.

• Unfair policies to one community
• Consider what benefits all in the community

Disagree Thesis Paragraph: Head Tax is like investment visa

• Investment Visa is very expensive too
• However, it is not as unfair as the Chinese Head Tax.

Conclusion: Policymakers and the public should make use of historically significant lessons like the Chinese Head Tax, when considering present-day views of immigration.

Learning Lessons from a Historically Significant Event in Our History

The issue of the Chinese Head Tax is of historical significance because it serves as a lesson to all of us today to how future generations look back on us and the policies that we have created. Migration to Canada is at an all-time high, and so is migration around the world. It is a big issue in North America and Western Europe. Policymakers can use the historically significant lesson from the Chinese Head Tax when creating policies. This essay will analyze politics of Canada in the past, the marginalization of Chinese immigrants, and the argument of it being fair, to create lessons for policy-making.