Head Taxes

Topic: Head taxes & Chinese in VictoriaFocus on one head tax. There were a number of different head taxes passed in British Columbia. Some of them were eventually ruled illegal, but not before they had interesting effects on the economic behavior of the people affected. For example, a head tax imposed by the City of Victoria in 1878 led to a general strike by Chinese workers in Victoria. (See ‘The Head Tax of 1878,’ starting on page 260 of ‘Stories from Canada’s Economic History’: https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/willmore/wp-content/uploads/sites/5845/2021/01/SCEH2ED.pdf ) Meanwhile, the first federal head tax was imposed in 1885. This was important because it was applied at a federal level.Once you’ve chosen on one head tax to focus on, try to focus on the impact on one specific group: a person, a family, a business, an association (e.g. how did the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association react?), etc.Question1: Shrink your topic[footnoteRef:1]. Narrow it down to the smallest story that you can still tell completely. [1: ]Smaller Topic: suggestion: the first federal head tax was imposed in 1885Time:Place