The Cast

Chapter 1 establishes the American political and mercantile environment into which the Chinese woman Afong Moy was thrust when she arrived in 1834. It explores the lives and the economic motivations of the Carnes merchant family, whose business focused on selling inexpensive Chinese goods to middle-class Americans. Having a branch of the Carnes firm in France enabled them to select French goods which were then cheaply replicated in China for the United States market. Their ship captain, Benjamin Thorndike Obear, and his wife, Augusta, brought Afong Moy from China to the United States, entwining their lives with hers in unexpected ways. The Chinese goods that accompanied Afong Moy affected thousands of American households.