Question

What was the effect of declaring the rat hunting bounty?

Answer 1

Dear Student,

Its impact was :

a. To deal with the menace of Rat and contain plague, a rat hunt was started in 1902.The French hired Vietnam workers and paid them for each rat they caught.
b. For the Vietnamese the rat hunt provided them an opportunity of collective bargaining.
c. Those who did the dirty work of entering sewers began negotiating a higher bounty from the French.
d. They also discovered innovative ways to profit from the situation. The bounty was paid when a tail was given as proof
that a rat has been killed. So the rat catchers took to just clipping the tails and releasing the rats so that the process could be repeated, over again.
e. Rats were also raised to earn a bounty.
f. Rat menace revealed the weaknesses of the French modernising programme as in order to modernise Vietnam ,the French established a sewer system in Hanoi for the purpose of providing hygienic and clean environment. It was this sewer system that became the breeding ground for rats.
g. Thus, ironically the French's so called symbols of modernisation proved to their disadvantage as sewers made mobility of rats easy entering French homes through pipes.
h. It became sign of protest by Vietnamese who took advantage of this menace and situation and earned bounties, which compelled the colonist to end the bounty programme.
i. This way colonialism was resisted and fought by the Vietnamese who revealed the weakness of the French and compelled them to suspend their decision of offering bounty.


Regards