The Civil Of Chinese Immigrants On The Transcontinental Railroad

In conclusion, Chinese immigrants came to America for gaining money and return to China. This is the main purpose for the most Chinese immigrants. Most of them worked at Railroad Company, so many laborers died after they began working. All

railroad companies who built the railroad did it with blood, sweat and tears, crossing 1,800 miles of rough terrain. The Union Pacific

Since its founding, the United States has attracted immigrants from all over the world and consists of a variety of different cultures. Immigration has had an enormous impact on American society and economy and shaped the country remarkably.

Clearing land in rocky and mountainous grounds became extremely difficult. Dynamite was used to clear tunnels and mountainous areas. Landslides and dynamite explosions killed many. Chinese workers were paid unfairly. They would be paid $1.00 per day compared to white workers who would be paid between $1.50-$2.00. In addition to that, Chinese workers would have to pay for their own food, cooking gear, medical care, transportation and camping, unlike white men would have these necessities provided. The Chinese Railway workers lived in poor conditions, often in camps, sleeping in tents or box cars. Camps were excessively crowded. They would have to cook their own food over open fires. Their diets mainly consisted of rice, dried salmon and tea. Since they ate an unbalanced diet, men were susceptible to diseases like scurvy which is caused by insufficient amounts of vitamin C. After the construction of the Railway was completed, all the Chinese workers were out of jobs. Many could returned to their families in China; however, many could not afford a ticket back. During this time

The Central Pacific Railroad had much less land to cover, but they had to build through the harsh Sierra Nevada mountains. The workers were mostly Chinese immigrants that came to California from the Gold Rush of 1849. They lived in brutal condition, and had very low salaries. “Quote buy some guy that i can 't find” The Central Pacific Railroad Company had to blow up tunnels and level parts of mountain to get the railroad through.

When they arrived in America most of the Chinese immigrants moved west. Most of the Chinese immigrants moved west because they wanted to get jobs in rural areas and build homes for their families. A lot of Chinese immigrants got jobs working on building railroads. The Chinese immigrants were very good at this job, because they got paid very low wages, and that affected the pay rates of white Americans, European immigrants, and Russian immigrants. In the 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This act stated that Chinese laborers could not enter the country, because chinese immigrants accepted low wages, and also affected the pay rates of others. However Immigrants from Italy and Russia did not have to go through this. They also had an easier time getting jobs because of

Immigrants from China arrived in the West looking for jobs in the building of railroads.

During the years the tracks were being made, the first settlers began to move westward. Once gold was discovered in these areas, people started to travel across the nation to find gold in California. Chinese Immigrants soon began discovering the gold while mining. Traveling overland before the railroad was completed, took approximently five to six months. Travelers were through rugged mountains and arid desert. “The transcontinental railroad would make it possible to complete the trip in five days at a cost of $150 for a first-class sleeper.” (Digital History). This was an ever lasting change in America. Going from $1,000 and a five to six month trip, to an $150 and five day trip was drastic. Even though, the railroad took many years to connect, it has still been used in todays society.

As Americans pursued their goal of “manifest destiny,” they economically wanted to link the Eastern and Western United States together. In order link the US, a transcontinental railroad was essential. The constriction of the Transcontinental Railroad offered employment opportunities for immigrant workers. Immigrant groups such as the Irish and Chinese worked in constructing this massive project. However, due to race, the Irish were paid a better salary than their Chinese counterparts. Immigrant men such as the Chinese endured extreme bigotry and acts of hostility by white Americans. As large swells of Chinese immigrants came to the US in the mid-nineteenth century, many in the 1870s experienced hostility and exclusion, as white Americans found themselves competing with the Chinese for jobs. The anti-Chinese movement used Chinese hard work, productivity, and willingness to endure hardship to highlight the difference between Chinese workers and American heroic artisans. Fears among white American wage workers persisted as many worried about possibly losing their heroic artisan professions, not being able to provide for their family

In the early 1800’s industrialization of the northeast and other national endeavors such as railroads and road building required much manual labor. This vast manual labor job market opened the flood gates into the United States for immigrants seeking prosperity and a better life for themselves and their families. By the mid 1800’s many Chinese immigrants had made the voyage to the U.S. and sought work mainly in the factories of the prosperous northeast as well as the California gold mines. Culturally the Chinese people’s actions are motivated by the concept of bringing honor and respect to the family as a whole, and less concerned about individual successes or prestige, which resulted in Chinese immigrant’s willingness to do high quality work for long hours for very little pay. This was beneficial to the employer and company, but displaced many other immigrant workers which caused racial tensions. Chinese immigrants were accustomed to living in tight quarters, working together as families or community units and making do with what was available. These qualities assisted in the development of China Towns, housing and cultural centers for the Chinese immigrant population, near or in the large cities where their populations were greatest such as New York and San Francisco as. Many Americans viewed these China Towns as unsanitary and unhealthy brothels where prostitution and smoking opium was commonplace.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was established in 1882, in which the first time United States prevent a group of immigrants with nationality (Lee 4), marked United States’ from welcoming nation to an enclosed and discriminative nation, has monumental impact on each Chinese immigrants and culture of the entire American Chinese community (6). The poor conditions and lack of opportunities in the 19th century China and the Chinese’s hope of accumulating wealth to support their families in China fostered the huge influx of Chinese immigrants to United States. The discovery of gold in California also fuelled many Chinese’s dream of fast wealth (112). Due to the need for mass labour stemming from industrialization and high productivity of Chinese labours, employers would enthusiastically hire Chinese labour, which in turn sparked the increasing competition with the local workers and a growing anti-Chinese sentiment (114).

Ready and apt to learn all the different kinds of work required in railroad building, they soon became as efficient as the white laborers.” (A History of the Chinese in America, 44) Over the six-year course of building the transcontinental railroad, the Central Pacific Railroad Company hired just about 15,000 Chinese workers to build the railroad.

After the first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived in the United States in the early 1840s during the California Gold Rush, many Chinese people continued to travel across the Pacific, escaping poor conditions in China with hopes and ambitions for a better life in America. Many more Chinese immigrants began arriving into the 1860s on the Pacific coast for work in other areas such as the railroad industry. The immigrants noticed an increasing demand for their labor because of their readiness to work for low wages. Many of those who arrived did not plan to stay long, and therefore there was no push for their naturalization. The immigrants left a country with thousands of years of a “decaying feudal system,” corruption, a growing

The transcontinental railroad was built by two major companies, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. The Central Pacific company worked eastbound. They faced the treacherous terrain of the Rocky Mountains, landslides, and winter snowdrifts. Central Pacific would hire Chinese immigrants. These Chinese immigrants, “... made up 85 percent of the Central Pacific workforce.” (Holt McDougal,

The UPCD’s decision of contracting Beckwith and Quinn helped, but not entirely, create a cultural clash between the white and Chinese miners. The contractor company was given the important role providing housing to the hired Chinese workers (Wolff 33). The first shelters were subsequently built on the opposite side of the railroad tracks, facing the white town. However, the expansion what would later become Chinatown was by choice from both the Chinese and whites, who did little to close the physical separation. Thus, White and Chinese miners rarely interacted outside of work (Storti 83). This lack of cultural exposure likely generated more unrest, making it difficult for the two ethnicities to empathize with each other and communicate differences. White miners racial prejudice against the Chinese, a national phenomenon, likely inflamed (Laurie