When the word “gold” is thrown around such news travels far and fast. This caused people from all areas of the world to flock thousands of miles during the Westward Expansion period in efforts of going from “rags to riches” to obtain the American dream. One particular group of laborers the Chinese went to pursue a dream in the west by working on the transcontinental railroad system. This paper will reveal experiences and discriminationsthat Chinese laborers faced while working on railroads during the Westward Expansion era in hopes of overcoming poverty. The pursuit of a comfortable living or wealth caused a lot of men to venture into the West leaving behind his or her homeland and families. Chinese labors faced conflicts in their homeland; …show more content…
Farmers lost basically everything and looked elsewhere for employment. In 1860 the earned pay for a Chinese laborer in China was around $3-$5 a month. However, if a Chinese worked on the railroad system in the U.S. the potential earning could range anywhere from $25-$30 a month. With the conditions imposed in their homeland $25 to $30 a month was like gold. Therefore, Chinese immigrants (mostly men) took refuge in the United States in hopes of working in the west temporarily. Some worked in mining and other areas while the majority were attracted to the railroad system. The first transcontinental railroad employed over twenty Chinese laborers and as time went on the numbers increased. The Central Pacific Railroad Company saw how beneficial Chinese immigrants would benefit their workforce and before they knew over 50 Chinese workers were employed. The White American workers saw how hard the railroad labor was and were reluctant to take on such hazardous tasks. In addition, railroad work was hard in general, plus management was chaotic, leading to a high attrition rate ( ). The Central Pacific took off around 1864 and Superintendent James Strobridge and Director Charles Crocker both were in align to employ mostly …show more content…
They were not called by their names they were known as Chinamen. In addition, they had to pay their contractors or foreman for food and lodging and had to pay for their tools to do the work. Contrary, white workers didn’t have to pay the foreman nor did they have to pay for food and lodging. Due to the severity and nature of the job working the railroad the Chinese were placed into groups and the head of the group was usually a white foreman. When the job’s severity increased so did the crew size; however, Chinese were paid $27 to $30 a month, minus the cost of board and food. In contrast, Irishmen were paid $35 per month, with board
This discriminated the Chinese-Canadians and implies that because the men were Chinese they deserved less than white men. Chinese workers were given $1 each day with no shelter or food provided. (Canada Para. 1) They ate a main diet of rice, dried salmon, washed down with tea. The lack of vitamin C in their diets was caused because the Chinese workers weren't given enough money to buy fresh fruits. This caused many Chinese workers to obtain scurvy, which is a painful disease created by the deficiency of vitamin C. (Canada Para. 2) On the other hand, Canadian's who worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway were given $2.50 dollars a day with food and shelter provided. (Canada Para.
The Central Pacific tracks were officially joined to the Union Pacific rails at Promontory Point near Ogden, Utah, on May 10, 1869. There were many eloquent orations on that day but E. B. Crocker was one of the very few to pay any tribute to the role of the Chinese. In a speech at Sacramento he declared: "I wish to call to your minds that the early completion of this railroad we have built has been in large measure due to that poor, despised class of laborers called the Chinese, to the fidelity and industry they have shown."
This paper by Scott Carson is extremely useful in that shows all the different forces that came together to cause the Central Pacific railroad to begin hiring the Chinese railroad workers such as labor queuing, demand side
Many came for gold and job opportunities, believing that their stay would be temporary but it became permanent. The Chinese were originally welcomed to California being thought of as exclaimed by Leland Stanford, president of Central Pacific Railroad, “quiet, peaceable, industrious, economical-ready and apt to learn all the different kinds of work” (Takaki 181). It did not take long for nativism and white resentment to settle in though. The Chinese, who started as miners, were taxed heavily; and as profits declined, went to work the railroad under dangerous conditions; and then when that was done, work as farm laborers at low wages, open as laundry as it took little capital and little English, to self-employment. Something to note is that the “Chinese laundryman” was an American phenomenon as laundry work was a women’s occupation in China and one of few occupations open to the Chinese (Takaki 185). Chinese immigrants were barred from naturalized citizenship, put under a status of racial inferiority like blacks and Indians as with “Like blacks, Chinese men were viewed as threats to white racial purity” (188). Then in 1882, due to economic contraction and racism Chinese were banned from entering the U.S. through the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese were targets of racial attacks, even with the enactment of the 1870 Civil Rights Act meaning equal protection under federal law thanks to Chinese merchants lobbying Congress. Chinese tradition and culture as well as U.S. condition and laws limited the migration of women. Due to all of this, Chinese found strength in ethnic solidarity as through the Chinese Six Companies, which is considered a racial project. Thanks to the earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco, the Chinese fought the discriminatory laws by claiming citizenship by birth since the fires
The Transcontinental Railroad was comprised of nearly eighteen hundred miles of track, much of which was laid by Chinese and Irish immigrants (Immigration 1). Chinese immigrants had settled in California during the Gold Rush but were not allowed to become full citizens (Immigration 1). With the need for labor to work on the railroad, the Chinese were hired, although at a lower rate of pay than Americans and other immigrants (Immigration 1). The Central Pacific Railroad had employed over twelve thousand Chinese workers by 1868. They even set a record, laying ten miles of railroad track in twelve hours (Immigration 1). Over twenty-five thousand Chinese immigrants settled in the United States in 1868 and 1869 and eventually obtained citizenship (Cultural 2). The Union Pacific Railroad employed mainly Irish immigrants, many of whom had served in the Civil War. After the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, many new immigrants settled in the western states and territories. Immigrants who came in through immigration stations, such as Ellis Island, used the Transcontinental Railroad to move to new western towns. The railroad advertised with the hope of attracting European, African, and Russian immigrants to populate small western towns along the
At the turn of the Twentieth Century America is one generation removed from the civil war. For African Americans times are supposed to be improving following the Reconstruction of the south and the ratification of the 15th amendment. Except, in actuality life is still extremely tough for the vast majority of African Americans. Simultaneously, the birthing of the industrial revolution is taking place in America and a clear social divide in daily livelihood and economic prosperity is forming across the country. This time is known as the Gilded Age because as the metaphor emphasizes, only a thin layer of wealth and prosperity of America’s elite robber barons is masking the immense amount of impoverished American laborers. Among the vast majority
Based on your viewing of "Gold Mountain Dreams," Becoming American: The Chinese Experience, what were the major factors that caused men to leave their villages in China and come to California and other parts of the United States? The major factors that caused Chinese men to leave their villages was because of a great flood that destroyed their villages in China and also at the time there was a civil war was going on that kilt 30 million people in there home land. These were the two main factors that drove young men leave head to the seaports to leave China. The men knew they had an obligation to their villages and families to provide and leaving China to go to America provided them the opportunity to take care of their families. There was
In the late nineteenth century, many European immigrants traveled to the United States in search of a better life and good fortune. The unskilled industries of the Eastern United States eagerly employed these men who were willing to work long hours for low wages just to earn their food and board. Among the most heavily recruiting industries were the railroads and the steel mills of Western Pennsylvania. Particularly in the steel mills, the working conditions for these immigrants were very dangerous. Many men lost their lives to these giant steel-making machines. The immigrants suffered the most and also worked the most hours for the least amount of money. Living conditions were also poor, and often these immigrants would barely have enough money and time to do anything but work, eat, and sleep. There was also a continuous struggle between the workers and the owners of the mills, the capitalists. The capitalists were a very small, elite group of rich men who held most of the wealth in their industries. Strikes broke out often, some ending in violence and death. Many workers had no political freedom or even a voice in the company that employed them. However, through all of these hardships, the immigrants continued their struggle for a better life.
One challenge that the immigrants face in this story is that they are thought of as inferior by Americans, or "demons" as they have begun to refer to them. Demons are not accepting of differences; therefore the Chinese are looked down upon, and don't get equal rights and privileges. For example, Moon Shadow's grandmother tells him that his father traveled to America to work as a laundryman before he was born. She tells Moon Shadow that gold, in the Land of the Golden Mountain, is everywhere and men can scoop it up by the bucket-full. When he asks why his father does not get enough gold to return home, his grandmother replies, "Demons roam the mountain up and down and they beat up any of our men who try to get the gold" (6). She mentions that they are allowed to take only a small pinch of it, and only if they do all of the hard, grueling labor that they are told to do. This quote proves that Chinese (Tang) people are belittled. They are forced to work like slaves. Good-paying jobs are very difficult for them to find. They must also be careful when choosing them. Moon Shadow states, "There was plenty of money to be made among the demons, but it was also dangerous" (1). This states that though there are many job opportunities in America, the lives of Chinese people are sometimes put at risk. This would almost certainly not have been the case if an American were to have the same job. This demonstrates the prejudice which exists against Tang men. The book also mentions that Americans often assume Chinese people are greedy, that they are after Americans' money.
The First Transcontinental Railroad: Central Pacific, Union Pacific. New York: Simmons-Boardman, 1950. Print. The. Lippincott. Lippincott's General Guide for Settlers in the United States: With Authentic Descriptions, from Official Sources, of the Climate, Soil, Products, Cost of Lands, Wages of Labour, Cost of Living, and Prices of Farm Animals as Products, in the Western and Southwestern States and Territories, and in Virginia, and of the Best Routes to and the Cost of Reaching the Districts Described 2nd Ed.
Non-Chinese laborers often required much higher wages to support their wives and children in the United
After the Gold Rush had concluded, Chinese immigrants were needed for employment such as, rail road construction and mining. The immigrants were accepted because they were hard workers. According to Schaefer (2015),
It was during this time that white workers would frequently take violent actions against the Chinese immigrants to secure white supremacy in “white jobs”. This act was justified by white, nativist, worker-unions of this time that felt the “Yellow Peril” were stealing their jobs in railroad construction. A nativist minister during the 1870’s gave this testimony during a Congressional hearing on Chinese
Kwong, Peter. 1999 “Forbidden Workers: Illegal Chinese Immigrants and American Labor” Publisher: The New Press.
There are many reasons as to why a person/ family leaves their homeland and immigrate to another country, these motivations are called push and pull factors. For the Chinese, the push factors include “hard economic conditions, partly due to high foreign taxes that bled the populace dry, land was lost due to debt, floods, starvation and Opium Wars” (Sweeney). Also some pull factors included “discovery of fold in California, prospect of working abroad temporarily, and a weak government” (Sweeney). Overall the pull factors promised economic and social prosperity, BUT for ten years, the United States had a Chinese Exclusion act of 1882, which denied labor and to the foreigners.