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Gold rush history essays
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Native Americans Now I’m gonna talk about the Nez Perce, a Native American tribe. The Nez Perce lived in parts of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington.The settlers were farming in their land, and the government wanted to trade some land with them.They didn’t want to move,they ran,war started,and eventually they surrendered.That’s the sad story of the Nez Perce.
Chinese Immigrants
Now I’m going to tell you about the Chinese Immigrants.So,in 1851,news of gold in California reached China.Immigrants flooded into America.The Chinese had it rough in China,and they wanted to bring some gold back to their families.Most of the gold was gone.Lots of the Immigrants helped build the first transcontinental railroad.They were paid less than the American
An astounding number of about 16,000 Cherokees were gathered and involuntarily placed into camps when they refused to sign the treaties.... ... middle of paper ... ... Thus, conquering the humans and keeping their home.
And so thousands of Chinese flocked from China to America, in search for work in the gold mines. After the profits from gold mining decreased because most of the easily obtainable gold had been found, an estimated 10,000 Chinese left the mines and were in search of jobs. From independent miners who had worked for themselves, many Chinese immigrants now became wage earners who worked for bosses. A growing number of Chinese were working in businesses owned by whites. But earning wages instead of prospecting did not discourage Chinese from moving to America. A paycheck of up to $30 could be made working for the railroad, which was 10 times as much than could be earned in China.
In this paper by Scott Alan Carson, Carson writes about Chinese Sojourn Labor. Carson writes how institutional arrangements and labor market forces that interacted in the construction of America’s railroad led to the demand for Chinese Laborers. Carson writes more about these relationships and the work given to the Chinese than writing about the more personal details of the workers. For instance, Carson writes that because of land grants given by the government Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads earned more capital by completing more railway tracks. Carson also writes how the Chinese did the jobs no one else wanted to do, and they did them for lesser wages. Therefore, Carson writes specifically about the work of the Chinese and the factors that caused the hiring of Chinese more so than the personal aspects of the workers.
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
One particular ethnic group that suffered severe discrimination was the Chinese people. They first came to America for several reasons. One of them was the gold rush in California in 1849, in which they were included in a group of immigrants called the “Forty-Niners” (179). From gold mining, they switched to other jobs with resulted in the rise of anti-Chinese sentiments. People felt that Chinese people were taking the jobs away from them, because Chinese people worked for much smaller salaries that businesses preferred. This mindset gave way to the creation of The Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882, which prohibits more Chinese immigrants from coming to America. In addition, the act states “no State or court of the United States shall admit Chinese to citizenship”. Like the Naturalization Act, the Chinese Exclusion Act was created to hinder Chinese people from becoming citizens so that America could remain homogenously white (186). It also aimed to stop Chinese people from establishing a bigger community in the country in hopes of eliminating the threat of competition to their white counterparts (186). Like African-Americans, Chinese people were considered racially inferior and have struggled to prove that they were worthy to be called true Americans, rather than
A young Apache at the time, Geronimo set out one day with his family from their homeland, which is now located in southeastern Arizona, on a trading mission into Mexico. Many other families also went with him. The men went into town to trade each day, leaving their families behind. On this momentous evening, they returned home to find that Mexican soldiers had ferociously attacked their camp. They had murdered their women and children and stolen their supplies and horses.
American objections to Chinese immigration took many forms, and generally stemmed from economic and cultural tensions, as well as ethnic discrimination. Most Chinese laborers who came to the United States did so in order to send money back to China to support their families there. At the same time, they also had to repay loans to the Chinese merchants who paid their passage to America. These financial pressures left them little choice but to work for whatever wages they could.
Gold Rush 1849 was the reason for such a frenzy. It caused people to migrate to California from near and far too dig for gold from the river. According to the film, The Chinese Exclusion Act Explained: US History Review, “This attracted Chinese entrepreneurs to try to make it rich”. The Chinese was one of the cultures that was one of the cultures that left their home to find a better life for their families. However, after being greeted in the United States, they were discriminated against them since they were feared by the Europeans. Racism towards the Chinese immigrant caused a lot of hardship on them in the Western civilization, enabling them to enter or exit without returning to the States.
As gold discoveries slowed down and the Civil War gradually came to an end, the First Transcontinental Railroad was finally completed between Omaha and Sacramento. Over time, unemployment began rising across the country, especially in California, where a vast majority of Chinese immigrants resided in. The welcoming of Chinese immigrants slowly began to wear off as the white working class perceived a threat to their livelihood that these immigrants could potentially cause, leading to an increase in racial tensions. These growing tensions culminated in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and eventually closed U.S. borders to all Chinese laborers, with the exception of ethnic Chinese individuals. This paper highlights the significant impact of large-scale Chinese immigration to California during the Gold Rush, the lasting contributions made by the Chinese towards Western ...
in large groups on the West Coast between 1850s and 1860s to work in the gold mines and railroads. They encountered a very strong opposition violent as riots and physical attacks forced them out of the gold mines (citation needed). The Central Pacific railroad hired thousands.But after the line was finished in 1869 they were hounded out of many railroad towns in states such as Wyoming and Nevada. “Most wound up in Chinatowns or areas of large cities which the police largely ignored. The Chinese were further alleged to be "coolies" and were said to be not suitable for becoming independent thoughtful voters because of their control by tongs. “The same negative reception hit the Asians who migrated to Mexico and Canada”.
One such instance was with Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce Tribe. Chief Joseph refused to sign treaties with the government and after some rogue tribesmen attacked some white settlers, he and his tribe tried to flee to Canada but were caught and forced onto a reservation. The battle of Little Bighorn is also known as Custer’s last stand was also a prime example of the cruelty towards the Native Americans. The battle of Little Bighorn took place in 1876 in Montana. The government was falling back on a treaty they signed with the Sioux and Cheyenne Tribes. They were already placed onto a reservation, but when gold was discovered on the reservation Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer was sent to trap them and then wait for backup to force the Native American’s from the land. Custer disobeyed orders and attacked instead. Chief Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull of the Sioux tribes knew of the plan and set a trap for the army regiment and killed all of them. This battle was one of the greatest victories for the Native
The Chinese people first immigrated to Canada in hopes of making a fortune to bring back to their homeland. Many of the first Chinese immigrants left in the 1860s because of the decaying Fraser River Gold Rush; the reason why the Chinese moved there in the first place. Building the Canadian Pacific railway required many people, something not available at the time. Many workers came from the United States, where they constructed the Union Pacific Railway. Canadians grew displeased by the growing amount of Chinese immigrants, who they felt lived far too differently. This was the start of the racism and hatred for the Chinese. Although the Chinese Pioneers were critical contributors to the advancement of Canadian society, they were never perceived in that way.
Expanding the American West and the United States’ industrial revolution brought immigrants to our shores. In the 1850’s the Chinese began to show up in large numbers shortly after gold was discovered in California in 1848. Oversight from the Federal Government of immigration began in 1182. Congress passed the Immigration Act and this act brought about the gathering of fees from each non-citizen that arrived at the U.S port and was to utilized by the Treasury Department to control immigration, when immigrants were typically tested to ascertain whether they are suitable for or could be trusted and if they were thought to be a convict, crazy. Stupid or if they couldn’t care for themselves entry was prohibited. Between 1880 and 1930 there were over 27 million new immigrants that had arrived they came from Italy, Germany, Eastern Europe, Russia, Britain, Canada, Ireland, and Sweden. This period was the largest immigration period and made way for new restrictions. The enlargement of racial exclusion and by overriding the presidential veto Congress was able to pass the 1917 Immigration Act that did not allow immigration from and Asiatic barred zone which included British, India, and most of Southeast Asia and almost all of the Middle East and prohibited admission on the grounds of anarchists, and people previously deported, also
Many people today know the story of the Indians that were native to this land, before “white men” came to live on this continent. Few people may know that white men pushed them to the west while many immigrants took over the east and moved westward. White men made “reservations” that were basically land that Indians were promised they could live on and run. What many Americans don’t know is what the Indians struggled though and continue to struggle through on the reservations.
...xperienced harsh discrimination and even legal exclusion from our country. They were blamed for the lack of job opportunities and low pay of jobs and received extremely unfair treatment that labeled them as an inferior race. However, the inter-ethnic tension blinded us from seeing how the immigrants were contributing to our country in positive ways. They not only created economic and social gains for us, but also opened our minds to a whole new way of life and prepared us for the multicultural years to come. With all of the help and modernization that they contributed to our country, the racism and discrimination that the Chinese immigrants received day-in and day-out was not rightly justified or deserved.