It’s 150 years since Chinese migrants were brought in to build the Transcontinental Railroad

[yuiyoshida]

The greatest engineering feat of the 19th century began in 1863, when the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads broke ground. Two years later, contractors began hiring large numbers of Chinese migrants, many from California, to help with the monumental construction project.

In July 1865, the Central Pacific imported the first major group of Chinese workers from China. They were sent to the Sierra Nevadas, where they worked around-the-clock to build 13 tunnels through the mountains. By 1867, 8,000 men were building tunnels and another 3,000 were laying track.

Working conditions were brutal and racism was rampant. In 1867, several thousand Chinese workers went on strike, demanding a pay raise from $35 to $40 a month and an eight-hour work day. The management starved the workers by cutting off food trains, and the strike ended unsuccessfully.

Unsurprisingly, white workers held almost all management positions and made more than their Chinese counterparts. When an Irish railroad worker killed a Chinese man in Texas, his case was dismissed because the judge could find no law that prohibited the killing of Chinese people. According to state law, only killing whites, African Americans and Mexicans was illegal.



http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2015/05/26/150-years-chinese-migrants-were-brought-in-to-build-the-transcontinental-railroad/