The Early Chinese Immigrants’Great Contribution to American Transcontinental Railway

Abstract： The paper focuses on the early Chinese immigrants’ contribution to the construction of the American Transcontinental Railway. In the middle of the 19th century， a tremendous number of Chinese immigrants came to America. They contributed a lot to the development of American railway. Through the introduction of the construction of Transcontinental Railway， the paper reached the conclusion—the construction of the railway is the most influential and essential in that the Transcontinental Railway unites the whole country and promotes the development of the western population， industry， agriculture and transportation.

Key words： Chinese immigrants， American railway construction， western exploration

I.Early Chinese immigrants and Their Contributions in the US

When gold was discovered in California in 1948， people from all over the world realized the west of America was a land full of fortune. From the middle 19th century to the early of 20th century， a tremendous number of Chinese people came to America. They were the early Chinese immigrants. In order to seek fortune， they explored a lot ofhydrargillite andcoal mines.From 1848 to 1853， gold production reached 1.2billion dollars， which was 2/3 of the total finance. This huge amount of money set the financial support of American following industry development. In addition， Chinese immigrants brought agriculture skills to America. Because most of them came from the south part of China， they’d mastered the essential skills of farming， irrigation， planting grains and fruits. They were hardworking and intelligent. They planted cotton， tobacco， sugarcane and so on. It increased the development of American agriculture. But compared to their contribution of railway， it is undeniable that the construction of railway was the most influential and essential contribution.

II.Brief introduction to the Transcontinental Railway

Throughout history， early Chinese immigrants built the most significant railway in America— the Transcontinental Railway. It is 4，850kilometers long. It starts from American east coast to the west coast， runs through the whole American continent， links almost every states together， and promotes the development of the western population， industry， agriculture and urbanization. Since that， there is no doubt that” the accomplishment of Transcontinental Railway is the most significant worldwide construction achievement in the 19th century.”

The construction of the Transcontinental Railway linked the east to the west， and united the whole America. It rendered farmers to keep making profits through selling their agricultural products， and fulfilled a wider range of people’s Gold Rush dream.Besides， after the Civil War， America was confronted with an acute separation problem ——the remote and undeveloped west states tended to separate from America. There’s no doubt thatthe indispensable way to solve these problems was the construction of Transcontinental Railway.

The foundation of Transcontinental Railway changed the poor transportation condition. It broke the distance limitation of carriage. On the other hand， the stable railway transportation saved more money than water transportation and shortened the time of long journey.

Transcontinental Railway was the essential requirement of the West Expansion.The accomplishment of Transcontinental Railway attracted people from all over the world to the fertile west land. From 1850 to 1890， thewest population leaped from 179，000 to 3，134，000. It was 16.5 times than before. Los Angeles， Denver， Seattle and Tacoma were established. Now theyplay important roles in the development of American modern society. Also， the Yellowstone National Park， Arches National Park， Grand Canyon etc. were exploited andthey contribute a lot toAmerican tourism， make America a beautiful country.

III.Chinese workers’ contribution to Transcontinental Railway

From 1860s， America entered “the Railway Time”， they began to build Transcontinental Railway. At the very beginning， American company employed white people， they thought Chinese were too weak to build railway. The construction company refused to employ any Chinese workers. At that time Chinese immigrants were trapped in severe racial discrimination. The west part of the railway had to go through the whole Sierra Nevadas which made of hard granite and had many deep valleys， waterfalls， glaciers and lakes. The situation was much more terrible beyond the imagination. At the very beginning， workers had to confront with 2100m high mountain， the first 40 miles were built in the depth of the incessant mountain. They must make 50 bridges and more than 10 tunnels. Besides， they had to face the extreme weather and hard working condition. In fact， soon after the start， a lot of workers chose to escape there and joined back to the Gold Rush team. The slow process made the company almost bankrupt. At that time， a huge number of Irish people joined the construction team. But they could not adapt the hard working condition， the extreme danger and severe exhaustion， either. The continues applying of a raise and low working efficiency led one of managers to suggest the employment of Chinese people.

To their surprise， Chinese people were intelligent and very hard-working. In 1865， the first group of Chinese people arrived at the workplace. They made camps， prepared meals and worked orderly and diligently， with no complain. Absolutely， they paved smooth railway quickly. Only 1000 Chinese workers completed 6975miles long San Fernando tunnel， which is the longest tunnel in the west. The acceptance of the harsh environment and working condition made American surprised and satisfied. Gradually， they changed their opinion of Chinese people. Soon managers decided to employ more and more Chinese workers. They even sent employees to the south of China in order to employ more Chinese workers. The most satisfying part was the payment， they only needed 30$ per month， it was not the half of local white people. No one asked for a raise. They contributed all of their energy to their work. So American companies employed 15，000 Chinese workers which was the 90% of all workers. They built a railway network through the whole country. From 1870 to 1900， the length of American transcontinental railway increased from 53，000miles to almost 200，000miles. It surpassed the total railway length in Europe， and took 1/3 of the whole world railway length.

In order to finish the significant railway， Chinese workers contributed not only sweat and energy， but also blood and even their lives. They gave up their growing-up motherland environment and went through a hemisphere to reach America. They endured the long-term discrimination and bias. At that time， Chinese workers accepted the hardest work in America， they worked as the longest-time worker in America， but received the lowest payment. They had to keep working in desert， even it was in hot summer. So far， people speak highly of early Chinese immigrants’ great railway contribution to America.“Without the efforts of the Chinese workers in the building of America’s railroads， our development and progress as a nation would have been delayed by years. Their toil in severe weather， cruel working conditions and for meager wages cannot be under appreciated. My sentiments and thanks go out to the entire Chinese-American community for its ancestors’ contribution to the building of this great Nation.” said Hon. John T. Doolittle， the U.S. House of Representatives.

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