California History for Kids by Katy S. Duffield

Author:Katy S. Duffield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2012-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Central Pacific officials knew they had to do something. With so few workers, they would get little accomplished, and that meant little money would be made. Charles Crocker, one of the Central Pacific’s Big Four, made a decision: he would hire Chinese men to do the work.

Thousands of Chinese immigrants had come to California to search for gold. But Chinese life in the mines was difficult—even more difficult than it was for white miners. Not only did they face the physical labor of the mines, they also faced discrimination. Chinese were forced to pay mining and other taxes that white men did not, and they could not vote, become citizens, or attend public school in California. For the most part, white men treated them miserably.

When Crocker made the suggestion that they hire Chinese to work on the railroad, supervisors complained. They thought white workers would not work alongside the Chinese. They also believed Chinese men were too small and weak to perform the difficult labor on the lines. But Crocker held firm. He hired 50 Chinese men as an experiment.

It was soon evident that the Chinese could more than hold their own when performing railroad work. Charles Crocker’s brother wrote, “Without them it would be impossible to go on with the work. I can assure you the Chinese are moving the earth and rock rapidly. They prove nearly equal to white men in the amount of labor they perform, and are far more reliable.”

By 1868 more than 10,000 Chinese worked for the Central Pacific. Even with the praise they received, the Chinese continued to be discriminated against. While they earned about the same salary as the white workers, they had to set up their own housing and pay for their own food.

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