USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Altogether, the Central Pacific Railroad hired an estimated 12, 000 Chinese workers, some as young as 12. The Chinese workers, at that time the largest industrial workforce in American history, made up 90 percent of the Central Pacific’s total labor force.

Detailed explanation-2: -Less than two years later, almost 90 percent of the Central Pacific workforce was Chinese; the rest were of European-American descent, mostly Irish. At its highest point, between 10, 000 and 15, 000 Chinese were working on the Central Pacific, with perhaps as many as 20, 000 in total over time.

Detailed explanation-3: -Leland Stanford, president of Central Pacific, former California governor and founder of Stanford University, told Congress in 1865, that the majority of the railroad labor force were Chinese.

Detailed explanation-4: -One of the groups that literally took on the brunt of the work, were the Chinese laborers. Most of the Chinese workers, who numbered over 11, 000 by the end of the project, were employed by the Central Pacific Railroad building out of Sacramento, California. The use of Chinese labor started as an experiment.

Detailed explanation-5: -The number of Chinese workers on CP payrolls began increasing by the shipload. Several thousand Chinese men had signed on by the end of that year; the number rose to a high of 12, 000 in 1868, comprising at least 80% of the Central Pacific workforce.