USA HISTORY

RECONSTRUCTION 1865 1877

TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
The Union Pacific Railroad hired immigrants from ____
A
Ireland
B
Italy
C
Germany
D
France
E
China
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Beginning in 1863, the Union Pacific, employing more than 8, 000 Irish, German, and Italian immigrants, built west from Omaha, NE; the Central Pacific, whose workforce included over 10, 000 Chinese laborers, built eastward from Sacramento, CA.

Detailed explanation-2: -Most of the early workers were Irish immigrants. Railroad work was hard, and management was chaotic, leading to a high attrition rate. The Central Pacific management puzzled over how it could attract and retain a work force up to the enormous task.

Detailed explanation-3: -In February, 1865, the Central Pacific decided to try a new labor pool. Charles Crocker, chief of construction persuaded his company to employ Chinese immigrants, arguing that the people who build the Great Wall of China and invented gunpowder could certainly build a railroad.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Central Pacific began laying track eastward from Sacramento, California, in 1863, and the Union Pacific started westward from Omaha, Nebraska, two years later. To meet its manpower needs, the Central Pacific hired thousands of Chinese labourers, including many recruited from farms in Canton.

Detailed explanation-5: -The construction of the Transcontinental Railroad was an engineering feat of human endurance, with the western leg built largely by thousands of immigrant Chinese laborers. The building of the Transcontinental Railroad relied on the labor of thousands of migrant workers, including Chinese, Irish, and Mormons workers.

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