USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Chinese peasants from the Canton Province began arriving on California’s shores in 1850, pushed by poverty and overpopulation from their homeland-and pulled forward by rumors of the Gum Sham, the Mountain of Gold, that awaited them across the ocean.

Detailed explanation-2: -Central Pacific Railroad, American railroad company founded in 1861 by a group of California merchants known later as the “Big Four” (Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker); they are best remembered for having built part of the first American transcontinental rail line.

Detailed explanation-3: -About 10, 000 to 15, 000 Chinese workers came to the United States to build the Central Pacific Railroad. Chinese workers found some economic opportunity but also experienced hostility, racism, violence, and legal exclusion. Many came as single men; others left families behind.

Detailed explanation-4: -Most of them were Chinese workers who were paid less for their labor than their European counterparts. Chinese migrants worked in the Sierra foothills for the Central Pacific Railroad. For years, railroad workers were largely overlooked in memorial events marking the railroad’s completion.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Central Pacific Railroad, which was tasked with constructing the western half of the Transcontinental Railroad, began hiring Chinese workers in 1864 after facing a labor shortage that jeopardized the railroad’s completion.