USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The building of the Transcontinental Railroad relied on the labor of thousands of migrant workers, including Chinese, Irish, and Mormons workers. On the western portion, about 90% of the backbreaking work was done by Chinese migrants.

Detailed explanation-2: -Beginning in 1863, the Union Pacific, employing more than 8, 000 Irish, German, and Italian immigrants, built west from Omaha, Nebraska; the Central Pacific, whose workforce included over 10, 000 Chinese laborers, built eastward from Sacramento, California.

Detailed explanation-3: -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-4: -While Chinese workers dominated the railroad workforce in the West, most eastern and southern railroad companies relied on Black Americans to do the back-breaking construction work.

Detailed explanation-5: -They had to face dangerous work conditions – accidental explosions, snow and rock avalanches, which killed hundreds of workers, not to mention frigid weather. “All workers on the railroad were ‘other’, ” said Liebhold. “On the west, there were Chinese workers, out east were Irish and Mormon workers were in the center.