WESTWARD EXPANSION INDUSTRIALIZATION URBANIZATION 1870 1900
IMMIGRATION IN INDUSTRIAL AMERICA
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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working on the railroad starting in the East.
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working on the railroad starting in the West.
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working in factories in the East.
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working in factories in the West.
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Detailed explanation-1: -Irish immigrants often entered the workforce at the bottom of the occupational ladder and took on the menial and dangerous jobs that were often avoided by other workers. Many Irish American women became servants or domestic workers, while many Irish American men labored in coal mines and built railroads and canals.
Detailed explanation-2: -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-3: -Irish immigrants were the primary early builders of the Central Pacific Railroad. Management of the initial railroad work was not very inspirational, and pay was not exactly high; as a result, many Irish workers walked off the job.
Detailed explanation-4: -Three thousand Irish immigrants work mainly on the Union Pacific line going West to East. In 1866, 3, 000 Chinese are hired and soon make up 75% of the Central Pacific (West to East) workforce of 10, 000 to 12, 000 men.