USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Between 1863-1869 the Central Pacific hired more than 13, 000 Chinese laborers to support the construction. It took the construction crews, comprised of 80% to 90% Chinese laborers, fifteen months to drill and blast through 1, 659 feet of rock to complete the Summit Tunnel at Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Detailed explanation-2: -Between 1865 and 1869, thousands of Chinese migrants toiled at a grueling pace and in perilous working conditions to help construct America’s first Transcontinental Railroad.

Detailed explanation-3: -“Chinese received 30-50 percent lower wages than whites for the same job and they had to pay for their own food stuffs, ” Chang says. “They also had the most difficult and dangerous work, including tunneling and the use of explosives. There is also evidence they faced physical abuse at times from some supervisors.

Detailed explanation-4: -Connecting the two American coasts made the economic export of Western resources to Eastern markets easier than ever before. The railroad also facilitated westward expansion, escalating conflicts between Native American tribes and settlers who now had easier access to new territories.