USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -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-2: -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-3: -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.

Detailed explanation-4: -Chinese workers made a significant contribution to the construction of the first transcontinental railroad during the 1860s. Historians estimate 12, 000 Chinese immigrants worked for the Central Pacific Railroad, blasting tunnels and laying track from Sacramento, through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and into Utah.

Detailed explanation-5: -“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.