How Did 20,000 Chinese Migrants Made The US Railroads
Building the Transcontinental Railroad: How 20,000 Chinese Immigrants Made It Happen Lesley Kennedy Updated: Apr 28, 2022 Original: May 10, 2019 Bettmann Archive/Getty Images At first railroad companies were reluctant to hire Chinese workers, but the immigrants soon proved to be vital. They toiled through back-breaking labor during both frigid winters and blazing summers. Hundreds died from explosions, landslides, accidents and disease. And even though they made major contributions to the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad , these 15,000 to 20,000 Chinese immigrants have been largely ignored by history. Looking back, historians say, the Chinese, who began arriving in the United States in significant numbers during the California Gold Rush of 1848-1855, were deemed too weak for the dangerous, strenuous job of building the railroad east from California. Hilton Obenzinger, associate director of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford University, says...
