Chinese Immigration In The 1800s
When looking back to the history of immigration, there were always huge differences because of the different areas and special periods. Sometimes it seemed like a flood; people were trying to escape quickly. Sometimes it also seemed like a trickle when most of the people did not want to leave their motherland. No matter why those immigrants came or whatever their goals were, there was only one reason. The reason was because America had something they wanted or they did not have. It could be about a large ship full of adventurous people; they were trying to gain new opportunities in America. It could be about people from the East; they were going to seek gold and silver in these wild lands. Or it could be about thousands or more than thousands
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The major ones were the severe draft in Henan Province in 1847, the flooding of the Yangtze River in the four provinces of Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. Then two years later, a famine struck Guangxi. As a result, the flood and famine gave way to the catastrophic Taiping Revolution (1850-1864), which devastated the land, uprooted the peasantry. The revolution disrupted the land and the peasantry politically and economically. Without the lands, farmers were unable to live anymore. The disaster and revolution killed most peasants, which is what forced the remaining ones to …show more content…
The construction of the transcontinental railroad absorbed a large number of Chinese. Because of the disasters, wars and all kinds of worse conditions, the immigrants were willing to do anything. After the end of the U.S. Civil War, the U.S. government could once again devote its attention to the construction of the transcontinental railroad. “The eastern part of the railroad was contracted to the Union Pacific Railroad to build westward from the Missouri River, and the western part of the railroad to the Central Pacific Railroad Company. In February 1865, fifty Chinese workers were hired by the Central Pacific Railroad Company as an experiment. The Chinese workers did such great jobs; they proved to be effective and reliable workers, so the company began to hire more Chinese. During the peak time of the construction, the Central Pacific Railroad Company hired twelve thousand Chinese, representing 90 percent of its entire workforce. Chinese immigrants gained plenty of opportunities in the United
The major ones were the severe draft in Henan Province in 1847, the flooding of the Yangtze River in the four provinces of Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. Then two years later, a famine struck Guangxi. As a result, the flood and famine gave way to the catastrophic Taiping Revolution (1850-1864), which devastated the land, uprooted the peasantry. The revolution disrupted the land and the peasantry politically and economically. Without the lands, farmers were unable to live anymore. The disaster and revolution killed most peasants, which is what forced the remaining ones to …show more content…
The construction of the transcontinental railroad absorbed a large number of Chinese. Because of the disasters, wars and all kinds of worse conditions, the immigrants were willing to do anything. After the end of the U.S. Civil War, the U.S. government could once again devote its attention to the construction of the transcontinental railroad. “The eastern part of the railroad was contracted to the Union Pacific Railroad to build westward from the Missouri River, and the western part of the railroad to the Central Pacific Railroad Company. In February 1865, fifty Chinese workers were hired by the Central Pacific Railroad Company as an experiment. The Chinese workers did such great jobs; they proved to be effective and reliable workers, so the company began to hire more Chinese. During the peak time of the construction, the Central Pacific Railroad Company hired twelve thousand Chinese, representing 90 percent of its entire workforce. Chinese immigrants gained plenty of opportunities in the United