Chinese Immigrants In America

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Chinese were flooding into America quite literally by the boatload through one of America's largest states, California. The Chinese immigrants were discriminated against by the white men of America. The Chinese came between 1862-1965 because of the open jobs and the Gold Rush. One would think all these hard workers would be good for a young America, but Chinese immigrants were taking the jobs of Americans, particularly in the mining and railroad industries. According to Daniel Walker Howe, the forty-niners were afraid of large slave owners coming in and taking over their prospects because slaves are almost free labor so the large slave owners would be at an advantage against individual prospectors. Similarly, “The same fear of the competition of cheap gang labor also appeared in the vicious persecution of Chinese ‘coolies’ after 1852.” The United States was in an economic depression, which caused Americans to …show more content…

The route of the transcontinental railroad not only had to go across rivers and canyons, which had to be bridged, but also through two mountain ranges (the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains) where tunnels had to be created. Working on the railroad was dirty work and many white workers would not step up to the task, but Chinese workers on the other hand were tough and up for any work that involves payment. The Chinese workers were treated like animals by their “managers”. They were also not feed properly and tremendously under paid.
All in all the “attacks” on Chinese immigration still left damage between the two countries. In conclusion Chinese immigrants were taking the jobs of Americans, particularly in the mining and railroad industries. The United States was in an economic depression, which caused Americans to want to disallow immigrants from working or entering the country. The Chinese Exclusion act made many wounds in Chinese American history but, overtime these wounds

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