Most of them were Chinese workers who were paid less for their labor than their European counterparts. Chinese workers building a cut and a bank at Sailor's Spur in the Sierra foothills for the Central Pacific Railroad in California, 1866. On May 10, 1869, the two railroads were to meet at Promontory, Utah in front of a cheering crowd and a band. In 1862, the United States Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Acts, a group of acts that would promote the building of a cross-country railroad system. California laws prevented them from being admitted as witnesses in court, voting, and becoming naturalized citizens. It’s been 150 years since two railroads were joined together to form the first Transcontinental Railroad. The labor of Chinese workers was instrumental to the transcontinental railroad’s construction. Journalist Jedidiah Hotchkiss wrote about black railroad workers in 1873: The great race to Promontory: the 150th anniversary of driving the Golden Spike. Railroad maps, 1828 to 1900. By Manu Karuka (Berkeley, University of California Press, 2019) 318 pp. “Hell on Wheels” was an itinerant tent city that included a collection of gambling houses, dance halls, saloons, and brothels that moved from place to place in the 1860s as it followed the army of Union Pacific railroad workers who were constructing the First Transcontinental Railroad in North America. At first railroad companies were reluctant to hire Chinese workers, but the immigrants soon proved to be vital. Chinese workers were included for the first time in the annual reenactment of the driving of the Golden Spike. Mapping the First Transcontinental Railroad; Alfred A. Hart Photos; Oral Histories of Chinese Railroad Worker Families; Native Americans and the Railroad; Pacific Railroad Surveys ; Maps of the Railroads; Maps of Theodore Judah; Browse; About; Search in. "The Transcontinental Railroad was a tremendous feat of engineering, innovation and manpower that was key to unleashing the economic prosperity of the United States for generations," US Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, whose parents are of Chinese descent, said Friday in a reenactment of the ceremony at Golden Spike National Historic Park in Promontory, Utah. As they built the railroad, the Union Pacific workers faced many struggles with the Native Americans. Workers are terrified, work has ground to a halt and the railroad is in danger of slipping behind schedule. The Transcontinental Railroad Was Initiated During the Civil War. They are given names, family lives, homes, spiritual beliefs, and agency. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies along a continuous route. Perfect for SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS, enrichment learning, homeschool or co-ops!The buildin . The anniversary was an occasion to commemorate "the contribution and sacrifices of the railroad workers," including the estimated 12,000-15,000 Chinese laborers "who risked everything to make the Transcontinental Railroad a reality," Chao said. "The long-awaited The Chinese and the Iron Road makes visible the previously invisible Chinese railroad workers who built America's first transcontinental railroad. Despite Chinese workers' contributions to building America’s historic infrastructure project, Chang says their history is often forgotten. The Transcontinental Railroad | Article Tunneling in the Sierra Nevada Getting through the Sierra Nevada would require fortitude, technology — and the sacrifice of many workers' lives. 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More Chinese immigrants began arriving in California, and two years later, about 90 percent of the workers were Chinese. All Rights Reserved. Jobs and Conditions Other than work on constructing the raiload, some Chinese were imported as cooks, house boys, gardeners, and laundrymen. They directed attention "to the business people, political people who were prominent at the time," Chang told the Salt Lake Tribune. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Photo by courtesy of Amon Carter Museum of American Art Archives, Fort Worth, TX [ link] Chinese laborers made up a majority of the Central Pacific workforce that built out the transcontinental railroad east from California. Irish workers were central to building the first transcontinental railroad in the United States between 1863 and 1869, yet their story is largely untold. They were forced to move away from the railroad despite it running through Indian Territory. Bloody battles resulted from the railroad's appearance in these peoples lands. The Transcontinental Railroad was built between 1863 and 1869 from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Francisco, CA. Recognition of many of the civil engineers that have been forgotten by history will be part of the event. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Dec 1, 2014 - Explore Michael Smith's board "Transcontinental Railroad 1869" on Pinterest. The transcontinental railroad has been viewed in a similarly nationalistic way ever since. The vast number of people who traveled the line, and the complex web of connecting routes that followed, set the USA on the path to economic abundance. Search Constraints. A railroad worker ultimately drove the final spike at 12:47 p.m. on May 10, 1869. The majority of historical records related to individual railroad workers have, unfortunately, not survived; those that have will generally be found in historical record collections of each individual railroad company, sometimes scattered across multiple repositories in several states. Friday marked the sesquicentennial of the Golden Spike Ceremony on May 10, 1869, in what was then Utah Territory where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads were joined. The Transcontinental Railroad. At any given time, between ten thousand and twelve thousand Chinese workers were employed on the project, largely by Central Pacific. The transcontinental railroad. The labor of Chinese workers was instrumental to the transcontinental railroad’s construction. Library of Congress. Without the work of these immigrants, the Transcontinental Railroad might have never been built. The growing market on the West Coast increased American economic demand and political will for a transcontinental railroad. Labor on the Transcontinental Railroad The majority of the Union Pacific track heading westward was built by Irish laborers, by Mormons who constructed much of the track in Utah, and after the war by veterans of the Union and Confederate armies. search for Search. 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. The spikes were symbols of the "elites" who presided over the ceremony," Stanford University history professor Gordon Chang. No need to register, buy now! In 1869, the ceremonial “golden spike” was driven in at Promontory Summit, Utah, which is near where we gathered. Workers lived in The acts were officially signed into law in July of that year by President Abraham Lincoln. Which group of workers filled labor shortages to build the transcontinental railroad before the end of the Civil War? A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association. A Native American man looking at the Central Pacific Railroad, about 1869. Working conditions improved following the strike. Ging Cui, Wong Fook, and Lee Shao, three of the eight Chinese workers who put the last rail in place, on a float at the 50th Anniversary celebration of the completion of the transcontinental railroad in Ogden, Utah. After calling it the Pacific Railroad for a time, this railway system was later dubbed the First Transcontinental Railroad. The railroad companies contributed to the development of the West by selling low-cost parcels of their western land for farming. UNION PACIFIC - History and photos of the Union Pacific. The transcontinental railroad. In the 1800’s the railroad was seen as one of the best things and also one of the worst things that took place in the US. “In January 1865, convinced that Chinese workers were capable, the railroad hired 50 Chinese workers and then 50 more,” the Project notes. died under landslides and heavy snowfalls before the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. Chinese laborers at work on construction for the railroad built across the Sierra Nevada Mountains, circa 1870s. On the railway, the Irish were seen as hard workers, but also known for going on strike and drinking too much. “Many books on the railroad focus on the Big Four and the barons of the UP,” he says. I asked Dr. Manu Karuka, American Studies scholar and author of Empire’s Tracks: Indigenous Nations, Chinese Workers, and the Transcontinental Railroad, about the impact of the railroad on Indigenous peoples and nations. Chinese camp and construction train in Nevada when building of the first transcontinental railroad was being speeded across the state by the Central Pacific. A Murder Changed That. After the railroad was built, it took about seven days and as little as $65 to ride from New York to San Francisco. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The strike ended without pay parity after Central Pacific cut off food, transportation and supplies to the Chinese living in camps, but, Chang says, the strike was not held in vain. Home; Search Results; Search. “They scared the pants off the company leaders,” he says. “The Irish (who made up the majority of the Union Pacific workforce which was laying tracks westward from Omaha, Neb.) Nearly all of the white workers were in supervisory or skilled craft positions and made more money than the Chinese. Courtesy of Library of Congress. Stanford University. A Native American man looking at the Central Pacific Railroad, about 1869.