The Railroad and the Immigrants Who Helped Build It - Assignment Example

 The Railroad and the Immigrants Who Helped Build It The railroads have commonly been considered a negative influence on the lives of many of those associated with the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. People commonly believe that the railroads introduced nothing but pain, misery and a level of existence akin to slavery for those brought into the country to work on laying the tracks. However, the railroads also provided many immigrants with a chance for honest work and decent pay, giving them a chance at a new life in a country that was otherwise very restrictive in the types of jobs that could be had. While the general impression has always been that the railroads did little more than destroy those who came to work on them, the railroad also created many new opportunities for minority groups, such as the Chinese and the Irish, seeking new beginnings in the modern world. Like the indentured servants of the European nations that had arrived more than a century earlier, the young men of China flocked to the call for workers along America’s great railroad, envisioning a world in which a man could make his own way and have plenty of space in which to raise a family. According to Williams (1988), by 1865 there were already nearly 50,000 Chinese immigrants living in California, most working in servant capacities such as cooks and launderers, but several operating as merchants and miners. Robert West Howard (1962) indicates that the Chinese were treated nearly as badly as the Indians within the cities and towns of California. They were prevented from entering numerous professions, could not testify in court, were denied citizenship status and, by 1858, banned by the California legislature from entering the state. The development of such places as San Francisco’s famous Chinatown was the result of such community-wide ostracism, in which many Chinese immigrants could find support and employment only through serving their own race or taking highly subservient and ultimately powerless positions in the white world. Despite this, by the end of 1865, more than 7,000 Chinese workers were employed on the Central Pacific railroad line, perhaps as a last resort to supporting themselves. The harsh conditions and high mortality rate suggest working on the railroads was not the first option of many. Perhaps merely because of their willingness to do whatever was necessary, the Chinese were often sent in for the most dangerous assignments. They were sent in specially woven baskets over the edge of Cape Horn to set blasting powder into the cliff face and “scrambled up the lines while gunpowder exploded underneath” (Chinn, 1969, 45). It was also predominantly the Chinese who were the ones to set and ignite the experimental and highly volatile nitroglycerin in trying to get through the Sierras, several of whom were blown into nothingness when the charges went off earlier than scheduled or failed to go off at all until workers returned to the field and accidentally struck a spark near an unblown setting. During the winters, they endured crushing snows and bitter cold on the lines. In 1866-67, “the Chinese lived practically entirely out of sight of the sky that winter, their shacks largely buried in snow. They dug chimneys and air shafts and lived by lantern light. They tunneled their way from the camps to the portal of the tunnel to work long underground shifts. A remarkable labyrinth developed under the snow” (Chinn, 1969, 45). During this and other winters working on the lines, numerous Chinese were killed by caved in tunnels, avalanches, exposure to cold and starvation when supplies were not able to make it up the mountainsides. At least one report indicates the reason for this tremendous effort was not the result of an inherent stupendous work ethic, but rather could be found in the volatile personality of James Harvey Strobridge, the Irish construction boss on the Central Pacific. George Kraus (1969), indicates the Chinese workers “feared him in their hearts as much as they did the Chinese devil” (134). However, things were not all bad for the Chinese. Within their own organization, there is a very positive picture painted of the Chinese railroad worker’s life in which they were able to enjoy a great deal of independence, health and wellness not typically experienced by their counterparts of other races. Because of the language barriers between the mostly Cantonese Chinese and their English-speaking or, occasionally, Mandarin-speaking white bosses, the Chinese work crews were typically organized under a single Chinese crew boss and a Chinese cook. Having brought as much of their home diet with them as possible, the Chinese menu is cited as consisting of “dried oysters, abalone and cuttlefish, dried bamboo sprouts and mushrooms, five kinds of vegetables, pork, poultry, vermicelli, rice, salted cabbage, dried seaweed, sweet rice, crackers, sugar, four kinds of dried fruit, Chinese bacon, peanut oil and tea” (Lavender, 1970, 180). This well-balanced diet, complete with tea made of boiled water, as compared to the beef and potatoes with dirty water consumed by the white workers went a long way toward keeping the Celestials healthy and was the direct result of the work crew being allowed a certain degree of autonomy from the rest of the gang. . For many Chinese, the railroads, despite the incredible risks to life and limb, were the ticket to a new life, whether in America or back in their own country. According to Ambrose (2000), most of the Chinese managed to save the money they earned working the lines and several went back to China when the final spike was driven, using the money they earned to build a new and comfortable life back in China. Those who stayed were able to find new jobs building lines west of the Rocky Mountains, where they had already gained a strong reputation for their expertise and work ethic while “many settled in California, where they raised families and became an important part of the population” (Ambrose, 2000, 164-165). Thus, the railroad not only gave the Chinese a means of earning a living despite crushing racism in other parts of the country, but continued to re-educate the country regarding the nature of these people, who lived such clean, healthful and respectable lives, particularly as compared to many of the whites of the time. A great deal of understanding regarding the building of the railroads commonly holds that the Irish immigrants working the rails were treated slightly better than the Chinese, but were still the victims of atrocious working conditions that led to high mortality rates and deep suffering. The work consisted of “bending, digging, shoveling, throwing the dirt up on the embankment, bringing in the ballast by the cartload and dumping it … This was work fit to break a man’s back, and they did it for $3 or so per day, plus board” (Ambrose, 2000, 118). Most of the Irishmen hired by Crocker to work on the Central Pacific were newly arrived immigrants hired in New York or Boston and shipped to the west. As workers, they left little to recommend them. Most of the Irishmen shipped west by Crocker at the expense of his railroad quickly gathered their arrival meal and then packed off for the mountains in search of gold or silver. Those who remained behind to work the railroads, whether in Crocker’s outfit or on the Union Pacific, were associated with rowdiness, drunkenness, gambling and numerous other forms of debauchery. “Their chief entertainment came from getting drunk, getting laid, and losing all their money to gamblers” (Ambrose, 2000, 217). This led to many new developments that had negative effects upon the western frontier. Like the Chinese, though, the Irish were present on the railroads on a voluntary basis. As has been suggested in the reported characteristics of Chinese workers, the presence of another minority race on the railways instantly elevated the status of the Irish workers simply based on the fact that they were white and communicated in English. The celebrated Casement Army, for example, was made up primarily of hand-picked Irishmen, “strong, hardworking men who could and would learn a job and stick to it with military precision and discipline” (Williams, 1988, 124). The better jobs during the construction phase were reserved for the Irishmen working the lines. Despite the general avoidance of hiring Irishmen to lay new track following the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, it was predominantly the Irishmen who remained working for the railroads after they’d been completed. They took up positions in a variety of places. Williams offers a partial list of available positions including “firemen, brakemen, engineers, conductors, mechanics, welders, carpenters, repair-shop men, the clerical force (male and female), the foremen, directors, supervisors” (Williams, 1988, 378). For many, though, the formation of families and communities upon the rails fostered a stronger sense of unity and helped to reduce a great degree of the violence and hostility that had been experienced in the railroad’s earlier years. As generation followed generation into the business, Williams suggests “these are the people who make up the force that made the modern railroad. They repair it, improve it, take care of it, make sure the damn things run. More than in almost all other professions, railroading is something a family is proud of and wants to remain a part of” (Williams, 1988, 378). While the Chinese continued to work for the railroads for a while, it was ultimately the Irishmen who remained attached. References Ambrose, Stephen E. 2000. Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869. New York: Simon & Schuster. Chinn, Thomas W. (Ed.). 1969. A History of the Chinese in California: A Syllabus. San Francisco, CA: Chinese Historical Society of America. Howard, Robert West. 1962. The Great Iron Trail: The Story of the First Transcontinental Railroad. New York: Bonanza Books. Kraus, George. 1969. High Road to Promontory. Palo Alto, CA: American West Publishing Company. Lavender, David. 1970. The Great Persuader. New York: Doubleday. Williams, John Hoyt. 1988. A Great and Shining Road: The Epic Story of the Transcontinental Railroad. New York: Times Books (Random House). Read More