An interesting article of the Chinese laborers who dug the tunnels by hand for the transcontinental railroad and the discrimination they faced, during and after. Great photos of some of the tunnels and other work.
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This is a very serious subject.... So why am I laughing?
The BBC is telling me that we spread Anglo-European culture across the nation and forgot about the Chinese laborers who built the track. Well if we have forgotten, then why is it in all the California history books? Or maybe the BBC has never read a California history book. But this is not the reason that I am laughing. I am also not laughing at the idea that the Irish Laborers who were treated poorly as they laid track on the eastern side of Promontory Point are completely forgotten in this article.
The reason that I am laughing is that the article was getting its information from the "director of research for Stanford's Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project (CRWNAP)". I assume that would be Stanford University, the university that was funded by the tremendous wealth of Leland Stanford, Sr., one of the partners that owned the Central Pacific Railroad. He got his wealth by cheating the U.S. government that paid for the Transcontinental Railroad, treating the laborers poorly, and gouging the farmers who needed to transport their products on the railroad.
Stephen Ambrose does a more thorough job of describing those Chinese laborers in his book: 'Nothing Like It In The World'.
@John in California posted:This is a very serious subject.... So why am I laughing?
The BBC is telling me that we spread Anglo-European culture across the nation and forgot about the Chinese laborers who built the track. Well if we have forgotten, then why is it in all the California history books? Or maybe the BBC has never read a California history book. But this is not the reason that I am laughing. I am also not laughing at the idea that the Irish Laborers who were treated poorly as they laid track on the eastern side of Promontory Point are completely forgotten in this article.
So what's your point? You do realize the article was written about the Chinese laborers, right? Not the Irish or the Mormons or anyone else? And it's not the definitive article on the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad?
Besides, the Irish were better paid and better fed, and obviously had the easier job laying track on the Great Plains, and not the Sierra.
@Scotie posted:An interesting article of the Chinese laborers who dug the tunnels by hand for the transcontinental railroad and the discrimination they faced, during and after. Great photos of some of the tunnels and other work.
Scotie,
Thank you for sharing this article. I think it is a good thing when historians and researchers take a deeper look into the past to unearth information that might have been lost, under-emphasized, or even distorted into historical myths that somehow became enshrined as fact. History is and has been written by human beings, and I haven't met one human being yet who is bias-free--whether for good or bad. Maybe that's why history is written and then rewritten all the time.
Now take a look at the story of "Duffy's Cut" on the PRR mainline outside of Philly for a look at some of the prejudice and exploitation the Irish railroad workers faced decades before the Transcontinental. And yes, some of these Irish workers were exploited and brutalized by other Irish--because history isn't just black and white, us vs. them. It's very messy!
John
