The Rumbling in the Mines
Chinese Immigration in the 1800s
By: Brett, Garrett, and Rachel
Vocabulary Words
Sojourners - One who temporarily
resides in an area, like the
Chinese did in the United
States.
Scapegoat - One that is made to
bear the blame of others.
Distrust at the Mines
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American workers planned a strike
Railroad company would fire the English
and Irish workers if plan continued
When the strike started as planned, the
company brought in Chinese workers to
replace the strikers and made it very clear
that no future work stoppages would be
allowed
The differences of the Chinese in language
and culture as well as appearance divided
them from the American miners.
Racism against the Chinese
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Racism and hatred led to many outbursts
around the western region
A mob in Los Angeles in 1870 protesting
Chinese Immigration killed 23 innocent
Chinese people
Suspicion from the Chinese’s enthusiasm
to work for less pay also led to fear and
distrust
Compared to the wages that they made in
China, Americans were very magnanimous
so the Chinese workers were very willing
to work for low wages
The Rock Springs Massacre
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Several Chinese and white miners were fighting over
digging spots at Mine number Six
Two Chinese sojourners arrived early the next
morning and “stole” the white’s location
A violent fight broke out between the two groups
Hearing the news, a band of outraged whites gathered
and started off to Hong Kong, the small Chinese
community outside Rock Springs
The rioters only stopped to purchase more weapons
and warned the Chinese to be out in an hour
Thinking the company would protect them, the
sojourners didn’t heed their warning
The protesters shot several Chinese men as
spectators cheered
Transcontinental Railroad
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Limited amount of people were willing to
build the Transcontinental Railroad
Insufficient labor force from Americans so
the mining company was encouraged to
hire Chinese Laborers
The Americans saw that even though the
Chinese were small, they were hard
workers with great architectural skills
Reasons for immigration
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The United States needed more resources
of labor for the Transcontinental Railroad
Not enough whites or free blacks were
interested, and even with the help of the
Natives, there weren’t enough people to do
the job
The Chinese made more money in
America
For doing cooking, laundering, or other
services, the Chinese earned ten times the
average amount they were paid in China
After the Completion of the
Railroad
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The Chinese were greatly resented while
unemployment was high and served as a
scapegoat for the Americans
In the west, an anti-Chinese campaign grew
quickly to support the labor movement
Many “special” taxes were created to harass
the Chinese
After the strike at Union Pacific Railroad,
many Chinese laborers were employed to
work mining coal
Our Website
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website
Bibliography
"A Rumbling in the Mines." Us and Them A History of Intolerance
in America 1995: 48-57
Gilder Lehrman History Online. 2 Oct. 2002
http://www.gliah.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=419
Gilder Lehrman History Online. 2 Oct. 2002
<http://www.gliah.uh.edu/historyonline/china1.cfm>.
Issues in Global Education Newsletter of the American Forum for
Global Education. 10 Oct. 2002
http://www.globaled.org/issues/147/d.html
The Massacre Of The Chinese At Rock Springs, Wyoming. 2 Oct.
2002
http://immigrants.harpweek.com/ChineseAmeicans/Illustrations/09
0MassacreOfChineseMain.htm
Thank you!