“There were occasions when avalanches buried workers in snow and they weren’t found until the snow melted the following spring,” Fishkin said. Even Leland Stanford, whose anti-Chinese views were central to his gubernatorial campaign, changed his tune. Even Leland Stanford, president of the Big Four called the Chinese “’dregs’ of Asia,” and “a ‘degraded’ people.” The diligence of Chinese workers created a competitive atmosphere that made white workers work harder, much to their resentment. Choy, Chinn and the others gathered at Promontory that day had hoped this would be the moment when the more than 10,000 Chinese who labored for the Central Pacific Railroad finally got their due. More from NBC Asian America's series on the Chinese railroad workers: Chris Fuchs is a freelance journalist based in New York. “It is the best opportunity I will have in my lifetime to have this story shared, to have it understood and appreciated by people outside our community,” said Michael Kwan, the association’s president, whose great-great grandfather worked for the Central Pacific. The Act of the Legislature of California. Even artists, photographers, journalists and academics from China, as well as scholars from Taiwan and those with Stanford’s Chinese Railroad Workers Project, have immersed themselves in the topic. Citing public discourse of the period on the presence of the Chinese in America, along with Stanford’s varied views on it, the essay describes how Stanford’s own awareness of the significant contributions of Chinese labor was at odds with the politically expedient anti-Chinese rhetoric he often espoused. How American is that?) Historical Essay. Produce and natural resources were among the things that could now be moved more quickly and cheaply from coast to coast. “And particularly for sons who were not the first sons in the families, it often made more sense to try to seek your fortune abroad,” Fishkin added. “我將不會僱傭中國人！” 當首席承包商查爾斯•克羅克提議讓總監管人斯特羅布裡奇僱傭華工的時候，他本能的迴應道。即使是利蘭•斯坦福，鐵路“四巨頭”的總裁也稱中國人為”亞洲的‘敗類’“和“低等人“。然而華工的勤勉卻創造了一種競爭的氣氛，使得白人工人也不得不努力工作，這讓他們感到不滿。另外，由於中央太平洋鐵路公司使用炸藥來加速開鑿速度，無數工人在意外爆炸中喪生。當華工還在唐納峰和大雪奮戰的時候，一個反苦力勞工協會在三藩市正式成立。當時，不僅僅是白人工人虐待華工；華工也經常因為工資低廉，被公會聯盟老闆和鐵路官員當做替罪羊。所有這些在1867年達到一個高潮。, 1867年夏天，在內華達山脈修建鐵路的華工發現他們正面臨著很深的雪堆和雪崩的威脅。不利的天氣，被監工以侮辱性的方式對待，再加上低工資和長工時，使得華工對工作條件產生強烈不滿。正是在這個時候，中太平洋鐵路也正在經歷嚴重的勞工短缺問題，還要面臨周邊採礦公司把工人從鐵路上招走的風險。因此，爲了吸引更多的華工，鐵路建設總督查爾斯•克羅克把工資從每月31美元提高到每月35美元。然而，提高工資並沒有安撫華工的情緒。1867年6月25日，一群在內華達山脈東部工作的華工開始罷工。兩天之後，沿內華達山脈兩千名華工如法炮製，加入罷工，要求提高工資並縮短工作時間。, 最終，罷工只持續了一個星期。克羅克解決罷工的方法雖然殘酷，但是卻非常有效：他切斷工人的供給，讓代理商停止向華工們運送食物和生活用品。一個星期之後，克羅克來到工人們中間，堅決表示工資和工作時間沒有商量的餘地，如果工人們立刻回去工作，他們只會受到罰款。但是如果他們拒絕工作，將收不到整個6月份的工資。面對飢餓的困境，以及對工作環境的改善幾乎不抱希望，華工們只好重新開始在內華達山脈修建鐵路。, 965 Clay Street In speaking as governor Stanford said: “The presence of numbers of that degraded…people [Chinese-Americans] would exercise a deleterious effect upon the superior [white] race….To my mind it is clear that [Asian-American] settlement among us is to be discouraged by every legitimate means. San Francisco and the Connection to the Big Four. At its highest point, between 10,000 and 15,000 Chinese were working on the Central Pacific, with perhaps as many as 20,000 in total over time. ^ Elmer Clarence Sandmeyer, The Anti-Chinese Movement in California, University of Illinois Press, ISBN 978-0252062261, 1991, p. 43-44 ^ Asbury, Herbert, The Barbary Coast, Basic Books, 2008, p. 145 ^ The Leland Stanford, Junior, University. Chinese workers near an opening of the Summit Tunnel of the Central Pacific Road. This May, for the 150th anniversary, descendants of the Chinese railroad laborers and other advocates have been working hard to ensure history does not repeat itself. Anti-Chinese Sentiment and the 1867 Chinese Workers Strike, 5. About the Author: The "Anti-Coolie" Act of 1862 was passed by the state legislature of California and signed by Governor Leland Stanford. It wasn’t repealed until 1943. Crocker’s solution for ending the strike, though cruel, proved to be extremely effective. ... built by the railroad baron and public figure Leland Stanford. The First Transcontinental Railroad, completed May 10, 1869, linked the nation and significantly reduced cross-country travel time from months to less than a week. Leaders of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroad lines meet and shake hands in this iconic photograph taken by Andrew J. Russell on May 10, 1869. Despite this, the Chinese Railroad Workers Project has been able to glean insight into aspects of the laborers’ lives through their research. Work of Giants: The Chinese and the Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), 3. In a new spring course, students are excavating the location of the former living quarters of Chinese workers who helped build Stanford. I found the references to anti-Chinese sentiments by the politicians to be interesting ... What restaurants are near Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park? Workers blast a 60-foot-deep cut above Alta, California. After a week, Crocker visited the workers and firmly informed them that the wages and hours were non-negotiable, and that if they went back to work immediately, they would only be fined. His immigrant ancestor, Thomas Stanford, settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in the 17th century. Leland Stanford, the railroad’s president, had advocated for keeping Asians out of the state in his 1862 inaugural address as governor of California. “He didn’t think they were strong enough,” Obenzinger told NBC News in a 2017 interview. “I will not boss Chinese!” Superintendent Strobridge instinctively responded to chief contractor Charles Crocker, when he asked him to recruit Chinese workers. Anti-Chinese sentiment became an official political issue over time. Many whites who took the jobs did so for only a time, reluctant to shoulder the demanding and hazardous work expected of them. according to a May 12, 1969, San Francisco Chronicle article, “The Chinese and the Iron Road: Building the Transcontinental Railroad,”, Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 150 years ago, Chinese railroad workers staged the era's largest labor strike, Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial Project, 150 years ago, Chinese railroad workers risked their lives in pursuit of the American dream, Scholar's search for Chinese railroad workers' history leads to East Coast railways, These artists want to draw the Chinese railroad workers back into history. Faced with hunger and little hope for improved conditions, the Chinese resumed work on the Sierras. They also know the men set up camps along the worksites, didn’t imbibe too much alcohol, worked well together, and sent money back to their families in China. INTRODUCTION. Centennial officials had agreed to set aside five minutes of the ceremony for the society to pay homage to the Chinese workers who had helped build the railroad, but whose contributions had been largely glossed over in history. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use. All of this reached a boiling point in 1867. Less than two years later, almost 90 percent of the Central Pacific workforce was Chinese; the rest were of European-American descent, mostly Irish. After completing the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, Chinese laborers fanned out across the United States to work on at least 71 other rail lines, according to Fishkin. San Francisco, CA 94108 Two days later, two thousand Chinese workers along the Sierras followed suit and joined the strike to demand higher wages and decreased work hours. Who else but Americans could have laid 10 miles of track in 12 hours?”. Leland Stanford, president of Central Pacific, former California governor and founder of Stanford University, told Congress in 1865, that the majority of the railroad labor force were Chinese. But the ceremony featured nothing more than a “passing mention of the Chinese.” The five minutes promised to the society never happened. Honolulu, 1905. In 1869, the dream was made a reality at Promontory Point, Utah with the connection of two railway lines. Leland’s real first name was Amasa, after a troublesome Old Testament figure who joined a failed rebellion against his own uncle, the duplicitous warrior king, David. Among the events planned around the sesquicentennial is the 2019 Golden Spike Conference, organized by the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association, which will feature workshops, lectures, tours and a musical by Jason Ma entitled “Gold Mountain.”. The Union Pacific, by contrast, had no Chinese laborers during the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. One investor, Leland Stanford, a one-time candidate for governor who actively denounced Chinese immigration during his campaign, openly advocated for the immigration of 500,000 more laborers from China. A camp of Chinese workers near Brown's Station of the Central Pacific Railroad. When Leland Stanford was elected governor of California in 1862, he promised in his inaugural address to protect the state from "the dregs of Asia." By then, Central Pacific had been reorganized into Southern Pacific, and the tie was taken to the railroad’s San Francisco offices in the Flood Building. “We want to make sure that this doesn’t end on May 10th,” Kwan, the descendants association president, said. They hailed from Sacramento, San Francisco and the gold-mining towns of the Sierra Nevada. But at times Stanford, who was later elected to the U.S. Senate, still resurrected certain anti-Chinese rhetoric when running for or in office, Chang noted. I was beside myself,” Choy, who passed away in 2017, recalled during a 2013 interview. The eastern end of the transcontinental railroad—a scandalous enterprise in itself—met the Stanford group’s western end at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869. So the company arranged with labor contractors to bring workers directly from China, mostly from Guangdong province in the south. Stanford, as governor, ostensibly supported the prevailing mood in the state, which lobbied for the restriction of Chinese immigration. But the plan hit opposition amid anti-Chinese sentiment that stemmed from the California Gold Rush. A ceremony commemorating the anniversary drew a crowd of around 20,000. Stanford was initially acclaimed for his frank statements, but later lost support when it was revealed that his Stanford's Central Pacific Railroad was also importing Chinese workers to construct the railroad. “Who else but Americans could chisel through miles of solid granite? Jane Stanford, widow of Central Pacific Railroad Company President Leland Stanford and mother of the deceased University namesake, died on February 28, 1905 in her room at the Moana Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii Territory. This came amid rising anti-Chinese sentiment and violence in the U.S., as whites blamed the Chinese for squeezing them out of jobs by accepting work at lower wages. The silver plated spike maul was also given to Leland Stanford and became part of the Stanford University Museum. And a commemorative postage stamp in their honor has been proposed as well. They were among the 50,000 to 60,000 Chinese living in California who arrived in the early 1850s to work in mining and other sectors of the American West, according to the project. Often toiling in extreme weather, they cleared obstructions, moved earth, bored tunnels and built retaining walls — work done virtually all by hand. In this lesson, students will explore the social and economic factors that led to this restriction. Owing to white hostility, tens of thousands of Chinese were forced to leave the U.S. by 1882, according to “The Chinese and the Iron Road.” That same year, Congress responded by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first and only major federal law to explicitly suspend immigration for a specific nationality. The Hoover Project on China’s Global Sharp Power held an event on How Racist Rhetoric Increases Chinese Overseas Students' Support for Authoritarian Rule with Jennifer Pan, Assistant Professor of Communication and Yiqing Xu, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Stanford University on Friday, November 13, 2020 at 10:00 AM PT. info@chsa.org, © 2020 Chinese Historical Society of America. The Chinese had earlier worked on other California railroads as well as the Central Pacific in small numbers, according to the project. ... Leland Stanford was an active freemason from 1850 to 1855, joining the Prometheus Lodge No. Uncovering the lives of Chinese workers who built Stanford. ... Stanford University was established with much of the wealth that Leland Stanford earned helping to oversee construction of the western half of the First Transcontinental Railroad. They even staged a strike in June 1867 demanding pay equal to whites, shorter workdays, and better working conditions, an action that helped counter the image that the Chinese were docile and wouldn’t fight for their rights. Previous scholars and historians believed that there were no Chinese workers in this photo, but Stanford researchers identified two of them in the crowd. But it wasn’t just the blasting that was dangerous. In the summer of 1867 Chinese railroad workers in the Sierras found themselves confronted with deep snow drifts and threats of avalanches. Sometimes they were lowered off cliffs to plant explosive charges when blasting was necessary, knowing that once the fuse was lit the difference between life and death hinged on how fast they were brought back up. The first transcontinental railroad became a boon to the economy of a nation recovering from a civil war, shaving significant travel time across the continent from several months to about a week. To grow its workforce, the Central Pacific took out an advertisement in January 1865 seeking 5,000 railroad laborers, but only a few hundred whites responded, according to “The Chinese and the Iron Road: Building the Transcontinental Railroad,” a book scheduled for release in April and edited by Gordon H. Chang and Shelley Fisher Fishkin, co-directors of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford University. It is the best opportunity I will have in my lifetime to have this story shared, to have it understood and appreciated by people outside our community. Biography of Leland Stanford, U.S. senator from California and, as the president of the Central Pacific Railroad, one of the builders of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad. The adverse weather, coupled with the abusive treatment from their overseers, as well as the low wages and long hours led to the Chinese becoming increasingly unsettled with their poor work conditions. The Grant of Endowment. His articles have appeared in Foreign Policy and the Taipei Times and in Chinese on ETToday.net, a popular Taiwanese news website. (415) 391-1188 x101 They estimate there were hundreds, possibly more than a thousand. Restaurants near Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park: (0.18 mi) G Street Cafe (0.40 mi) Grange Restaurant & Bar The Central Pacific broke ground on the first transcontinental railroad Jan. 8, 1863, and built east from Sacramento. However, the wage increase was unsuccessful in placating the Chinese workers, and on June 25, 1867 a group of Chinese working the eastern Sierra slope walked off their jobs. That's not to say he wasnt anti-immigration or disagreed with the platform but I mean, come on, the guy hired Chinese laborers for his company and it worked out well for him so it's hard to believe he personally considered it at the top of his list of concerns. There’s also the Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial Project, which has raised at least a quarter of a million dollars for a monument, and the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association, whose members visit Utah schools to teach kids about the Chinese laborers. The Transcontinental Railroad was a dream of a country set on the concept of Manifest Destiny. Ask Bryan H about Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park. It also generated tremendous wealth for railroad tycoons such as Leland Stanford, a former California governor who ran under an anti-Chinese immigrant platform. In all of these proceedings, the Board found that Stanford’s claims were unpatentable for “Stanford became one of the wealthiest men in the world because of their labor,” he said. 17 in Port Washington, Wisconsin. Date of experience: November 2019. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Almost a quarter of a century later, in 1969, amid the backdrop of the civil rights movement, Choy and Chinn found themselves at Promontory Point, Utah, waiting for a moment that never came. They established flourishing Chinatowns throughout the region until many were forced to flee again by anti-Chinese violence and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. They instead relied on Civil War veterans and East Coast immigrants, among others, according to Chang. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor inducted Chinese railroad workers into its Hall of Honor. He became famous in 1862 when he used an herbal remedy to save Governor Leland Stanford's wife while practicing medicine in Sacramento. IMO Stanford was not really as passionate about anti-Chinese politics as he seemed, he just knew it was what worked politically. Among the attendees were Philip P. Choy, president of the San Francisco-based Chinese Historical Society of America, and Thomas W. Chinn, one of its founders. The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (“Stanford”) appeals from orders of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) in three interference proceedings between Stanford and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (“CUHK”). He cut off the workers’ supplies and stopped agents from delivering food and provisions to their camps. They know, for instance, that the Chinese boiled water for tea, which helped stave off dysentery and other waterborne illnesses. May 10, 1969, marked 100 years since the golden spike was hammered in at Promontory, Utah, signifying the completion of America’s first transcontinental railroad — a monumental engineering feat that linked together the nation's coasts. He is one of the 19th-century entrepreneurial tycoons called robber barons. It was during this time that the Central Pacific Railroad was also struggling with a severe labor shortage and fear of competition from nearby mining fields which threatened to draw Chinese workers away from the railroad. Stanford Historical Photograph Collection / Stanford University Libraries. So it wasn’t just an exploitative relationship.”. Facing a labor shortage, the railroad may have turned to recruiting Chinese at the suggestion of Central Pacific construction contractor Charles Crocker’s brother, E.B., a California Supreme Court justice and an attorney for the company. At the time, it was a region enmeshed in political and social turmoil, but residents there often had contact with foreigners and were less fearful of taking long ocean voyages, making them good recruits, according to Fishkin. Strobridge also worried that the whites wouldn’t labor alongside the Chinese, who he thought lacked the brainpower to perform the work as well. Anti-Chinese Sentiment and the 1867 Chinese Workers Strike “I will not boss Chinese!” Superintendent Strobridge instinctively responded to chief contractor Charles Crocker, when he asked him to recruit Chinese workers. Ultimately, the strike only lasted one week. I found the references to anti-Chinese sentiments by the politicians to be interesting. Eventually, he yielded and in 1865 the Central Pacific tested out 50 Chinese laborers. Stanford also served as president of the Central Pacific and later established the university that bears his name. Leland Stanford, a wealthy former California governor who ran under an anti-Chinese immigrant platform, was also president of the Central Pacific. “The Chinese and the Iron Road: Building the Transcontinental Railroad” and Chang’s separate book “Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad,” which is scheduled to be released in May, both describe the Chinese taking on some of the most dangerous, most exhausting assignments for less pay (and worse treatment) than their Euro-American counterparts. Stanford's wife was dying from a pulmonary disorder, and Doctor Yee Fung Chueng was sought out by one of Stanford's … Stanford’s people moved west to what is now Albany, New York and ran a bar called the Bull’s Head tavern, where he was born in 1824. The success of the experiment led the Central Pacific to hire additional Chinese workers, but the Chinese labor pool in California soon ran out. “But there’s also lots of evidence to show that the Stanfords had an affection for many of the Chinese, especially in their employ. In an attempt to attract more Chinese workers, construction supervisor Charles Crocker raised the monthly wages from $31 to $35. In addition, countless workers died in accidental blasts without record as the Central Pacific used nitroglycerin to speed up the construction. Among those initially against it was the Central Pacific construction supervisor, James H. Strobridge. Leland Stanford, president of the Central Pacific, drove a ceremonial golden spike, but a selected crew of Chinese workers laid the last rail. They became experts in drayage, masonry, carpentry and track laying. “Who else but Americans could drill 10 tunnels in mountains 30 feet deep in snow?” then-Transportation Secretary John A. Volpe said in his speech, according to a May 12, 1969, San Francisco Chronicle article. Eventually, they headed to the Nevada silver mines for better wages and the prospect of striking it rich, Hilton Obenzinger, the project’s associate director, said. Anti-Chinese sentiment quickly became a talking point for Leland Stanford, who served as the first Republican Governor of California from 1862 to 1863. The famous laurelwood tie remained on display in Sacramento until 1890. Living Style of Chinese Railroad Workers, 7. It also generated tremendous wealth for railroad tycoons such as Leland Stanford, a former California governor who ran under an anti-Chinese immigrant platform. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders elected to Congress in record numbers are among supporters of a House resolution to recognize the workers and their contributions. The Union Pacific began construction of their rail in Omaha, Nebraska working toward the west. Date of experience: December 2018. 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