Searching For Gold Mountain Strangers from a Different Shore By: Denzell Johnson

Why this group came to America? Many Chinese people came to America for their own reasons. They sought sanctuary from intense conflicts in China caused by the British Opium Wars. Others fleeing from the turmoil of peasant rebellions such as the Taiping Rebellion and the bloody strife between the local people(Punti) and the guest people(Hakkas) over possession of the fertile delta lands. Hundreds and thousands came to America to search for Gold in California because of the stories they heard.

What was this group’s struggles? Harsh Economic conditions also drove the Chinese people to America to seek survival. Since the population was so dense some people left because of starvation. Also couldn’t afford taxes because of flooding issues and they lost their lands to the government Had many problems with the government and white supremacy in America. Wasn’t treated fairly and was overworked more than any other race.

Did this group experience any discrimination Did this group experience any discrimination? Biased legislation from the government? In 1852, California legislature enacted a second foreign miners’ tax. Tax required every foreign miner to pay three dollars as a monthly payment. Many white people disliked the Chinese because they was taking over the work force. If you didn’t like working with them the manager would fire you and hire more Chinese people. Never treated fairly. Although, they was good workers the white people still didn’t like them. The government would make laws to prohibit the Chinese people from doing anything rational.

Timeline In 1852, California legislature enacted a second foreign miners’ tax. Also in 1852, the first secret society the Kwang-tek-tong was founded in California. Originally underground antigovernment movements in the homeland, the tongs served a particular need in Chinese America. They felt the need to control their own fellows and develop their own friendship. In 1865, Chinese people was hired by the Central Pacific Railroad to help lay tracks for the transcontinental line leading west from Sacramento. Winter of 1866, Chinese workers was forced o work through the harsh winters. Many of the people died in the snow and wasn’t found until the snow melted. Spring of 1867, Chinese workers went on a strike demanding more money and to be treated equally as the “white man” working 8 hours a day. However, been replaced by black workers then led them to starving and making them force back to working with the Central Pacific Railroad. By 1870, California collected five million dollars from the Chinese, a sum representing 25 to 50 percent of all state revenue.

After the Civil War Following the Civil war, a planter declared, “We can drive the niggers out and import coolies that will work better at less expense, and relieve us from the cursed nigger impudence.” The plan was to turn from black to Chinese labor. The Chinese was hardworking and more efficient than black people. The Chinese people was shown as role models to the black people. However, the Chinese people decided not to stay on plantations, but to work in the cities. At the same time, like blacks, Chinese people was also viewed as a threat to the white racial purity. By the1880s, lawmakers prohibited marriage between a white person and a “negro, mulatto, or Mongolian.”

Timeline Continued.. In 1879, a Chinese theater was erected, a three-story brick building with a seating capacity of twenty-five hundred people. Admission was only thirty-five cents a person. After the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act reduced the supply of farm labor, Chinese agricultural workers demanded higher rates for their wages. By 1930, women represented about 20 percent of the Chinese population providing the beginning of Chinese-American families.

Personal Reflection The Chinese people was intelligent and hardworking. They came in America with a lot of ambitions and expected to live free from suffering. They also came because of the “get rich quick” scheme, they heard stories about people finding gold in the mountains. Mostly the males went to America because they thought they would be gone from their families temporarily so they left their families behind. They took over most of the work force in the 1800s. They completed the Central Pacific Railroad system in the 1800s. However, despite their efforts they was still categorized as being a threat to white purity.