1. Do Now
Based on what we have learned about American history thus far, who are often the people who work the most labor- intensive jobs? How are they usually treated?

2. I. Transcontinental Railroad

3. A. Transcontinental Railroad
Built by two private companies
Met at Promontory Point, Utah in 1869
First of many railroads to go west, caused major economic growth
You can transport people and goods much easier

4. B. Workers Four main groups of people work on the railroads:
Irish
African-Americans
Chinese
Civil War veterans
Why were the Chinese people used?
Working conditions were extremely harsh – why?

5. Promontory Point, Utah Who or what things in this picture?
What is happening in this picture?
Why was this picture made /what does this picture mean?
Additional: What do you think is wrong with this picture?

6. Railroad Timeline
1865: Central Pacific Railroad recruits Chinese workers; ultimately employs about 15,000 Chinese workers.
1869: First transcontinental railroad completed.
1870: California passes a law against the importation of Chinese and Japanese women for prostitution.
1871: Los Angeles: anti-Chinese violence; 18 Chinese killed.
1873: Panic of 1873; start of major economic downturn that last through the decade; blamed on corrupt RR companies.
1877: Chico, CA: anti-Chinese violence.
1878: Court rules Chinese ineligible for naturalized citizenship.
1880: Approximately 106,000 Chinese in America; California passes anti-miscegenation law (no interracial marriage).
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: prohibits Chinese immigration (in one year, Chinese immigration drops from 40,000 to 23).

7. Chinese Treatment after the Railroad
After the Chinese workers had finished their work on the Transcontinental Railroad, they were frequently discriminated against, including the Chinese Exclusion Act.
You will use the documents to examine the causes of this discrimination. For each document, write any evidence you find for what led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

8. Exit Ticket
1) How were the lives of many Chinese immigrants affected by the transcontinental railroad?
They were given jobs to plan the transcontinental railroad, but they were underpaid.
They were employed to build the railroad tracks, but they also suffered from discrimination.
They used factories to manufacture railroad tracks and ties, and they became economically and politically powerful.
They used the transcontinental railroad to travel west to search for gold, but they had to leave their families behind.

9. Exit Ticket
2) In the period from 1860 to 1900, the Federal Government encouraged the settlement of the West by
passing an increased number of liberal immigration laws
selling the most fertile public land to Native American Indians
providing free transportation to settlers moving to the frontier
granting pieces of land to railroad companies to encourage construction

10. Exit Ticket
3) How did the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad affect different groups of people?