Push/Pull, Gold and Rails

1) Takaki makes it a point to illustrate that these Chinese men came to the United States as sojourners.

• What is a sojourner/what is their goal?
• How likely was it to obtain that goal? Why or why not?
• What were their motivations to stay in the United States as well as to return to China?

2) One of the first experiences of working in the United States for the Chinese was in the mining industry. There they gained a sense of what type of environment they were entering in terms of discrimination. What were some of the major obstacle(s) that they faced in the mining industry? (Think socially, politically, economically).

3) Besides the difficulties that were imposed by their peers and employers, the Chinese also had to deal with aspects such as terrain and weather. Takaki spoke specifically of one of the worse winters they would face while working on the rails.

• What happened during the winter of 1866-1867?
• How did the Chinese respond?
• Why would the actions of the Chinese during this tough winter be seen as a major act of resistance?
• How did it shape the image of the Chinese to the public, and to themselves-both positively and negatively? (Think about all of the quotes made by the executives on the CPRR.org website link)

1. Chinese men started entering the US in the mid-1800s. Many entered as sojourners, whose goal is to go abroad temporarily to return home, ideally with riches. While the pay grade in the US was higher than that back home in China, the sojourners did not make enough as the lure of gold to meet their expectations. Perhaps, similar to the psychology of gambling (or my startup mentality), they kept struggling with the hopes of reaching that goal - while laws and taxes were enacted to make it financially and legally difficult for them to stay. Many perhaps did not want to return to families who would be disappointed in them for not meeting their goals. Moreover, their home (plagued with the Opium War, local conflicts, and natural disasters) was not exactly a country of opportunities - which caused the initial migration.
2. The Mining industry quickly depleted when the population of miners exponentially increased in less than a generation. In the mining industry, a Foreigner's Mining Tax was introduced to prevent further migration of Chinese to the US and to make it difficult for the Chinese to stay mining. The tax was a significant portion of the average miner’s salary per month, and even became a significant total of California state revenue. Socially, the Chinese formed their own mining companies and thus banded among themselves to avoid mingling with the discrimination of other races. The press and politicians were also two-faced in their coverage and treatment.
3.  In efforts to speed up railroad construction, the Chinese were forced to work through the harsh winters of 1866-1867. This would lead to a strike in June 1967, where 5000 Chinese stopped working. Unfortunately, they were landlocked without supplies and dependent on their employers for delivery of food and necessities. So, facing starvation or strike, they were forced to return to work in mere days. The executives of the railroads would praise the Chinese strike as orderly - were the Irish to have done the same, there would have been chaos and deaths. The negative impact is the further compromise on the value and rights of Chinese labor, where they were denied even the power to strike, lest they starve like animals.