What life was like for
Chinese Railroad Workers?
By; Malik, Emma, Hank, Nick, Gabry, Kevin
History
Chinese people came to B.C from China for a better life.
The Canadian government approved Chinese immigrants
working in B.C to construct railroads, and construct an economy there, especially after gold was found in the region.
They went through extreme hard work, constructing through
winding mountains, rivers, and prairies. They also faced racism from European constructors, who believed that Chinese workers were taking away their job opportunities.
a chinese worker
working in the railways,
carrying buckets. over
17,000 chinese people
immigrated to canada
during 1881 to 1884.
Chinese workers have been working hard.However, even after
the railway was completed, Chinese immigrants
barely got paid. Fortunately, the Canadian
government finally formally apologized to the
railway workers' descendants in 2006, almost 150
years later.
Main topic
Economic life
When Canada became a contry in 1867 they wanted
to unite the contry.In order to do that though they wanted
to make a railway from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. They called this plan the Canadian Pacific Railway and went for British Columbia to Quebec.In Canada's western provinces
As well as being paid less, Chinese workers were given the most dangerous tasks, such as handling the explosive nitroglycerin used to break up solid rock. Due to the harsh conditions they faced, hundreds of Chinese Canadians working on the railway died from accidents, winter cold, illness and malnutrition.
these railway workers were paid only $1.00 a day and that $1.00 was used for thier food.
Subtopic
Why did they leave?
There were many reasons why the Chinese left
China. One of them was that the farmland in China
was very scarce and because of droughts and floods
harvests were always pretty poor. Wars and revolts also
pulled the Chinese to Canada.
The Chinese leaving China by boat
Many Asians were brought to Canada to provide cheap labour. More than 15,000 Chinese came over in the early 1880s to build the most dangerous and difficult section of the Canadian Pacific Railway. One worker died for every mile of track lay through the Rocky Mountains between Calgary and Vancouver.
Social Life
The work was really difficult, the pay was low, and workers were injured and killed at a very high rate. For Chinese workers, though, it represented a chance to enter the workforce, and they accepted lower wages than many native-born Canadian would have.
why the chinese people came to canada. Many Asians were brought to Canada to provide cheap labour. More than 17,000 Chinese came over in the early 1880s to build the most dangerous and difficult section of the Canadian Pacific Railway. One worker died for every mile of track lay through the Rocky Mountains between Calgary and Vancouver.
our resources
Candian Communies Past and Present
YOUTUBE
Family life
after the railway was completed most chinese workers had little money and could not afford to return to canada or bring there families to canada. to earn extra money, many chinese workers took on dangerous jobs, such as lighting explosives to blast tunnels though rock. some workers died and their families in china were never told.
contributions
Chinese labour was used to build the railroad, and later to maintain it. Over 17,000 Chinese came to Canada from 1881 through 1884. Several thousand came from the coastal areas of the United States where they helped build the American transcontinental railroad, but the majority arrived directly from southern China.