When gold was discovered in California in 1848, word spread fast around the world. This news coincided with a massive and violent rebellion in China. The financial and political instability at home made it an ideal time for Chinese people to seek their fortunes in the American West.

Chinese immigrants sailing to California

Between 1848 and 1852, the Chinese population in the United States swelled from about 350 to 25,000. Many came in search of gold, but they also found jobs in agriculture, fishing, and as railroad laborers. Most of these early immigrants were young men who had left their wives and children back in China.

Chinatown in San Francisco

Racism was an ever-present problem for Chinese and other foreign settlers. In American cities, Chinese immigrants often lived (by choice or not) in areas called Chinatowns, where they were allowed to carry on their cultural traditions. In addition to being paid less for their work than white Americans, they were also subject to a Foreign Miner's Tax and had to repay their employers for the cost of traveling to the United States.

Chinese prospectors washing gold in California

After the Gold Rush in California, many Chinese immigrants stayed in the United States and worked as miners or helped build the first transcontinental railroads. Others became entrepreneurs in the retail and service industries. By 1880, the population of Chinese workers in California had soared to 300,000, comprising one-tenth of the state's population. This increase was mainly due to the availability of labor jobs on railways.

Despite being a valuable source of cheap and reliable labor, Chinese immigrants were the object of much racism and hostility. The fact that they would work for very little money caused some American workers to feel as if their jobs were threatened. The Chinese presence was an ongoing topic of controversy among political and labor organizations. Chinese immigrants were not allowed to marry white women or to become American citizens. In 1882, the American government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited any further immigration by Chinese laborers. This law would remain in effect until 1943.

Chinese gold miners

Chinese immigrants played a major role in the westward expansion of the country's borders and its budding infrastructure. Despite the many barriers they faced, they succeeded in creating vibrant cultures that live on today in major cities of the United States.

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