The transcontinental railroad had a purpose for its construction. It served to transport goods and supplies to areas in which it was burdening to transport to using other kinds of transportation. Building the railroad served to also receive land, loans, and profits from the land they sold to settlers that wanted to cultivate or settle in the west, in which profits were given to people in charge of the construction of the railroad. To build this railroad they needed workers, but why did they choose the Chinese over any other type of person?
Charles Crocker, an American railroad executive, hired Chinese people willing to labor for money, because he was desperate for workers. The Chinese …show more content…
When the Chinese worked in tunnels, they had to risk their lives because of explosions. If the conditions were dangerous, why did they do it? To make way through mountains, they had to build “wooden trestles on the western slopes and used gunpowder, and nitroglycerin to blast tunnels through the granite” (source 3). If they didn't make tunnels, they couldn't successfully complete the railroad and all their hopes of becoming rich will vanish. Their only hope of becoming rich was to work in dangerous areas, even if they didn't want to. Other than the dangers of building tunnels, there were other hazardous obstacles to cross. Another way that they faced dangerous working areas was because to level out the terrain for the tracks, they had to grate, level out and clear trees, stumps, rocks and other obstructions along the way which could get them killed just like the blastings to make way for