An American Story

Chinese workers helped build a railroad that stretched across the United States and changed the country.

All of these men, and many more, helped to build the transcontinental railroad system in the United States.

Imagine you’re living in the eastern United States in the 1850s, and you decide to move to the West Coast. You have two choices. You can travel by wagon. This dangerous journey will take months. Or you can take a ship around the southern tip of South America, an even longer trip. In 1863, the United States began a project that would provide a faster and easier way to travel across the country: the transcontinental railroad.

By crossing the continent, running east to west, this railroad made it easier to move people, goods, and even services across the nation. But it wouldn’t have been built without the hard work of thousands of laborers. Many of these workers were Chinese immigrants.

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This map shows the locations of the tracks that were built by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad.

Hiring the Workers

At the time the railroad was built, many companies would hire only white men. The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was no different. But after the railroad bosses struggled to find enough white men to do the job, they began hiring Chinese workers. About 20,000 Chinese men worked on the transcontinental railroad, mostly the part that linked California to Utah.

Building the Tracks

Chinese railroad workers lived in work camps like the one in this photo.

The Chinese workers were often given the most difficult and dangerous tasks. Yet they quickly proved to be reliable and efficient. In addition to building the train tracks, they also worked as carpenters, cooks, interpreters (translating between Chinese and English), and more.

Despite this, the CPRR did not treat these workers well. Chinese workers were not allowed to sleep in the same camps as the white workers. In fact, they had to pay for their own housing as well as their own food and supplies. They were also paid a lot less than the white workers.

These workers helped build the Northern Pacific Railway, tracks that stretched across the northern United States.

In June 1867, a large group of Chinese rail workers went on strike, or stopped working. They refused to go back to work until they were treated more fairly. The workers demanded higher pay and a shorter workday. But they were forced to end the strike one week later, after the CPRR cut off their food supply. Although their pay remained the same, their working conditions got better.

With everyone back on the job, the CPRR worked its way east, building tracks that began in California. Meanwhile, the Union Pacific Railroad was working its way west from Nebraska with the help of Irish immigrant workers. On May 10, 1869, workers from the two companies joined the tracks together in Utah. The transcontinental railroad was complete.

Did You Know?

Chinese railroad workers most often drank tea or hot water, a habit that may have helped them avoid certain diseases of the 1800s. To make tea, water is boiled. This kills bacteria or parasites that can make people sick.

National Immigration Heritage Month

June is National Immigrant Heritage Month in the United States. To celebrate, here are just a few of the immigrants who have helped shape American culture.

Harris and Ewing Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-hec-31012)

This photo shows Albert Einstein during a visit to the United States in the early 1920s.

Albert Einstein, scientist (1879–1955). A brilliant physicist (a type of scientist), Einstein shook up the scientific community with his famous theory of relativity. Along with many of Einstein’s other ideas, this theory changed the way people think about time, space, and the universe. Einstein, who was Jewish, left his home country of Germany in 1932 to escape the Nazi government led by Adolf Hitler. He settled in the United States, where he inspired the next generation of physicists.

Elena Zelayeta, cookbook writer (1898–1974). Born in Mexico and raised in San Francisco, Zelayeta opened a Mexican restaurant with her husband in the 1930s. This was the first time many people in the U.S. had ever eaten Mexican food—and they loved it. Zelayeta developed eye problems and eventually became blind. After teaching herself to cook with her other senses, she began teaching other blind people to cook. Zelayeta later wrote cookbooks that introduced Mexican food to many other Americans.

This photo shows Levi Strauss in about 1850.

Levi Strauss, inventor of jeans (1829–1902). Born in Bavaria (an area that’s now part of Germany), Strauss moved to San Francisco, California, in 1853. There, he opened a business to sell supplies to gold miners. At the time, some miners wore denim pants because this cloth was strong and less likely to fall apart. Strauss and a tailor named Jacob Davis improved on this by putting metal rivets in places where the pants could rip. These were the first jeans.

Adolph Levitt, doughnut maker (1883–1953). Born in Eastern Europe, Levitt moved to the United States with his family when he was about 8 years old. Levitt didn’t invent doughnuts, but he did design a machine that allowed his bakery to produce the tasty treats faster. This would make it easier for businesses, and doughnut lovers, to make sure there would be plenty of doughnuts to go around.

Rihanna performances on stage at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2023.

Rihanna, singer (1988–). Now living in California, Rihanna was born in the Caribbean island nation of Barbados. A 2005 song called “Pon de Replay” was the first of many hits for the singer. Rihanna has acted in movies like Annie and Home. She also runs Fenty Beauty, a company that sells makeup, hair products, perfume, and more. It’s important to Rihanna that Fenty’s products are designed for people with many different skin shades and hair types.

New Home, New Life

These immigrants are in the process of becoming citizens of Canada.

People who move to a new country to live there are called immigrants. Immigrants often hope for a better life and new opportunities in their new home. In return, they offer hard work, fresh talent, and new ideas.

You can learn more about immigration at Britannica!

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