William Avila

The Chinese Laborers

11/04/14
Dr.Knepler
Frinq: Portland

(Picture By https://www.haikudeck.com/transcontinental-railroads-education-presentationjPr1tBOdoK)

In the 1870s there were only five hundred and thirty six Chinese living in Oregon; Out
of those five hundred and thirty six Chinese workers, eleven were prostitutes and one hundred
and fifty four were common laborers, the rest were slaves, cooks, rail road workers and miners
(Corbett, 1870-1880). The Chinese people came to the U.S in hope that they can have a new life
and receive a better wage. As most immigrants hoped to make their fortunes after a few years in
the United States and then return to their families in China (DeWolfe, 1996) but in the end they
were misled and mistreated. They were paid less than the average American; even though they
did more work and worked harder than most workers.

As seen in the picture, Chinese men worked hard for pennies to the hour to make a living
working all day to accumulate about one dollar a day. Railroad making was a very common job
for immigrants like the Chinese because of the vast amounts that would want to work for a
fraction of what an American would want to be paid. I have never seen a Chinaman drunk, and
I cannot say that of our white folks (Newsom, 1876). The Chinese came to earn a living and
were not going to throw it away by not showing up to work or slacking off at work, the Chinese
were known because they worked hard and did it for a lower pay. And they will work at every
sort of labor we wish them to perform (Newsom, 1876). Another job where the Chinese would
be employed was in the mines searching for gold during the gold mining years (1849). Even
though the labor was hard dirty life endangering work the Chinese did not complain where
American workers would, when they were assigned a job or task they did it without question and
they did it until the job was done. From the beginning of when they arrived to the U.S all that the
Chinese have done is help build us to where we are today.
They came with little to nothing and worked their way up, even when the times got rough
and were not allowed to be employed by the Americans to help make streets and bridges they
found other ways to make a living. Americans went so far as to make an act that didnt allow
employers to employ Chinese workers. The employment of Chinese labor being not only
derogatory to the interest, and rights of citizen labor, but in violation of the statue above referred
to, I, as district attorney of the judicial district of Oregon, do hereby enter my protest against the
payment of any money upon and against the legal recognition of any contract by your honorable
body upon which Chinese labor has been thus performed (1879). It is clearly stated that this
man will be punished for his actions of letting Chinese work for him. Americans like that
employer, employed the Chinese laborers and were penalized with the loss of all chances of

being hired by someone else as stated in The Protest against Chinese Labor (1879). J.F.Caples
who was the district Attorney in Portland in 1879 also adds To the Hon, the Common Council
of the City of Portland in Oregon; Respectfully calling your attention to an act To prohibit the
employment of Chinese laborers on the improvements of streets and public works in this state
approved October 16,1878. This was only one of the many barriers they faced. They were not
allowed to work for Americans in public areas but they could work as domestic servants, and
cooks to them and get paid a measly thirty dollars a month (Corbett, 1870-1880). Statistically, on
average that was about 1 dollar a day for working all day.
Around the 1880s the canning and shipping industry began and started a new wave of
jobs available to immigrant workers like the Chinese, Italians and others. While the American
forces were out at war the shortage of workers was very high so the Chinese took the opportunity
to get a new job working at the docks building ships and loading and unloading supplies.
Because of this throughout the next couple years the number of servants and personal cooks to
the Americans dropped about 14.4 percent (Newsom, 1870). Slowly the level of job
discrimination dropped and around the 1880s it had dropped from 2 percent to around 1.5
percent, even though it was not a big change the population of Chinese continued to grow. It
wasnt till much later that they opened their own shops were they did not discriminate who went
in and out. They opened up Laundromats, small merchandise stores and introduced their food to
society by opening small restaurants (DeWolfe, 1996).
Even though the Chinese were beginning to get a little break from societys racist and
degrading ways; it was not the end of it for them or other immigrants. In the mid 1880s the
Chinese were forcibly run out of Tacoma and Seattle, and ran to Portlands Chinatown. Then in
1886 Oregon city came together to make an anti-Chinese congress. This congress mission was

to kick out all the Chinese out of Chinatown. Armed whites put up notices and warned residents
of Portlands Chinatown to leave town or face further violence and destruction of
property(DeWolfe,1996). Yet another barrier the Chinese had to face right as life started to be a
bit better for them, but this time the Chinese were not alone. The mayor of the time John Gates
ordered the police to double their forces and protect the Chinese population (DeWolfe, 1996).
Over the years from the beginning of the U.S immigrants have been mistreated,
misunderstood, and underpaid. The Chinese and other immigrants did not deserve to be treated in
the way they were treated, their sole purpose to come to the states was purely to make money for
them to make a living in the states or to make money to be able to take back home to their
families. I personally know the struggle of my parents being immigrants. My father came at the
age of 14, alone, to get a job working in the fields to make money to send to his family in need
back in Mexico. My father like the Chinese went through many barriers and degradation to be
where he is today. Racism and prejudice still exist today towards all ethnicities, even though the
people of this country would like to think its gone, it still exits. Thanks to all the immigrants,
like the Chinese, who worked endless hours every day and night to make a living; today we have
railroads that would have never existed without their help. The Chinese laborers had a big impact
on the roads that were built and the ships that were made during the war. If it were not for the
Chinese and other immigrants that were not afraid to get their hands dirty and work for such little
pay for the amount of hard work they did; Oregon may have been a different place than what we
see today.