Central Pacific workforce
Chinese laborers became the majority of Central Pacific's construction workforce in the Sierra Nevada and across the West.
Dangerous conditions
Workers blasted tunnels, built roadbed across mountains, and labored through severe weather and hazardous terrain.
Discrimination
Chinese workers faced lower pay, discrimination, and anti-Chinese hostility even as their labor was essential to the project.
Historical recognition
Modern scholarship and public history increasingly acknowledge the scale and importance of Chinese workers' contributions to the railroad.
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