Sixth Grade
Worksheets
The Chinese Exclusion Act
In 1848, Chinese immigrants began arriving in America. Laborers who had not been able to earn a good living in China heard about the Gold Rush in California, and they came to America. They boarded ships and crossed the Pacific Ocean. Many arrived at the port of San Francisco in California.
Year after year, more immigrants came from China to America. Some still hoped to find gold. Others just wanted a job.
In the 1860s, many of these Chinese immigrants found jobs with the Central Pacific Railroad Company. They were hired to help build the western half of the transcontinental railroad. It was a job that required great strength and stamina. The men laid tracks through some of the most difficult terrain of the whole project - the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Often they worked in the cold and the snow. They had to blast through the mountains with dynamite. It was dangerous work.
Other Chinese immigrants found jobs in the cities. Although the better jobs were often not open to them, many found low-paying jobs in restaurants and laundries.
Workers of other nationalities who could not find jobs that paid well began to resent the Chinese workers. They blamed the Chinese workers for taking jobs and for keeping the pay rate low. Some states began to pass laws that discriminated against immigrants from China and other Asian immigrants.
