Photo courtesy of PBS.org |
The United States had made a deal with China a few years previous to the date of my novel, which is 1875, which allowed Chinese workers to come to the States and seek employment freely. The other railroad workers didn't like this one bit - the Chinese were willing to accept wages of half what the other men were getting, and there was concern that the Chinese workers would take over all the jobs. Consequently, in many railroad camps, the Chinese (most often called "Chinamen") were treated as outcasts. They slept separately and ate separately from everyone else and weren't included in the camp goings-on. The Americans of the time referred to the Chinese "threat" as "the yellow peril," believing that soon the whole country would be overrun.
The Burlingame Treaty of 1868 was put in place to ensure proper treatment of Chinese immigrants, but the racist persecution became so bad that in 1882, Congress finally banned additional immigration, which was a huge blow to the Chinese community as it separated families. You can learn more about all of this by following this link. It's fascinating history, although at times heartbreaking.
It's ironic that the railroad was a huge force in helping us settle this continent and make it what it is today, and much of the work to enable that progress was done by men who would never be blessed because of it. We have a great deal to thank the Chinese railway workers for.
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A Careless Wind, book seven of the Kansas Crossroads series, is now available.
When Rachel's fiance was killed in a railroad accident, leaving her with
nowhere to go, she came to the Brody Hotel as a last resort. With the
help of her new friends, she found comfort and healing, and now she
believes herself as content as she can be. But when Nicholas Hardy, her
fiance's brother, walks into her dining room, her world falls out from
under her. Everything she thought she believed about herself, and him,
is called into question.
Nicholas wanted a life of adventure with the girl of his dreams by his side, but the death of his brother cast a pall on everything he'd hoped for. When he sees Rachel again, he thinks life has given him a second chance, but then an injury threatens to take everything away from him again.
Two souls looking for a place to call home . . . and wondering if just by chance, they can find that home together.
You can visit Amelia Adams at her website and sign up for her newsletter to receive fun updates about new releases.
Interesting post, Amelia. The "yellow peril" discrimination reached into the territory of Alaska, too, where a mob at the Treadwell Mine forced the Chinese workers to leave. Such a sad chapter of our history....
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, history is endlessly fascinating. So many stories, some hearbreaking, some rewarding. Thank you for sharing not only the history you found, but the wonderful excerpt. Angela Raines-author
ReplyDeleteI love the way you write and share your niche! Very interesting and different! Keep it coming! https://www.mosscolella.com/railroad-fela-claims/
ReplyDeleteWow, cool post. I'd like to write like this too - taking time and real hard work to make a great article... but I put things off too much and never seem to get started. Thanks though.
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