Which group lost the most from the building of the railroads?

The Chinese laborers often did the most dangerous parts of the construction, including the dynamiting of mountain tunnels. Many men lost their lives constructing the transcontinental railroad; estimates range from 150 to 2,000. Most of these were Chinese Americans.



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While Chinese workers dominated the railroad workforce in the West, most eastern and southern railroad companies relied on Black Americans to do the back-breaking construction work.

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Teachers should understand that most of the people who worked to build the transcontinental railroad were immigrants from China and Ireland. These immigrants faced discrimination in the U.S., but their labor made this national achievement possible.

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While Chinese workers dominated the railroad workforce in the West, most eastern and southern railroad companies relied on Black Americans to do the back-breaking construction work.

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John Stevens is considered to be the father of American railroads. In 1826 Stevens demonstrated the feasibility of steam locomotion on a circular experimental track constructed on his estate in Hoboken, New Jersey, three years before George Stephenson perfected a practical steam locomotive in England.

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Telegraph lines built along the tracks facilitated rapid communication between the East Coast and the West Coast. The completion of the railroad facilitated Westward migration by white Americans, leading to increased conflict with Native American nations in the West.

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Incidents Along the Railroad Twice, Native Americans sabotaged the iron rails themselves. In August 1867 a Cheyenne raiding party decided they would attempt to derail a train.

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However, two industries benefited the most from the Transcontinental Railroad. Those were cotton and cattle. Railroads made it possible for cotton farmers in the east to ship their products to the western frontier quickly.

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In less than one year, 80 percent of Central Pacific's workforce was made up of Chinese laborers, and by 1867, there were a total of 14,000 Chinese immigrants working on the railroad.

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While Chinese workers dominated the railroad workforce in the West, most eastern and southern railroad companies relied on Black Americans to do the back-breaking construction work.

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Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877) came to dominate the railroad industry through the mid- to late 1800s.

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Cornelius Vanderbilt gained control of most of the railroad industry. He offered rebates to customers and refused service for people traveling on competing railroad lines. He lowered the rates on his railroad in order to gain more business.

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The building of America's railroads involved African Americans, many working as slaves. Virtually every railroad built in the Pre-emancipation Era South was built using slave labor. During the Civil War (1861–1865) the US Military Railroads (USMRR) employed thousands of freeman and contraband slaves (as seen here).

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Altogether, the Central Pacific Railroad hired an estimated 12,000 Chinese workers, some as young as 12. The Chinese workers, at that time the largest industrial workforce in American history, made up 90 percent of the Central Pacific's total labor force.

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Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877) came to dominate the railroad industry through the mid- to late 1800s.

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The industrialized Union possessed an enormous advantage over the Confederacy — they had 20,000 miles of railroad track, more than double the Confederacy's 9,000 miles.

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