Chapter 15, section 1:critical thinking 1

Which group of immigrants do you think faced the greatest challenges in the United States? Why?

I think that the group of people that faced the worst times and the greatest challenges were the Chinese immigrants. These immigrants came to the United States to work for a better life. They worked mainly on the railroads and constructing new railroad tracks. When the railroads were completed and the railroad companies needed no more tracks, then the Chinese opened their own businesses, which were mostly a failure to them because the Americans would not go to their shops.
The Chinese immigrants had a hard time gaining respectable status among people of the United States. When they worked on the railroads, they worked the hardest for the cheapest pay. These men had to live in different quarters than the other workers. These quarters were often in worse conditions than other ones. The Chinese workers had to provide their own tools for work. The other white men were given their own tools to work with and food was provided to the white workers. (Pg 443)
After the Chinese men had finish with the railroad, they started their own businesses. People who were born in the United States started to have a feel for Nativism. This is when citizens of the US felt that they were more important than the immigrants. During the depression of 1873 people felt that the immigrants would take all of the jobs for less money. One of the most discriminated groups was the Chinese. These workers were victims of riots and race crimes. Soon after the Chinese were banned completely from the United States. This act was repealed in 1943. (Pg. 465)