| Description |
312 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [249]-298) and index. |
| Summary |
"A groundbreaking, breathtaking history of the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad, helping to forge modern America only to disappear into the shadows of history until now"-- Provided by publisher. |
|
"The long-lost tale of the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad, helping to forge modern America only to disappear into the shadows of history. In 1864, as the Civil War still raged, throngs of Chinese migrants began to converge on the enormous western worksite of the Transcontinental Railroad. Over the next five years, they blasted tunnels through the granite cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and laid tracks across the burning Nevada and Utah deserts. As many as twelve hundred lost their lives along the route. Those who survived would suffer a different kind of death: a historical one, as they were pushed first to the margins of American life and then to the fringes of public memory. Of the twenty thousand Chinese laborers who toiled on the western portion of the Transcontinental, not one is named in histories of the railroad. Many were literate, yet not a scrap of their writing remains. In this groundbreaking book, award-winning historian Gordon H. Chang recovers the stories of these "silent spikes" and returns them to their rightful place in our national saga. Drawing on recent archeological findings, as well as payroll records, ship manifests, photographs, and other sources from American and Chinese archives, Chang retraces the laborers' odyssey in breathtaking detail. He introduces individual workers, describes their hopes and fears, and shows how they lived, ate, fought, loved, worked, and worshiped. Their sweat and blood not only fueled the ascent of an interlinked, industrial United States, but also laid the groundwork for a thriving Chinese America. A magisterial feat of scholarship and storytelling, Ghosts of Gold Mountain honors these immigrants' sacrifice and ingenuity, and celebrates their role in this defining American achievement."--Dust jacket. |
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A groundbreaking, breathtaking history of the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad, helping to forge modern America only to disappear into the shadows of history until now. |
| Contents |
Guangdong -- Gold Mountain -- Central Pacific -- Foothills -- The High Sierra -- The Summit -- The strike -- Truckee -- The Golden Spike -- Beyond Promontory. |
| Subject |
Chinese Americans -- History.
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Central Pacific Railroad Company -- Employees -- History.
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Railroad construction workers -- West (U.S.) -- History -- 19th century.
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Foreign workers, Chinese -- West (U.S.) -- History -- 19th century.
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China -- Emigration and immigration -- History -- 19th century.
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Chinese -- West (U.S.) -- History -- 19th century.
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West (U.S.) -- History -- 19th century.
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Central Pacific Railroad Company. (OCoLC)fst00603778
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Chinese. (OCoLC)fst00857169
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Emigration and immigration. (OCoLC)fst00908690
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Employees. (OCoLC)fst00909111
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Foreign workers, Chinese. (OCoLC)fst01729121
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Railroad construction workers. (OCoLC)fst01088589
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China. (OCoLC)fst01206073
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United States, West. (OCoLC)fst01243255
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| Chronological Term |
1800-1899
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| Genre/Form |
History.
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| ISBN |
9781328618573 (hardcover) |
|
1328618579 (hardcover) |
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