Chapter 8 Section 2 Contribution of Early Chinese Labor to Gold Mining in America
The early entry of Chinese laborers into North America, that is, the United States and Canada, was related to the discovery of gold and large-scale gold mining in this area.
On January 24, 1848, nine days before Mexico officially ceded California to the United States, in Koroma, 35 miles northeast of Sacramento, not far from San Francisco, waterwheeler John Marshall was in the bunker of German captain John A. Sutter Gold was found in the waterways.Water is channeled from the American River to the waterway.People began to pan for gold along the American River Valley and Basin, and they found a lot of gold, and thus began the famous "gold fever" in the history of American development.
As soon as the news of the discovery of gold spread, people flocked from southern California, the Midwest of the United States, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, New England, Central America, and Europe with infinite longing for a better life.By September 1849, nearly 100,000 people had rushed to the California gold mines from all over the world, including 323 Chinese.
News of the discovery of gold in California reached China.According to records, there was a Chinese named Zhang Ming who was quick-thinking and first passed the news back to China. The name "Jinshan" began to spread in China.A certain steamship company even put up a poster saying, "The American people are the richest people in the world. They welcome the Chinese. Once they arrive in the United States, they will have a big house to live in, a big salary, good food and clothing... don't be suspicious, you should go to the road of getting rich immediately." road". The yearning for the "golden dream" and "the dream of getting rich" has aroused strong repercussions among the people in the southeastern provinces of China, especially in Guangdong Province.People rushed to tell each other, sold land to borrow debts, and prepared to leave their hometowns to realize their dreams. In 1850, the "Great Republic" passenger ship of the Pacific Cruise Lines, flying the yellow dragon flag and the Stars and Stripes flag, was fully loaded with 2,000 Chinese laborers, and sailed from Hong Kong to San Francisco. This was the first batch of large-scale gold mining directly from China Chinese workers.After the Chinese workers’ ships docked in San Francisco, they lined up in a team. Under the leadership of the relatives of the Chinese in San Francisco and representatives of the association, they first went to the city’s Chinatown, and then gradually arranged to work in the mining area.After hard work, these Chinese workers paid back the travel expenses and interest to the United States, saved thousands of dollars, and returned to Guangzhou and Hong Kong. They were called "Jin Shanbo".
Inspired by "Jin Shanbo", residents along the southeast coast went abroad one after another to mine gold in the United States.According to statistics, there were 700 Chinese workers in the United States in 1850, and the number had increased to 34,933 in 1860.Most of the Chinese workers come from "Siyi".The gold mining area is mainly in California, but in Washington, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and other states, there are also footprints of overseas Chinese miners. After 1870, gold mines were also mined in Colorado and South Dakota, and Chinatown was established.
In gold mining, the Chinese laborers form groups, divide labor and cooperate with each other, and operate meticulously.They either used Chinese-style waterwheels, or used buckets and buckets tied with two ropes to flush out water channels for gold mining.This is a major contribution of Chinese workers to gold mining technology.So far, a Chinese-style waterwheel has been preserved on the banks of the York Klamath River in the United States as a memorial.
From 1848 to 1883, the total value of gold produced in the United States was about 1.2 billion US dollars, of which California produced about 2/3.Chinese workers accounted for a large proportion of gold miners.During the first 20 years of gold mining, the tax paid by the Chinese laborers to the California state government was about US$5 million, accounting for half of the state's revenue at that time.It can be seen that Chinese gold diggers have contributed not only to California, but also to the prosperity and development of the United States.As the American scholar Lloyd pointed out in his book "San Francisco's Bright Stone and Dark Stone" published in 1872: "Without the help of the Chinese, our country's industry could not have laid the foundation so early."
Ten years after the discovery of gold mines in the United States, the heat wave of gold mining spread to Canada. From 1855 to 1857, the California prospecting team of the United States cooperated with the British colonial government on Vancouver Island, Canada, to explore gold deposits along the Columbia River to the interior of British Columbia. In the fall of 1857, gold was discovered on the Fraser River at Yale, Hope, and Harrison.This discovery immediately attracted Americans, Europeans and Australians to mine, which once again set off a "gold mining fever" in North America.
A Kang, a Chinese who participated in gold exploration, returned to San Francisco, USA, and spread the news of the discovery of a "new gold mountain" to Chinese workers, which attracted the attention of Chinese businessmen and American gold miners.They quickly recruited Chinese workers and formed the first batch of 300 Chinese workers to go to Canada for gold mining. On June 28, 1858, through the arrangement of the Ellen Lowe Shipping Company, they arrived in Virginia, Canada from the Caribbean on the "Oregon" ship. Victoria Harbor not far from the Leisai mining area.Chinese Canadians still commemorate this meaningful day as the first anniversary of Chinese arrival in Canada.
The news of the discovery of gold mines in Canada also spread to China, attracting many residents along the southeast coast. On January 7, 1859, the recruited Guangdong Chinese laborers set off from Hong Kong on the ship "Robert Passeig" and sailed to the Fraser mining area in Canada.Since then, the number of Chinese laborers going directly to Canada from Hong Kong has continued to increase. It is estimated that during the gold mining boom (1858-1871), there were more than 10,000 Chinese laborers in British Columbia at its peak.
Most of the Chinese workers who came to Canada in the early days were hired workers. The average annual salary of the Chinese workers was 300 Canadian dollars. In addition to living expenses, they had to repay the shipping fee and interest of about 120 Canadian dollars.If there is no accident, it will generally take three to five years, or even longer, to pay off the debt and obtain a free status.In order to get rich, the Chinese laborers often cut down on food and clothing, accumulated funds, and bought gold mine property rights at extremely high prices.In the Kudinai area, almost all the gold mining rights there were controlled by Chinese laborers.In this process, Chinese laborers created huge wealth for the British colonists.According to statistics, the value of gold mined by each employee was 634 Canadian dollars in 1861, 648 Canadian dollars in 1862, 889 Canadian dollars in 1863, and 992 Canadian dollars in 1868.Not only that, with the development of Huagong's gold mining industry, all walks of life that serve it have also developed rapidly.
The Chinese laborers who went to Latin America mainly arrived in Peru, Cuba, Panama, Mexico, the Dutch West Indies and British Guiana.They were mainly engaged in plantation labor, only Mexican Chinese laborers were driven into the mines in large numbers to mine silver mines in Mexico for the British and American capitalists.
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