The influence of Chinese and Irish workers on the transcontinental railroadChinese and Irish workers responded forcefully when asked to help build the railroad transcontinental which linked the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. During this long process, immigrant workers faced difficult climatic conditions and living and working conditions. Their work produced the Great Iron Trail in an incredibly short time with minimal resources and equipment. Their struggles are often overlooked and their overseers are credited with building the railroad. The Chinese and Irish found whatever entertainment they could, often challenging themselves to lay more rails one day than another. Both found a hostile country in railroad management and the U.S. government that excluded them from work and pressured them to accept the poor conditions of railroad jobs. The two groups couldn't have been more different, but they came together to create a revolutionary railroad and ushered in a new era in the United States. Their great influence may have made the completion of the transcontinental railroad possible. The Chinese and Irish were drawn to the land of opportunity to succeed. They came from different parts of the world to find themselves in a common destination: California. The Chinese were dreamers when they came to California; they hoped to profit from the gold rush. They left a feudal system that limited many aspects of their lives (Daley 14-15). The Irish had visions of a more stable future and came to California in search of stable employment (Potter 621). They left Ireland for America to escape the Great Potato Famine. Long before the Gold Rush of 1849, the Chinese knew of the wealth to be found in America, or “the Golden Mountain” (Sung 1-4; Howard 225). The legend spoke of a place where the precious metal was abundant. They rejected this idea until a few daring men discovered wealth in America. Many were attracted by the prospect of easy money, and by 1850, nearly 25,000 Chinese had immigrated to California (Sung 5; Daley 26-27). Some searched for neglected gold in deserted land claims, while other Chinese were hired by successful gold miners as cooks, houseboys, gardeners, farmers, and launderers (Sung 10-11; Howard 224-226 ). Unfortunately, the... middle of paper ...... May 10, 1869 with the ceremonial "Last Peak". The actual creators of the railroad were credited only once in a speech at the final blow ceremony. The Irish and Chinese had a huge impact on the transcontinental railroad, completing it four years early and with perfection while overcoming a great number of obstacles through their ingenuity and hard work. Without these immigrant workers, the project may never have been completed, or even started.Bibliography1) Potter, George. To The Golden Door: The History of the Irish in Ireland and America. Boston, Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, 19602) Johnson, Arthur M. and Supple, Barry E. The Boston Capitalists and the Western Railways. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 19673) Hogg, Gary. Union Pacific. New York: Walter and Company, 19674) Howard, Robert W. The Great Iron Trail: The Story of the First Transcontinental Railroad. New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 19625) Sung, Betty L. The Chinese in America. New York: Macmillan Company, 19726) Watts, JF The Irish Americans. New York: Chelsea House P, 19887)