The Chinese had many reasons to come to America. Overpopulation, poverty, war and other disasters in China were all reasons (pushes) to travel to America, as well as effective outside influences. The discovery of gold strongly encouraged Chinese farmers to come to the west coast. The labor needs of the United States have been the most important external catalyst for immigration. However, there were very few ways to travel to the United States. Thanks to loans from the Six Companies, the Chinese were able to afford to travel to America, and they came here to work primarily as gold miners, fishermen, or farm laborers; later settling into laundry and catering services (Tsai, Overseas China 12-13). In order to cultivate and develop the large amount of Western land and resources they had obtained, develop industry and build a railway system for transportation and communication, and To create a communications network with China, the Americans were looking for labor, people to carry out these tasks. The hardworking nature of the Chinese made them natural targets for such laborious tasks, which helped create a draw for Chinese willing to travel to America for work (Tsai, Overseas China 12). An entrepreneur named Elmer C. Sandmeyer viewed transportation companies as a powerful promotional influence. The transport of Chinese workers between Hong Kong and San Francisco, accompanied by a high passenger rate, allowed American shipowners to make handsome profits (Tsai, China Overseas 12-13). The Six Companies played an important role in this process, as a charitable organization dedicated to helping immigrants, the sick and the poor, and repatriating the bodies of those who died in China. Immigrants too poor to pay middle of paper...... in the year 1852 alone, thirty thousand Chinese who embarked from Hong Kong for San Francisco paid $1,300,000 for the trip. By early 1856, William Speer calculated that all Chinese in California had paid a total of $2,329,580 for the trip” (Tsai, Overseas China 13). Frequently exploited by American capitalists, Chinese workers were whipped to dig gold mines and build railways. Industry boomed in Western America as the Chinese worked tirelessly. Free immigration was suggested by the United States in the Treaty of Burlingame of 1868 because of the need for labor in America and the potential benefits of trade with the Chinese. , and many forms of fraud and propaganda were used to bring Chinese workers to the United States. The discovery of gold was also very beneficial in attracting the Chinese (Tsai, Overseas China). 13).