Asian Americans | The Astonishing Story of the Men Who Built the Railroad

They were young men with dreams who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad. They blasted through mountains of granite and endured brutal conditions to lay tracks that connected the Pacific to the Atlantic. One of the most famous photographs of the 19th century commemorated the completion of the railroad. But the Chinese workers who had risked life and limb, were left out of the picture. #AsianAmPBS #APAHM

[@sfbluedevil8588]

My Grandpa was one of the railroad workers on the California side. Those days they took the boat from Hong Kong landed on China beach close to Golden Gate Bridge (Lincoln park golf course) nowadays. Today you still see the memorial site at the right side of the first hole of the golf course. Those days they just buried the dead from the journey on the beach. I play golf there many times. Now there are lots of trees and vegetation close up the site.

[@robertronning7016]

Yes they built the railroads they just worked hard in our country to help the white man prosper

[@charr6108]

You just said it as if white men are all upper class...

[@andrewfyip]

you say that as if only a minority of the railroad barons were white.@@charr6108

[@davidshubat502]

i like it!

[@alq8879]

Will Hollywood ever make a movie of this ? No

[@justinmack09]

Would anyone watch it? Would they revive good feedback? Would they make the money they desire? No because Hollywood doesn’t care. As much as we’d want it it won’t happen

[@justinmack09]

Because they’re greedy and only care about money rather than the experience

[@cb57689]

Okay CCP bot. Everyone knows European immigrant engineers, miners and railroaders built this country. Come to coal country and tell local people that the Chinese built the railway.

[@katrina2041]

Hu waz the architect

[@patrickbly4170]

They didn't get Food Stamps 😕 ?

[@saffronskies333]

SOME of the men who built the railroad. Everyone who was poor and needed to eat built the railroads. Where were the Irish while this was going on? Working their high class banking jobs?

[@ladylouise5301]

I'm sorry what 😆 !!?? Black people were not smart enough to build the railroads that's why they only used Chinese people as engineering slaves this is written in history, Africa's slave's where only used as farmers and the Irish were dying to save the African slaves in the civil war an after that they were thrown down the fucking mine to dig dynamite with the Chinese, dumbass! Could you want to be American an not know your own history? Also how about read a book there's a thought..

[@ladylouise5301]

@@drbond7 sorry I should have wrote that better, the Chinese were used to dig dynamite and do the railroads it was only the Chinese people yes! Nobody's gave the Irish in America a warm welcome in America they were all sent to dig the coal mines after they were forced to fight in the civil war an they had just arrived in America... most of the Irish left America because of the poor treatment they were getting that's why America doesn't have many Irish descendants like you guys seem to think, half! And I mean half! Of the occupants on Australia are directly descended from an Irish parents and grandparents because when they were sent here they could not leave you ever tried to leave Australia it's impossible!

[@justinsimuel8414]

@@drbond7 black people were the largest labor force & the cheapest & the Railroad companies owned slaves prior to the civil war. So alot this stuff is simply not true. Black Americans built this entire country no debate....yeah there were other groups who held labor positions but didnt build sh!t as a group sorry.

[@letsgetit934]

Black people built the American railroads!!! The trains were already up and running when the Chinese immigrated over here to America. They added to what was already finished.

[@saffronskies333]

@@letsgetit934 they helped, for sure