How Did The Chinese Immigrants Continue To Immigrate To Canada
Two men died every mile of track of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The majority of those workers were Chinese. The Chinese people, more specifically the Cantonese, left their motherland of China in the 1800’s to immigrate to Canada. Canada was a fairly new country at the time and boasted plenty of opportunities. The Cantonese still, to this very day, continue to immigrate to Canada. Despite the challenges the Chinese immigrants had to overcome, Canada was a land of opportunities and riches for the Cantonese. This was because the Cantonese faced many hardships such as abuse and segregation. The Cantonese were treated as second-class citizens, but it did not discourage them from working hard. This hard work gave the Cantonese people success and
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In China, the living conditions were very poor. The Chinese workers were only paid 2 dollars a month, or 24 dollars a year, in their homeland. This was drastically less from the 43 dollars a year in Canada(Crowe, “From Segregation to Integration”). In addition, China had very scarce farmland for the Cantonese people. In the province of Guangzhou, where most of the immigrants in the 19th century were from, only half of the regions had fertile soil (Library and Archives Canada, “ARCHIVED - The Early Chinese Canadians 1858-1947). Of that fertile soil, only 10% was able to grow crops on. This only was more damaging because China was severely populated. The population had increased by 12 million over the course of 50 years! The Chinese people had no choice but to move out of the country. If they left, there was an opportunity for them to be paid more and to support their family. It was not possible in China because of the shortage of farmland and the high population. This meant there were fewer resources for the people to have access to. In addition, China was led by oppressive rulers and was in a constant state of political unrest. The villages were plagued by the Taiping Rebellion and the Peasant wars which claimed over 20 million lives in the span of 14 years. The Cantonese people had to find a place to go fast, or they would face a worse off fate. The Cantonese people had no choice but to leave their country in search of a better land of
In China, the living conditions were very poor. The Chinese workers were only paid 2 dollars a month, or 24 dollars a year, in their homeland. This was drastically less from the 43 dollars a year in Canada(Crowe, “From Segregation to Integration”). In addition, China had very scarce farmland for the Cantonese people. In the province of Guangzhou, where most of the immigrants in the 19th century were from, only half of the regions had fertile soil (Library and Archives Canada, “ARCHIVED - The Early Chinese Canadians 1858-1947). Of that fertile soil, only 10% was able to grow crops on. This only was more damaging because China was severely populated. The population had increased by 12 million over the course of 50 years! The Chinese people had no choice but to move out of the country. If they left, there was an opportunity for them to be paid more and to support their family. It was not possible in China because of the shortage of farmland and the high population. This meant there were fewer resources for the people to have access to. In addition, China was led by oppressive rulers and was in a constant state of political unrest. The villages were plagued by the Taiping Rebellion and the Peasant wars which claimed over 20 million lives in the span of 14 years. The Cantonese people had to find a place to go fast, or they would face a worse off fate. The Cantonese people had no choice but to leave their country in search of a better land of