| |
N0KFQ > TODAY 02.09.15 15:42l 49 Lines 2218 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 65737_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Sep 2
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<HG8LXL<N0KFQ
Sent: 150902/1341Z 65737@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.63
1885
Whites massacre Chinese in Wyoming Territory
On this day in 1885, 150 white miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming,
brutally attack their Chinese coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15
others, and driving several hundred more out of town.
The miners working in the Union Pacific coal mine had been
struggling to unionize and strike for better working conditions
for years. But at every juncture the powerful railroad company
had bested them. Searching for a scapegoat, the angry miners
blamed the Chinese. The Chinese coal miners were hard workers,
but the Union Pacific had initially brought many of them to Rock
Springs as strikebreakers, and they showed little interest in the
miners' union. Outraged by a company decision to allow Chinese
miners to work the richest coal seams, a mob of white miners
impulsively decided to strike back by attacking Rock Spring's
small Chinatown. When they saw the armed mob approaching, most of
the Chinese abandoned their homes and businesses and fled for the
hills. But those who failed to escape in time were brutally
beaten and murdered. A week later, on September 9, U.S. troops
escorted the surviving Chinese back into the town where many of
them returned to work. Eventually the Union Pacific fired 45 of
the white miners for their roles in the massacre, but no
effective legal action was ever taken against any of the
participants.
The Rock Springs massacre was symptomatic of the anti-Chinese
feelings shared by many Americans at that time. The Chinese had
been victims of prejudice and violence ever since they first
began to come to the West in the mid-nineteenth century, fleeing
famine and political upheaval. Widely blamed for all sorts of
social ills, the Chinese were also singled-out for attack by some
national politicians who popularized strident slogans like "The
Chinese Must Go" and helped pass an 1882 law that closed the U.S.
to any further Chinese immigration. In this climate of racial
hatred, violent attacks against the Chinese in the West became
all too common, though the Rock Springs massacre was notable both
for its size and savage brutality.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Using Outpost Ver 3.0.0 c264
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
