Tenement

A tenement is an apartment that was lived in by many families at once. It was usually very cramped for space and not very well lighted. Tenements were built as block shaped buildings that had no lawn and only had windows on the front and back. Later on though, people realized that tuberculosis was being spread faster because of lack of light and fresh air. The newer models of tenements were starting to have lightwells in the center of the buildings to accommodate the inner rooms. Tenements are so small and lacking space that sometimes there will be a bathtub found in the kitchen. The main percentage of people who lived in these tenements were immigrants. The reason being, because they are giving all the money they make back home to their families in their home countries. People with small businesses and not a lot of money choose to live in these tenements to save money and not spend too much money on their rent. Tenements were very useful in the 1800s and offered places for immigrants to live without ripping them of all their money.

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-tenement.htm

http://www.artblogny.com/2012-10/architecture/life-in-a-tenement-in-the-late-1800s-have-things-changed-much#.Umfq0hbU5Ed

Hiring Workers

When it came to hiring workers for the building of the railroad, it wasn’t too easy of a job. There were around 4,000 job openings for workers on the railroad. Out of that 4,000, there was only about 800 of those positions filled at one time. A great majority of the workers were Irish because there were so many Irishmen immigrating to the States. The Chinese were also immigrating to America because they heard of the gold that was found. Men were skeptical when hiring the Chinese because they knew that they were so unreliable.  The Irish were starting to complain about their wages, so recruiters started hiring the Chinese. They were noticing that hiring the Chinese put the Irish back in their place because they were scared of the Chinese taking over the jobs. The Chinese actually started showing more skill in their work and were working much better and strong than the Irish. Crocker, a contractor of the railroad, really liked the Chinese work ethic so he started advertising in China about the railroad work overseas. The Chinese were just a better choice for the contractors to hire because not only were they better workers, but they were paid less. Hiring workers was all about getting the best work for the cheapest labor hours, and in the end, it seemed to be the Chinese that accomplished this.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-cprr/

The Builders

      Life as a buisness owner in the 1800 was a bit more difficult then what you might think running a buisness would be like today. Most people from the 1800's who were looking to get in a buisness would do so by possibly building a country store out west where they could get all the people looking for gold to get there products. The pros of this was it was quick money if you could keep your product in stock long enough before the mines ran dry and the main people buying your product packs up and leaves to their new mining towns. The risk of opening a buisness in a mining town was a risk of going bankrupt when the mines hit rock bottom, this was just as big of a risk if you were a miner that risked it all to come find gold in the mountains of the west. But the smart buisness owners had an advantage because they knew how to manage money, In one case of a good man named Stanford he was such a sucsesful buisness man he elected to run for a job in politics but he refused because he wanted to contenue the hunt for money out west. The good that came from this was he didn't have to show up to work ready and focused, a job like this for Stanford wouldn't have worked becuase he was a genarally a lazy and slow person who would spend time focusing in minor details. Stanford although a good buisness man wouldn't have lasted to long in the politics of a growing country. So although being a buisness owner was one carrer choice in the 1800's it was as risky as selling everything you owned and moving wast to try to cash in on the ever growing California gold rush.

By: Tj Cecil

Life in Camp

Life in camp as a worker for the railroad was a rough and dirty life. There weren’t any comfy mattresses or walls sheltering them from the drastic weather they faced. The camps they built for the men were put up as fast as they could because the men needed to focus on building the railroad, not their camps. Many diseases were passed through these camps because of the uncleanliness. The tents and blankets the workers used for sleeping were never cleaned after each time used; they were just packed up and moved to the next location. For fun in the camp, the workers liked to gamble, drink and shoot their friends. This goes to show that these men lived a hard life. The workers worked long hours and every once in a while needed a break, that’s why so many gambling houses, brothels and saloons were popping up around. The workers enjoyed spending some of the money they made and getting a night off. Life in camp was probably not very fun. They were always packing up their belongings and moving because they had to get to new parts of the railroad to build. So many men were traveling out there for this that there were towns being put up for the workers and the trail they followed was becoming permanent. The building of the railroad put up many new cities and towns along the railroad and brought many men out west to help work on it. Life in camp for these men was quite the experience.

By: Allie Morgan

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-hell/