Chinese Rights Violations In The Canadian Pacific Railway

In the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, Chinese people immigrating to Canada were frequently denied the legal rights they deserved. The Chinese people immigrated over to Canada for a means of making money to support their families who were still in China. The Chinese were involved in the British Columbia gold rush and they helped with the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 19th century. Between 1881 and 1884 alone, over 15, 000 Chinese immigrated to Canada. Some of the rights violations against the Chinese include being denied the right to vote, paying a head tax upon arrival to Canada, and being given the most dangerous spots on trains. A commonly known right violation is the Chinese being denied the right to vote.

It is commonly seen that people are denied the right to vote based on race, and the Chinese experienced this first hand. The Chinese were denied the right to vote because the white Canadians believed they were alien, and they are not the same race as white people. Even if a Chinese person was born in Canada or only partially

The white people were forcing the Chinese to sit where they thought was most dangerous on trains, because they thought their lives were more important than the Chinese. It occurred in Canada’s early years after the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. On a train ride, Chinese could only sit in the back two cars. When a train derailed, killing everyone in the front cars, they then changed the rule and Chinese people could only ride the front two cars of the train. When another accident killed everyone in the back, they decided the Chinese could sit anywhere on the train. This impacted the white Canadians because the tragedies killed people and affected their families with grief and confusion. This incident of the train seats impacted the Chinese, but perhaps the head tax did even more