Answer:
Explanation:
The discovery of gold in California in 1848 prompted people from all over the world to seek their fortunes on the Pacific Coast of the United States. The discovery came during a period of political turmoil and economic hardship in China. The Chinese Empire was losing control of the nation and imperial powers from Europe were forcing their way into the country.
As a result, many Chinese left their homeland to make a living in America. They sailed to San Francisco, which the Chinese immigrants had named the "golden mountain." The number of Chinese entering the country grew to a steady rate of four to five thousand a year in the mid-1850s. Most of these immigrants settled on the west coast and began work in the gold mines.
In 1868, the United States and China negotiated the Burlingame Treaty, which gave China most-favored-nation status for trade, travel, and immigration. The Treaty, supported by the Chinese at the time, allowed an unrestricted influx of Chinese immigrants to provide cheap labor for the expanding railroads. The number of Chinese immigrants entering the United States more than doubled following the Treaty. By 1880, the 75,000 Asian immigrants living in California constituted nine percent of the state's population.
