The Chinese immigrants that came to North America during and after the gold rush greatly contributed to the building if this nations economy and society. They endured discrimination from British and non- Native communities, were obligated to find new ways to prosper and were frowned upon because their ways of life differed from the non- Native and British inhabitants.
Ever since the Chinese immigrants arrived in North America they faced prejudice and discrimination. Racist actions by Whites were both spontaneous and organized. There were groups of people such as " knights of Labor" that would campaign to have all Chinese removed from Vancouver. They would force residence out by using intimidation and violent acts of hate and even boycott business that would sell goods to Chinese customers. Discrimination against them was also social. The British wanted to recreate a homogenous British culture but with the Chinese there this was almost impossible, therefor the British began depicting the Chinese as inferior, dangerous and incapable to the rest of society. The government even legalized racial discrimination.
Many Chinese miners realized that their opportunities were being cut short due to racism so they had to find other ways to prosper. Many began reworking claims left by White miners and their intent on quick wealth. Reworking a claim was also less expensive to acquire, and if worked on patiently would usually produce a reasonable amount of gold. Some also opened general stores and restaurants in the mining towns. They would operate vegetable farms in the interior and coastal cities and some even ended up working for wealthy white families. The Chinese would often do jobs that no one else wold do, these jobs often involved heavy manual labor. The white people began to think that they were being undercut by the Chinese, which was true. Contractors would much rather hire a group of Chinese not only because they worked harder but also because they could pay them much less than the normal salary.
