Chinese Laborers in Peru

The system of mining guano at that time required a large amount of hand labor. The labords on the guano islands dug the guano, transported it in wheelbarrows to the trucks to the cliffs. Subsequently, the labors took two days to load a ship, passing the bags by canvas shoots into the hold. In the 1850s, the labor force needed to be doubled. Vessels waited in line up to two to three months to be loaded. (Mathew, 1981, p. 116-117)

A number of Chinese resided in Lima as early as 1613 and had become successful business owners. In 1849 the passage of the "Chinese law" encouraged traders to embark on an aggressive effort to bring Chinese laborers to Peru. Domingo Elias, a wealthy politician and guano entrepreneur brought over 79 Chinese laborers, and was subsidized 30 pesos for each of them by the government. Jose Canevaro, another guano merchant, brought over at least 3,650 Chinese.

Over the next 25 years, more than 100,000 Chinese were brought to Peru and of those who left China for Peru, 25 to 30 percent perished during the journey (Clayton, 1985, pg 29-30). The arrival of large numbers of Chinese as laborers caused concern over time in Peru, and became an issue in the coming conflict.

China stopped the coolie trade in 1875, so traders switched their attention to the shores of the western United States. There they arranged work contracts of three to five years. This contract was a 10 hour day, with Sunday off and 16 soles in silver. (Dobyns, 1976, pg 173)

Plantations along the coast, the railroad builders and the guano miners sought these Chinese laborers. The cheap labor of blacks and the Chinese helped generate the profits for foreign companies that had contracts in Peru, and allowed the creation of luxurious estates and frequent trips to Europe by the Peruvian elite. This helped build the business network with Europe and America, while stimulating a desire for technological advances.

Resources:
Clayton, Lawrence. 1985. Grace: W.R. Grace & Co. The formative years 1850-1930. Ottawa, Illinois: Jameson. 403 pp.

Dobyns, Henry F. and Paul L. Doughty. 1976. Peru: a cultural history. New York, Oxford University Press, 1976. 336 pp.

Mathew, W.M. 1981. The House of Gibbs and the Peruvian guano monopoly. London: Royal Historical Society. 281 pp.