"By 1852, there were 25,000 [Chinese immigrants]; over 300,000 by 1880: a tenth of the Californian population... who wanted to make their fortune in the 1849-era California Gold Rush. The Chinese did not, however, only come for the gold rush in California, but also helped build the First Transcontinental Railroad, worked the southern plantations after the Civil War, and participated in setting up California's agriculture and fisheries. From the outset, they were faced with the racism of settled European population, which since the 1870s culminated in massacres and forced relocations of Chinese migrants into what became known as Chinatowns. Also with regard to the legal situation, the Chinese were by far more badly posed in the United States than most other ethnic minorities. They had to pay special taxes (all foreign miners had to pay a tax of $20 a month), were not allowed to marry white European partners and could not acquire U.S. citizenship."