Gold roll
Encyclopedia
The gold roll and the silver roll were racially-coded payroll categories of workers employed by the U.S. builders of the Panama Canal
.
After the U.S. revival in 1904 of the abandoned French-led Canal construction project, skilled workers and management staff were recruited almost exclusively from the United States. By contract, these U.S. employees were paid in gold-backed
U.S. dollars. Unskilled labor was variously sourced but the great majority of laborers were West Indians; their wages were paid in local silver-backed currency. Wages were disbursed from separate payroll windows to employees in the two categories, and their social lives (in respect of housing, recreation, transportation and health services, for example) were also organized around this distinction. Even post office
s featured segregated gold-roll and silver-roll sections.
The system evolved from less rigid racial practices under the U.S.-owned Panama Railroad and the earlier French-led canal building project. But the system was gradually tightened up specifically in order to enforce racial segregation
ist policies. This process took place between 1905 and 1908 under chief engineer John Stevens
and his successor George Washington Goethals
and even played in the U.S. presidential election of 1908. Skilled workers from the West Indies were demoted to the silver roll. The gold roll was explicitly limited to U.S. and Panamanian citizens by order of U.S. Secretary of War William Howard Taft
during his 1908 presidential campaign, in response to demands by U.S. labor unions. A small number of black
U.S. citizens were also employed on the gold roll but were being denied gold roll privileges. In response to their protests, the Canal authorities stopped hiring black U.S. citizens. Hardly any black U.S. citizens remained in the Canal workforce after 1909.
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
.
After the U.S. revival in 1904 of the abandoned French-led Canal construction project, skilled workers and management staff were recruited almost exclusively from the United States. By contract, these U.S. employees were paid in gold-backed
Gold standard
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
U.S. dollars. Unskilled labor was variously sourced but the great majority of laborers were West Indians; their wages were paid in local silver-backed currency. Wages were disbursed from separate payroll windows to employees in the two categories, and their social lives (in respect of housing, recreation, transportation and health services, for example) were also organized around this distinction. Even post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
s featured segregated gold-roll and silver-roll sections.
The system evolved from less rigid racial practices under the U.S.-owned Panama Railroad and the earlier French-led canal building project. But the system was gradually tightened up specifically in order to enforce racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
ist policies. This process took place between 1905 and 1908 under chief engineer John Stevens
John Frank Stevens
John Frank Stevens was an American engineer who built the Great Northern Railway in the United States and was chief engineer on the Panama Canal between 1905 and 1907.- Biography :...
and his successor George Washington Goethals
George Washington Goethals
George Washington Goethals was a United States Army officer and civil engineer, best known for his supervision of construction and the opening of the Panama Canal...
and even played in the U.S. presidential election of 1908. Skilled workers from the West Indies were demoted to the silver roll. The gold roll was explicitly limited to U.S. and Panamanian citizens by order of U.S. Secretary of War William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
during his 1908 presidential campaign, in response to demands by U.S. labor unions. A small number of black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
U.S. citizens were also employed on the gold roll but were being denied gold roll privileges. In response to their protests, the Canal authorities stopped hiring black U.S. citizens. Hardly any black U.S. citizens remained in the Canal workforce after 1909.