Great railroad strike of 1877. Great Railroad Strike Of 1877 2019-01-12
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The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The strike also affected Ohioans. July 16 - August 2, 1877. In total, the company would be able to discharge fully half of their workforce. Nearly two square miles of Pittsburgh went up in flames. The strike would be broken within a few weeks, but it helped set the stage for later violence in the 1880s and 1890s, including the Haymarket Square bombing in Chicago in 1886, the Homestead Steel Strike near Pittsburgh in 1892, and the Pullman Strike in 1894. During that time, no trains moved through the city. Crowds of strikers and angry workers assembled in downtown Baltimore, destroyed rail property, interrupted service, and endangered citizens.
Historical Background: Great Railroad Strike 1877: Teacher Guide: New York State Library
This set the stage for the day's later events, which eclipsed Baltimore's bloodshed. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1971. That summer, in the hot cities where poor families lived in cellars and drank infested water, the children became sick in large numbers. Many prominent members of the town had set to work organizing a militia, and by this time several thousand had been gathered and were put under the command of General , a veteran of the. Deciding guns and bricks were a foolish and wasteful way to settle labor disputes, once elected to Congress, that man, Constantine J.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was an uprising launched in response to pay cuts enacted by the country's largest railroads following the financial Panic of 1873. If you'd like to upload content to the library which is in line with the or will otherwise be of interest to libcom users, please check out our guides to and. Mobs of police and mobs of rioters hunted each other down in Chicago. While violence often followed such decisions this was not the case in Hornellsville where the militia did little to stop the strikes. In response to plummeting revenue, railroads were quick to implement wage cuts although many continued to pay dividends.
Many of the troops ordered to muster at the rail yards never arrived. One other source estimated the damage as being between four and ten million dollars. The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine. For some, the experience justified the development of a conservative business unionism that would not challenge the boss or promote social change. A local policeman attempted to cease the drum that a member of the crowd was carrying. Police and local militia were reluctant to act against strikers and many sympathized with, or outright joined them.
But wages were not the only working conditions at issue on railroads. However, after attempting to return operations to the company on July 24th he was overruled and resigned. There was no property destruction or other significant disturbances ongoing. Photograph of a portrait of Thomas L. He assured the crowd, through their laughter and cheers, that he had been ordered by the governor to protect the trains from any molestation by the crowd, and ensure that they ran normally: You that know me know that I will obey orders. It was connected with the First International in Europe. An angry crowd forced the Philadelphia troops to retreat to a roundhouse in the railroad complex, and set engines, buildings, and equipment ablaze.
On July 21, as these troops faced a crowd that had gathered around the 28th street crossing near Liberty Ave. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began on July 17, 1877, in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The availability of laborers and government support for businesses limited workers' ability to gain concessions from their employers. Louis, Columbus, Newark Ohio , and Indianapolis. Approximately 18,000 businesses failed nationwide between 1873 and 1875, production in and dropped as much as 45 percent, and a million or more lost their jobs.
The railroad was blamed for costing the city its preeminence in , and privileging at their expense. Wages had been cut several times in the depression and when Garrett and his superintendent changed the operating rules for engineers to run longer trains with fewer crew members, the men went out on strike. Workers of the and the railroads in , also struck and stopped the movement of freight along their lines. The railroad company appealed to the governor, who called out the militia. Others dismissed the unrest as the doings of foreign subversives.
On Sunday, July 22, militia dispersed an angry crowd with threats of gunfire in Buffalo, New York; on Monday, the crowd returned armed, pushed aside the militia, and forced the closing of the Erie roundhouse. He read the and the troops set forth attempting to disperse the crowd. Fresh troops arrived in the city on July 28, and within two days peace had been restored and the trains resumed. It was one of many incidents of strikes, labor unrest and violence in cities across the United States, including several in Pennsylvania. They arrived unarmed and were met by two companies of the 19th Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard, and a squad of local veterans. I have determined that peace, order and quiet shall be restored to the community, and to this end now call upon all good citizens to come forward at once to the New City hall and unite with the police and military now organized. The crowd grew angrier, more menacing.
Interestingly, while more soldiers were brought in it turns out they were not needed as the citizenry by and large policed themselves. Some of the greatest violence occurred in Pittsburgh where the crowd trapped the militia and torched the Pennsylvania Railroad roundhouse. Reforming on the other side, the troops found themselves confronted by a crowd of several thousand men, women and children. In some cities, especially St. They've asked for things we can't grant them at all. Democrat Samuel Tilden overcame the Ohio governor in the popular vote but 20 disputed electoral votes from Florida and other states threw the election into House of Representatives. The word quickly spread to Martinsburg, W.
