The+Great+Strike+of+1877

__The Companies __ The first railroad to cut wages was the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. They cut wages by 10% in March and then once more in June. The Baltimore and Ohio railroad cut your wages by 10% if you were making over one dollar per day. After this, B&O only had people working two or three days a week. Companies would run fewer trains, and they doubled on work when they laid off hundreds of laborers. The reason these companies were cutting wages was because they were still recovering from the Financial Panic of 1873. They needed all the money they could get their hands on, so they cut back on all expenses, and they did not care about who they were hurting in the process.

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The Workers __ During the summer of 1877, the United States of America was going through a economic depression that was making life extremely difficult for most everyone. In the small ramshackle huts that many people called home people lived while suffering from malnutrition and drank unsanitary water while raw sewage ran through the streets in the hot city. When talking about the horrible living conditions in the cities the New York Times wrote “…already the cry of the dying children begins to be heard. Soon, to judge from the past, there will be a thousand deaths of infants per week in the city.” And amongst these horrors the parents of the suffering children went to work in their factories or coal mines or refineries, or on the railroads. Here they worked in horribly unsafe conditions and at risk of bodily injury or death at all times just so they could bring home enough money to put an insufficient amount of food on their tables at home. That is why that when the Railroad companies while confronted with failure and bankruptcy decided in many places on wage cuts for their workers, the workers were having none of it, and went on strike.

__The Union __ <span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; msoasciifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msoasciithemefont: major-bidi; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msobidithemefont: major-bidi; msohansifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msohansithemefont: major-bidi;">During the 19th century there was a large increase in the popularity of labor unions. This was due to the industrialization and urbanization that was occurring all over the United States. These labor unions flourished coming out of the Civil War because the war taxes were very hard on the workers, and now that it was over they were in a hurry to improve their social, political and economic statuses. The way that most workers felt was best to do this was by creating and supporting labor unions that were formed to confront the struggles of the working people. However due to a lack of enthusiasm in improving their statuses because of the economic depression of 1873, many labor workers got less involved in the unions and the unions died down, and by the Great Rail Road Strike of 1877 only nine were still in existence. Many laborers still felt the urge to push for their rights in unions, and instead joined secret organizations like the Molly Maguires, a militant group of Irish Immigrant coal miners. These unions were good because they made it easier for the group of laborers to communicate with the companies they worked for in order to negotiate terms of them coming back to work and can also help to avoid the strikes becoming violent and uncontrollable. Unfortunately, in many cities the railroad strikes were spontaneous unorganized acts of small groups of men that were joined by many others. However, in Pittsburgh, when striker Gus Harris refused to work and was followed by the rest of his crew, the Trainman’s Union got involved. Also in St. Louis where violence erupted between strikers and soldiers the Workingman’s Party was clearly in charge of the strike. Although many of the workers brotherhoods like the Brotherhood of Locomotive firemen and the Brotherhood of Engineers disavowed the strikes, in the end the unions and labor federations took control and showed workers that they needed to stand united for a singular cause in order to maintain a balance of power between laborers and employers.

__ Strike __ [|Click here to see how the strikes spead.] · Militia troops were called in, but were unsuccessful · The government then called on federal troops but by that time the strike had moved to Baltimore || · More than 14,000 protesters proceeded to destroy Railroad property · The Maryland government requested federal troops || · The militia refused to use force against the Strikers and many militiamen joined the strike · The National guard troops were called from Philadelphia, and they fired on the crowd killing 20 people · In response, the striking workers destroyed a few thousand railcars, more than 100 locomotives, and many Railroad buildings · The crowd then took over the local telegraph office and armory · When it was all set and done, more than 40 people had been killed and more than $4 million in rail equipment had been damaged ||
 * ** Strike ** || ** Date ** || ** What happened ** ||
 * West Virginia || July 17, 1877 || · Strikers blocked freight trains from moving and threatened to continue until pay cuts were reversed
 * Baltimore || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">July 20, 1877 || <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· The mob threw stones and overwhelmed the militia, and some of the militiamen fired on the crowd killing 10 people
 * St. Louis || July 21, 1877 || <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· A general labor strike took place, crippling the city for almost a week <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">and lots of violence took place. ||
 * Chicago || July 24, 1877 || <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· More than 20,000 workers went on a strike organized by the Workingmen’s Party, and the local militia killed more than 50 strikes in an attempt to end the demonstration ||
 * Pittsburgh || July 21, 1877 || <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· The local Pittsburgh militia was sent to protect the Pennsylvania Railroad’s property



__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Public Reaction __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Most of the public sympathized with the workers because most of the population at this point was in the lower class. In fact, many people who supported the strike used to be employed at these railroad companies, but were laid off when the companies made their cuts. The public was always there to help out and give their support, because it was for a cause they believed in. For the middle class, these strikes acted as an eye opener to them. They had no idea how bad these labor conditions were, and they decided to do help out the laborers.



__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Impact and Result __

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Overall __ <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; msobidifontfamily: ArialMT; msobidilanguage: EN-US;">When the great railroad strikes of 1877 were over, a hundred people were dead, a thousand people had gone to jail, 100,000 workers had gone on strike, and the strikes had roused into action countless unemployed in the cities. More than half the freight on the nation’s 75,000 miles of track had stopped running at the highpoint of the strikes. The railroads made some concessions, withdrew some wage cuts, but also strengthened their “Coal and Iron Police.” In a number of large cities, National Guard armories were built, with loopholes for guns.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"> Economic Impact __ <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; msobidifontfamily: ArialMT; msobidilanguage: EN-US;">The strikes in each city caused an extraordinary amount of economic damage. It is estimated that the engineers' and firemen's brotherhoods lost approximately $600,000 over the forty-five days of the strike, while for the Burlington Railroad the losses were at least $2,100,000. In Pittsburgh, it was estimated that property damage reached about five million dollars, with Chicago, Baltimore and other cities facing losses of a similar magnitude.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"> Impact on Future Labor Relations __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">The strikes had shown how dangerous and threatening the workers can be when they are teamed up together. They were driven, as a Pittsburgh state militiaman who was ordered to break the 1877 strike, pointed out, by “one spirit and one purpose among them–that they were justified in resorting to any means to break down the power of the corporations.” As a result of the strike of the strike, unions became better organized and the number of strikes increased. In the 1880s there were nearly ten thousand strikes and lockouts and in 1886 nearly 700,000 workers went on strike. As is to be expected, business leaders took a more rigid stance against the unions. Another result of the strike was increased public awareness of the hardships of railroad workers. In 1880 the B&O railroad, which had the lowest wage rate of any major railroad, established the Baltimore and Ohio Employees' Relief Association, which provided coverage for sickness, injury from accidents, and a death benefit. In 1884, the B&O became the first major employer to offer a pension plan.

media type="youtube" key="ds4cHgzN-S8" height="385" width="480" align="center"

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">This is a video with a catchy music tune that summarizes the great railroad strike of 1877. The video gives some of the causes of the strike, the details of the actual strikes, and a few impacts of the strike.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Sources __ [] [] [] , 1877: The Great Railroad Strike, An exerpt from Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States The Great Strikes of 1877 By David Omar Stowell [] []

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Primary __ [] __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">[] __ [] []