What was the great railroad strike of 1873?

In 1873, the United States was in the midst of an economic depression, a period of low production and sales and high rates of unemployment and business failures. The root cause of the 1873 depression was the collapse of the mighty railroad, which had overextended itself.



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A prolonged rail strike could create all types of shortages, from gasoline to food to automobiles, and cause a spike in the prices of all types of consumer goods. It can screw up the commutes of tens of thousands of workers who take the train to work, slow the delivery of parts and force factories to shut down.

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The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began on July 17, 1877, in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Workers for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad went on strike, because the company had reduced workers' wages twice over the previous year.

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What is the main reason that the US government wanted to avoid large-scale railroad strikes after the Great Railroad Strike of 1877? Railroad strikes were a threat to economic prosperity and national security.

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Labor activism and the railways are inextricably linked in US history. In 1877, railroad workers were fighting for labor justice too. Years of pay cuts, weak labor protections, and ruthless exploitation by their employers led them to walk off their jobs in a series of strikes across the country.

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The strengthening of the police, state militia, and the United States Army to prepare for future conflicts became one of the most enduring legacies of the Great Strike. Within two weeks of the strike, Chicago authorities developed a plan to augment their police force and the Illinois militia.

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The railroad opened the way for the settlement of the West, provided new economic opportunities, stimulated the development of town and communities, and generally tied the country together.

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What was the main reason the United States government intervened in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877? The government took action to end the strike in response to public demands in support of the railroad companies. The government sided with the labor unions and sent troops to protect railroad workers.

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The size and scale of the 1877 strike rattled company executives and elected officials. Nearly two decades later, the American Railway Union—considered the first major railroad union—played a pivotal role in the 1894 Pullman Strike and marked a turning point in national labor organizing.

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Eugene V. Debs was the president of the American Railway Union (ARU), which represented about one-third of the Pullman workers and which had concluded a successful strike against the Great Northern Railway Company in April 1894.

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