Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Great Railroad Strike of 1877
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Title	Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Date	July–September 1877
Place	United States
Causes	Wage cuts, Panic of 1873, Railroad consolidation
Methods	Strikes, Riots, Work stoppages
Result	Federal intervention, formation of labor organizations

Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was a nationwide series of railroad strikes and violent protests that erupted in the United States in July 1877 in response to wage cuts by major railroad companies during the Long Depression. The strike began on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and spread through key industrial centers, involving workers, urban militias, state governors, and federal troops, and influencing later developments such as the rise of the Knights of Labor and Progressive Era labor reforms.

Background and Causes

The strike's roots lay in the Panic of 1873 and the ensuing Long Depression that affected the United States and global markets, prompting wage reductions by firms like the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad. Rapid railroad expansion after the Transcontinental Railroad era, consolidation by financiers such as Jay Gould and Cornelius Vanderbilt, and tariff debates in the aftermath of the Panic of 1873 reshaped corporate power and labor relations. Labor organization attempts by groups including the Knights of Labor, the National Labor Union, and local trade unions collided with industrial policies of owners like Collis P. Huntington and Thomas A. Scott, while political responses from figures such as Rutherford B. Hayes and state leaders intensified disputes. Technological change—telegraph networks operated by companies like the Western Union—aided rapid news dissemination, enabling coordinated actions across cities like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Chicago.

Outbreak and Chronology

The immediate spark occurred when firemen and brakemen on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad struck in Martinsburg, West Virginia, after a 10 percent wage cut imposed by management during a depression influenced by financiers including Jay Cooke. Within days, strikes and sympathetic walkouts spread to hubs such as Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and St. Louis, as telegraph lines and railroad riders relayed reports similar to contemporary dispatches in the New York Tribune and The New York Times. Confrontations escalated into riots and property destruction, with militia clashes reminiscent of earlier labor confrontations like the Great Chicago Fire period unrest and echoing the suppression tactics used during the Haymarket affair decade later. State governors such as John Hartranft of Pennsylvania and federal officials including President Rutherford B. Hayes debated invoking the Militia Act of 1792 and deploying regiments from units like the United States Army and state militias including the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Key Locations and Events

Violence peaked in industrial centers: in Baltimore rioters burned railroad depots and fought the Baltimore Police Department; in Pittsburgh clashes with militia under Governor John Hartranft resulted in dozens killed and significant damage to property including facilities owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad; in St. Louis and Chicago mobs targeted rail yards and freight depots operated by firms tied to magnates such as Adolphus Busch and Marshall Field. In Martinsburg, the initial strike persuaded railroad workers to block trains, while in Harrisburg and Reading, Pennsylvania local strikes disrupted coal shipments linked to companies like the Reading Railroad. Events in Cincinnati and Middletown, Ohio illustrated tensions between railroad clerks, brakemen, and local law enforcement, with state troops and federal regiments—some units traceable to posts like Fort McHenry—called out to restore order.

Government and Military Response

State and federal responses combined gubernatorial requests for troops with Presidential decisions to protect mail and interstate commerce, prompting President Rutherford B. Hayes to order federal troops into cities including Baltimore and Pittsburgh under statutes such as the Insurrection Act. The use of the United States Army, militia units like the Massachusetts National Guard, and local police forces generated controversy about civil liberties and the balance of power between laborers and officials, echoing debates from the Whiskey Ring and debates in Congress involving figures such as Samuel J. Tilden. Military engagements, martial law declarations in some jurisdictions, and prosecutions of strike leaders strained relations between labor advocates in organizations like the Knights of Labor and politicians in state legislatures and the United States Congress.

Labor and Social Impact

The strike highlighted class tensions among industrial workers, railroad clerks, brakemen, and firemen, connecting laborers in coalfields, docks, and urban factories in cities like Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Cleveland. Media coverage by newspapers such as the New York Tribune, The New York Times, and regional presses shaped public opinion, while civic responses from mayors, business leaders like J. P. Morgan associates, and reformers influenced subsequent organizing. The upheaval accelerated labor consolidation efforts, contributed to the growth of the Knights of Labor and later the American Federation of Labor, and provoked debates over strike tactics, collective bargaining, and the rights of workers versus railroad corporations like the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Aftermath and Legacy

In the aftermath, railroad companies reinforced security, employers formed organizations to resist labor actions, and legislatures enacted measures affecting labor-management relations, influencing later episodes such as the Pullman Strike and policy shifts in the Progressive Era. The strike's suppression by federal troops shaped legal precedents used in subsequent labor disputes and informed the tactics of labor leaders like Terence V. Powderly and industrialists including Henry Clay Frick. Commemorations, historiography in works published by historians of the Gilded Age, and archival collections in repositories documenting figures like Samuel Gompers trace the strike's role in American labor history and its contribution to debates over regulation, corporate consolidation, and worker rights.

Category:Labor history of the United States