U.S History The great Railroad strike

the strike eventually involved

80,000 RR workers and affected two thirds of the nations railway

it took 12 bloody days

For police,state militias, and federal troops to restore order.

Great Railroad Strike

July, 1877 - A large number of railroad workers went on strike because of wage cuts for the third time.

as word spread, railroad workers

across the country walked off the job

wage cuts

Martinsburg,West Virginia, workers walked off the jobs and blocked the tracks

declaring a state of "insurrection,"

President Hayes sent troops to stop the rioting in Martinsburg, Baltimore,Pittsburgh, and elsewhere

What happened after the Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Railroad workers walked off the job in other states and seriously disrupted commerce in the East and Midwest.

Angry strikers

Smashed equipments, tore up tracks, and blocked rail service in New York,Baltimore,Pittsburgh,St. Louis, and chicago

The governors of several states called out their militias

in many places ,gun battles erupted between the militia and the strikers .

10 million

in railroad property had been destroyed

the violence of this strike alarmed

many americans and only further contributed to the idea that allowing workers to organize was dangerous to society

by the time the strike collapsed

more than 100 people lay dead

By the end of August 1877

the great railroad strike ended

What finally brought the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 to an end

the strike had ended primarily due to federal government intervention, the use of state militias, and the employment of strikebreakers by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company.

the panic of 1873

was a severe recession that struck the American economy and forced many companies to cut wages