Great Railroad Strike of 1877

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Strikers blocking a train carrying strike breakers from the New York National Guard in Corning, New York

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began in mid-July of 1877 when two brakemen working for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in West Virginia refused to work after a third pay cut. The rest of the crew joined the strike, which spread to 15,000 workers across several states within a week. It was one of the largest strikes in U.S. history and included over 100,000 strikers at its peak. The Workingmen's Party of America supported the strike.^[1]

Repression

10 state governments called in 45,000 National Guard troops to end the strike. In Baltimore, Maryland, they fired on crowds of strikers and sympathetic non-rail workers, killing 10 and wounding 25. In response, workers in Pennsylvania raided armories and stationed armed guards in trenches. Federal troops eventually put down the strike, killing about 100 people and arresting over 1,000.^[1]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Paul Wilcox (2022-12-05). "The Great Railroad Strike of 1877: A militant legacy of workers’ struggle" Liberation School. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2022-12-17.

[:0-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Paul Wilcox (2022-12-05). "The Great Railroad Strike of 1877: A militant legacy of workers’ struggle" Liberation School. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2022-12-17.

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