The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

The History and Legacy of the Protests Across America over Wages and Labor Conditions

By: Charles River Editors

Narrated by: Steve Knupp

“The Eagle has never been called upon to chronicle a more horrible slaughter of its peace and law-abiding citizens as is its duty to-day...The pavements, sidewalks and streets in the vicinity of 7th and Penn streets, were literally baptized in blood.” (Reading Eagle, July 24, 1877)

When trains were introduced as a popular means of transportation, some of the first tracks laid terminated in New York, and the expansion of railroads led to the birth of train stations across the country. In general, these were small buildings where passengers could buy tickets and wait for their trains to arrive. Trains were run by steam as far south as 14th Street and pulled from there by horses. If it is hard to conceive of large box cars or even heavier locomotives being pulled by horse, it’s important to remember that the first train cars were little more than traditional carriages designed to move on iron tracks.

Initially, the nation’s railway system was a fragmented, often chaotic system, but Cornelius Vanderbilt went about creating an interregional system, integrating a network of smaller railroads that ran according to their own policies, procedures, and even timetables. It was not only more customer-friendly, but it helped lower shipping costs and created a more efficient system of transporting goods and people. This led to the creation of one of the nation’s first corporations, the New York Central and Hudson Railroad. Under the leadership of Vanderbilt’s son Billy, the New York Central and Hudson became one of the most profitable businesses in America, and by 1869, Cornelius Vanderbilt owned all of the railroads that brought traffic to and from New York City.

While companies competed with each other, the employees themselves were often squeezed, not only working long hours in hazardous conditions, but making pitiful pay. Put simply, in an age before widespread labor regulations were enacted and unions organized, the employers exercised nearly absolute power over employees.

Things ultimately came to a head for workers on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1877, which came in the wake of the Panic of 1873. That September, several substantial American banks, including the Fourth National Bank in New York City, failed, setting off a national financial panic. The failure had actually been set off two years earlier when Germany extracted a large indemnity in gold from France after the Franco-Prussian War and then ceased minting silver coins. The first symptoms of the crisis were financial failures in the Austro-Hungarian capital, Vienna, which then spread to most of Europe and North America by 1873. Hardest hit were bankers, manufacturers, and finally, the farmers of the South and West.

In response to the economic downturn, officials for the B&O Railroad cut workers’ wages in 1877, and that triggered a strike that led to similar protest across the country. At least 100,000 railway workers went on strike, and many of them were Civil War veterans, perhaps tempering the public view. Tens of thousands of workers from other industries also went on strike, sometimes in support of railroad strikers and sometimes seeking improvements in their wages. Many of the country’s newspapers, which then had a powerful influence unimaginable today, blamed the strikes on Communists and Communist sympathizers.

During the protests, 11 states called out the militia to repress strikers, a total of at least 45,000 men. The War Department sent some 2,000 troops to various cities under order from President Rutherford B. Hayes. In the ensuing chaos, police, militiamen, and other forces battled protesters for months, leading to dozens of killed and injured before the protests finally subsided."

©2022 Charles River Editors (P)2022 Charles River Editors