The Great Strike of 1877

The Great Strike of 1877 On July 16, 1877, in Martinsburg, West Virginia began the Great Strike of 1877. On this day railroad workers for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad were informed of a ten percent wage cut; this was the second cut like this in eight months. After one train crew abandoned their post other workers followed and the strike was under way. Strikers forbade any trains through the town of Martinsburg. Local authorities were sent out but were …

…example railroad owners had a law passed making it illegal to go on strike with out returning locomotives to the roundhouse (strikers obeyed these laws). In conclusion, the strike ended just as quickly as it started. The Government sent troop to put an end to the striking by going city by city. Bloodshed took place through out this strike, over a hundred strikers died. These events showed American how it would handle such a crisis.