Great Strike Ignites the Nation!

The Great Strike of 1877 began showing its first signs on the B&O Line in Baltimore on July 16th 1877, and although unrest there was initially suppressed, trainmen in Martinsburg, West Virginia went on strike the next day and news from Martinsburg helped re-ignite discontent in Baltimore. Citizens rose up in support of workers and met violent opposition from the Maryland National Guard. Within a week, the strike had spread to more than a dozen lines and extended from New York State west to the Rockies and south to Texas. Mass rallies took place in Buffalo, Albany, Trenton, Boston, and New York City, a crowd of 10,000 people in Chicago fended off police attacks, and a general strike in Saint Louis lasted five days. Overall, an estimated 100,000 people participated in the strike and the popular uprising that followed in many cities across the country.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · United States