who was involved in the great railroad strike of 1877
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 , sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval , began on July 14 in Martinsburg , West Virginia , United States after the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad ( B&O ) cut wages for the third time in a year . This strike finally ended some 45 days later , after it was put down by local and state militias , and federal troops . Because of economic problems and pressure on wages by the railroads , workers in numerous other cities , in New York , Pennsylvania and Maryland , into Illinois and Missouri , also went out on strike . An estimated 100 people were killed in the unrest across the country . In Martinsburg , Pittsburgh , Philadelphia and other cities , workers burned down and destroyed both physical facilities and the rolling stock of the railroads -- engines and railroad cars . Local populations feared that workers were rising in revolution such as the Paris Commune of 1871 .
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 , sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval , began on July 14 in Martinsburg , West Virginia , United States after the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad ( B&O ) cut wages for the third time in a year . This strike finally ended some 45 days later , after it was put down by local and state militias , and federal troops . Because of economic problems and pressure on wages by the railroads , workers in numerous other cities , in New York , Pennsylvania and Maryland , into Illinois and Missouri , also went out on strike . An estimated 100 people were killed in the unrest across the country . In Martinsburg , Pittsburgh , Philadelphia and other cities , workers burned down and destroyed both physical facilities and the rolling stock of the railroads -- engines and railroad cars . Local populations feared that workers were rising in revolution such as the Paris Commune of 1871 .