The Great Railroad Strike of 1877: The Uprising That Shocked the Nation

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Whereas it is provided in the Constitution of the United States that the United States shall protect every State in this Union, on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence; and

Whereas the governor of the State of West Virginia has represented that domestic violence exists in said State at Martinsburg, and at various other points along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in said State, which the authorities of said State are unable to suppress; and

Whereas the laws of the United States require that in all cases of insurrection in any State or of obstruction to the laws thereof, whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the President, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within a limited time:

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States, do hereby admonish all good citizens of the United States and all persons within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States against aiding, countenancing, abetting, or taking part in such unlawful proceedings; and I do hereby warn all persons engaged in or connected with said domestic violence and obstruction of the laws to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before 12 o'clock noon of the 19th day of July instant.

• Rutherford B Hayes, July 18th, 1877

Hey everyone, welcome back. 

A brief program note before we begin. The events of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 include both the invocation of the insurrection act as well as the use of federal and state troops to stop the strike. Realizing that state-sanctioned violence is not just something that occurred in the past and is a present situation for folks in various parts of the world, this episode may feel a little too heavy for some when it is released in January 2026. Although the episode will not be focused on the violence, it does crop up and thus you may not be in a place to listen. My heart goes out to my neighbors in Minnesota - know that I am sending love and support from California. And with that, let's begin. 

While the Gilded Age is known as a period of innovation, there was no other technological development that had as profound an impact on the United States as the railroad. In the aftermath of the Civil War, American railroad construction exploded and became one of the largest employers in the country - becoming second only to agriculture. The railroad truly transformed the country - it made western expansion easier - saying nothing of the forced displacement of the indigenous Americans who had lived on the land for generations; it boosted the nation’s economy, creating new markets wherever a new station was built and enabled businesses to ship goods farther than ever before. The railroad also democratized travel - making the experience of moving from city to city a much cheaper and faster experience than it had been just a generation prior. 

But building and sustaining the rail also demanded massive capital investments and made it an industry that was primed for pervasive speculation. This created a significant level of financial risk for anyone who got involved which included the federal government who helped subsidize financing of the railroad through generous land grants and bonds. Although everything seemed okay on the surface, the unchecked speculation eventually caused significant damage, helping to launch the Great Panic of 1873 when Jay Cooke - one of the nation’s wealthiest financiers and largest railroad speculators - over extended himself to the point where he could no longer pay his liabilities and was forced to close his firm. As I’ve covered in a previous episode, his closure sent shockwaves throughout the country, sending the nation’s economy into a tailspin and prompting its first major depression. 

Four years later in 1877, the United States was still dealing with the economic setbacks brought on by the panic as the nation wrestled with the prolonged depression. But despite whatever economic chaos railroad companies - and more specifically, railroad executives and railroad speculators - brought to bear due to their mismanagement, unethical behavior, and unquenchable thirst for money - the fact remained that the railroad remained a vital part of the U.S. economy and still employed a significant number of Americans. They were - to borrow a parlance that may sound familiar to a certain age group - too big to fail. And even if the railroad hadn’t become a vital piece of the American economy, railroad executives were incredibly wealthy, powerful people who commanded a significant amount of influence. They frequently dined with members of state and federal governments and more than one Congressman lined their pockets with railroad company stock and who coincidentally voted favorably whenever legislation about said company came across their desk. It is under these circumstances that our story about the great strike begins. 

One of the preeminent historians of the period, Richard White describes the strike as quote, “the story of how a conflict in the state of Pennsylvania went national,” end quote. How so? Most who are familiar with the railroad strike know that it originated in response to announced wage cuts in the summer of 1877 - but what exactly prompted those proposed cuts? Was it just simple greed? Or was there something else at play? Enter Tom Scott and the Pennsylvania Railroad. Concerned about John D. Rockefeller’s continued movements to take over the oil industry, Scott partnered with Joseph Potts, president of the Empire Transport Company to challenge Rockefeller's control over the oil industry. It would prove to be a costly decision with deadly consequences.

John D. Rockefeller had a well-earned reputation as a ruthless businessman. After learning of Scott & Potts’ scheme, Rockefeller went after both men. He ordered his cars to be taken off of Scott’s Pennsylvania rail line and threatened Scott that he would cease doing business with the railroad unless Empire Transport Company got out of the oil business. When Scott refused, Rockefeller essentially went scorched earth against his business nemesis - he closed his refinery in Pittsburgh - and any other refinery served by Scott’s railroad - and worked with competitors to slash prices, forcing Scott to reduce his prices if he wanted to stay competitive. 

Desperate for cash, Scott tried to secure a loan from Andrew Carnegie - but Carnegie, failing to see an adequate return on investment - refused. While battling Rockefeller over oil dominance, Scott also tried to maintain a 10% dividend return for stockholders on the railroad - which became increasingly harder to do. Thus, Scott began to cut wages and lay off employees, while increasing demands on those who remained, extending the work week to 60 hours without an equivalent raise in pay. All told, this amounted to a roughly 20% reduction in overall compensation. Despite these dramatic measures, Scott still struggled to hit the desired 10% dividend rate, finally reducing it to 6% in May of 1877 before announcing another series of wage cuts for his workers effective June 1st.

However, Scott was not operating in a vacuum. The Pennsylvania Railroad was part of a group known as the Eastern Trunk Line Association. Led by Albert Fink, the group included several eastern railroad companies who had a loose partnership and divided the traffic headed west. Thus, when Scott announced the wage cut for his workers, the companies that were part of the association followed suit and announced their own wage cut scheduled for July 1st. As historian Richard White describes quote: “When Scott went forward with his wage cut, he set a timer  on a bomb that he did not think would explode. What followed looked less like a conventional strike than a social revolution,” end quote. White’s classification of social revolution stems from the fact that strike participants stretched beyond those who worked for the railroad to include average Americans who had also been negatively impacted by the unethical business decisions of the railroad companies and saw the strike as their opportunity to voice their displeasure. 

But for the workers who did join in - the strike was about more than a cut to their wages - it was about everything else they were facing: the change in working conditions; the chaotic and unpredictable work schedules, the lack of job security, the extended hours. In fact, when workers issued their demands to the railroads, only one of the seven items listed addressed concerns about wages. 

The strike began in Camden, Maryland before quickly spreading to Martinsburg, Virginia on July 14th. In Martinsburg, trainmen from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad announced a blockade on all freight traffic until their wages were restored. By nightfall, a crowd had gathered in support and in a theme that would be repeated throughout towns across the country, the strike became quote “as much a community rebellion against the railroads as a work action,” end quote. Those that gathered may not have been employed by the railroad, but their lives had nonetheless been upended and they took this chance to stand in solidarity with their neighbors and stand up against the magnates who seemed to hold too much control. 

Initially, the strikers enjoyed public support - both in the press and by local law enforcement. After all, the strikers still permitted passenger trains to go through and had thus far managed to keep the situation stable. But B&O railroad president John Garret was not going to negotiate and decided it was time to call in some favors to end the strike quickly. Thus, he made a call to Governor Henry Matthews asking that he send troops in to break the strike. Violence erupted when a striker shot at a militiaman who was helping move a cattle train. The militiaman returned fire and both were wounded and the striker later died from his injuries. This incident was the first and last bit of violence in Martinsburg. Again from Richard White quote, “strikebreakers were not willing to attempt to move other trains, and with no trains moving and no further violence, the militia, sympathetic to the strikers, withdrew,” end quote. The Governor next ordered the militia to come in from neighboring Wheeling, but they too were sympathetic to the workers’ cause and refused to engage violently against the strikers. This refusal to bend and return to work infuriated railroad executives who continued to apply pressure on government officials to do everything in their power to force compliance - by any means necessary. 

The loudest demands for federal troops did not come from state governments, but from railroad executives. Unhappy with the progress of the state militia in putting down the strike, railroad president Garrett demanded federal troop intervention. Although troops had been used to intervene in labor disputes in territories, such intervention had not yet been done in a state before - again from historian Richard White quote: “using troops in a strike represented a more radical extension of federal power than using them to protect voters in the south, where there was specific legislation that sanctioned their use,” end quote. To send troops in to end a labor dispute was unchartered territory. And despite disagreeing in principle with deploying federal troops, President Hayes relented, declaring the strikes unlawful and quote “insurrectionary proceedings,” end quote. 

And in a moment that - in my opinion - perfectly captures the audacity of the moment - the railroad companies - who loudly and forcefully demanded federal intervention - gave the troops a ride to Martinsburg - and sent a bill for said fare to the federal government. Perhaps feeling emboldened by the president’s initial authorization, Scott demanded upwards of 75,000 volunteers to quash the strike - one demand Hayes refused. But before Garrett - or Pennsylvania Railroad president Tom Scott - could get too angry with the president for failing to take what they believed was necessary action, the President invoked the Insurrection Act on July 18th. Part of the law requires that the President issue an order to disperse, giving Americans an opportunity to deescalate the situation before troops are actually deployed - which is the message he released and I read at the beginning of the episode. 

The strike next spread to Pittsburgh where railway workers successfully stopped all freight movement on July 20th and militia were shipped in from Philadelphia where they started clearing tracks and rail yards of strikers. In the chaos, soldiers fired into the crowd, killing upwards of 20 people and wounding anywhere between 30 and 70. The local Pittsburgh militia deserted, leaving the Philadelphia-based soldiers on their own. Angered over the violence, mobs descended upon the area and by July 23rd, they’d successfully driven the militia from the city. They looted and burned roughly 2,000 railroad cars, 40 buildings, and destroyed roughly 3 miles of Pennsylvania Railroad property. 

The strike spread west and hit cities like Chicago, St. Louis, and even San Francisco where the Workingman’s Party put out a call for a rally on July 23rd. It is estimated that between 8 and 10 thousand people participated but that instead of focusing their attention against the railroad executives, those in the crowd decided to attack their Chinese neighbors. In Chicago, the Mayor initially refused to send in police or the militia to suppress the strike, but as violence increased, support for the workers and strike plummeted the mayor faced continued pressure from organizations such as the Citizens Alliance to have a more forceful response. On July 26th, confrontation between strikers and police at the Halsted Street Viaduct led to 30 dead and some 200 people wounded, including 18 police officers - prompting President Hayes to send in another round of federal troops to Chicago. 

Although the strike started as a railroad strike, it eventually evolved into more of a general strike - especially in cities like St. Louis - as workers from a variety of industries walked off the job. It is estimated that roughly 100,000 people across the country participated with some estimates putting the damage at over $10 million. One of the most amazing features of the strike was how decentralized it was. There was no massive coordination, organization or leadership. It spread organically thanks, in part, due to the advancements in technology where news could spread quickly through the telegraph. Unfortunately this disorganization may have also been their achilles heel. Since there was no organization or no singular authority, it was hard to negotiate and identify demands and the strike fizzled out almost as quickly as it began. 

But it wasn’t completely a lost cause - Pennsylvania Railroad president Tom Scott - the man who triggered the strike by implementing draconian cuts in pay over a desire to compete with John D. Rockefeller in the oil business was ruined. The damage done to his company and its holdings was too much and he was forced to cancel dividend payments, causing the stock to plummet. Scott got out of the oil business and sold it to his business nemesis John D. Rockefeller for pennies on the dollar. 

And while the strike may not have achieved any tangible wins, it planted the seeds for future labor organizing. Learning from the strike that having an organized focused approach would increase chances at victory, several trade unions cropped up in the aftermath of the strike, including the American Railway Union which would prove a key role in the Pullman Strike in 1894. 

The Great Strike of 1877 demonstrated that despite their influence and their wealth, not even the railroad magnates could intimidate their workers. The strike also illustrated the power of collective action, paving the way for future national labor organizations. 

Before I sign off today, I want to share my gratitude to Elle Mott for supporting the show through Buy Me a Coffee. Your donations go to things like hosting fees and research material so I can keep creating episodes each week - so thank you very much. If you want to learn more about ways you can support the podcast, be sure to check out the website at www dot civics and coffee dot com. 

Thanks, peeps. I will see you next week.