Section 3, Chapter 6
THE STRIKES TURN VIOLENT
I. Strikes Turn Violent
A. The Great Strike of 1877-In July of 1877, workers from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad....
1. Most freight and even some passenger traffic, covering.....
2. To "keep the peace" and break the strike, state militia units from Philadelphia were
ordered to Pittsburgh. The crowds, loudly protesting the troops' presence and
expressing support for the strikers, sought to prevent military action. The militiamen
responded with a bayonet charge that resulted in injuries and provoked a hail of
rocks from some sections of those assembled. The troops then....
3. As word of the massacre spread the militia thought about using a Gatlin gun to
disperse the enraged crowd. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed. Many in
the angry crowd went on to set fire to the rail yards. The fire destroyed....
4. On July 26, however, regular troops of the U.S. Army joined with......
5. This was the first time in U.S. history that......
B. The Haymarket Affair
1. On May Day 1886, the workers at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. in Chicago
began a strike in the hope of....
2. The following day, May 4, a large rally was planned by anarchist leaders to protest
alleged police brutality. A crowd of 20,000 demonstrators was anticipated at
Haymarket Square, where...
3. The gathering was peaceful until a police official, in contravention of the mayor's
instructions, sent units into the crowd to force it to disperse. At that juncture...
4. In the end, eight anarchists were put on trial and seven were convicted of
conspiracy to commit murder. Four were hanged in November 1887...