The Chicago railroad strike of 1877 was a series of work stoppages and civil unrest in Chicago, Illinois, which occurred as part of the larger national strikes and rioting of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Meetings of working men in Chicago on July 26 led to workers from a number of industries striking on the following morning, and over the next few days, large crowds gathered throughout the city, resulting in violent clashes with police. By the time order was restored on the evening of July 26, 14 to 30 rioters were dead or dying, and 35 to 100 civilian and nine to 13 policemen were wounded.
The Long Depression and the Great Strikes
The Long Depression, sparked in the United States by the Panic of 1873, had far-reaching implications for US industry, closing more than a hundred railroads in the first year and cutting construction of new rail lines from of track in 1872 to in 1875. Approximately 18,000 businesses failed between 1873 and 1875, production in iron and steel dropped as much as 45 percent, and a million or more lost their jobs. In 1876, 76 railroad companies went bankrupt or entered receivership in the US alone, and the economic impacts rippled throughout many economic sectors throughout the industrialized world.
During the summer of 1877, tensions erupted across the nation in what would become known as the Great Railroad Strike or simply the Great Strikes. Work stoppage was followed by civil unrest across the nation. Violence began in Martinsburg, West Virginia and spread along the rail lines through Baltimore and on to several major cities and transportation hubs of the time, including Reading, Scranton and Shamokin, Pennsylvania; and a bloodless general strike in St. Louis, Missouri. In the worst case, rioting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania left 61 dead and 124 injured. Much of the city's center was burned, including more than a thousand rail cars destroyed. What began as the peaceful actions of organized labor attracted the masses of working discontent and unemployed of the depression, along with others who took opportunistic advantage of the chaos. In total, an estimated 100,000 workers participated nationwide. State and federal troops followed the unrest as it spread along the rail lines from city to city, beginning in Baltimore, where the movement of troops itself provoked a violent response that eventually required federal intervention to quell.
Chicago
By the time unrest reached Chicago, reports had widely circulated of burning, looting, and violence in major cities including Baltimore and Pittsburgh. This served to grow tensions, as newspapers reported the march of unrest westward, but it also afforded officials to the opportunity to prepare, a luxury other cities had not enjoyed, as they had been forced to hastily swear in police and muster militia after violence was well underway.
In Chicago there existed a substantial organized communist movement, who viewed the strikes approaching from the east as an opportunity to further their cause. On July 22 they released a statement:
In the desperate struggle for existence now being maintained by the workingmen of the great railroads throughout the land, we expect that every member will render all possible moral and substantial assistance to our brethren, and support all reasonable measures which may be found necessary by them.
They sought two main goals: the nationalization of the rail and telegraph lines by the federal government, and the institution of an eight-hour workday, which they believed would provide room for more of the unemployed to enter the workforce.
Throughout the day meetings were held by the men of the Michigan Southern, Rock Island, Chicago & North Western, and the Milwaukee & St. Paul railroads. Although they were secret meetings, and no record was kept of their goings on, a letter from Chicago characterized the effect of the workers: "One thing has been apparent all day. Where the men were silent yesterday, they freely discuss the practicability of a strike today." The decision was made to suspend movement on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago line until the excitement had passed.
July 23
City authorities prepared for potential unrest in earnest, deploying muskets to police stations and equipping a newly created artillery company with three cannons. The governor ordered local militia to the ready to assist civil authorities if called upon to do so. There were multiple confrontations between crowds and police, forcing the police to retire.