The Baltimore railroad strike of 1877 was a major episode of labor unrest that prompted federal military intervention and exposed tensions between workers and capital in post-Civil War America.
Key Facts
- Strike start date
- July 16, 1877
- Violence erupted
- July 20, 1877
- Killed
- Between 10 and 22 people
- Injured
- More than 150 people
- Additional police recruited
- 500 officers
- Traffic resumed
- July 29, 1877
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the global depression and economic downturns of the mid-1870s, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad scheduled a 10% wage reduction effective July 16, 1877. This cut, part of broader austerity measures across the railroad industry, provoked workers to walk off the job, triggering strikes that formed part of the nationwide Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
Strikes broke out along the B&O on July 16, and violence erupted in Baltimore on July 20 when police and Maryland National Guard soldiers clashed with crowds of thousands. President Hayes ordered federal troops to the city, local officials recruited 500 additional police, and two new national guard regiments were formed to restore order, which was achieved by July 22.
Negotiations between strikers and the B&O failed, and most strikers quit rather than accept the reduced wages. The company replaced them under military and police protection, resuming traffic by July 29. The B&O made minor concessions and later enacted select reforms, but the strike ultimately illustrated the power of employers backed by state force against organized labor.
Political Outcome
Strikers were replaced under military protection; B&O traffic resumed July 29 with minor company concessions and select later reforms.
Workers on strike halting B&O Railroad operations amid wage cuts
Railroad operations restored under federal and state military protection, strikers replaced