There has been an enormous productivity rate and remarkable peace in the labor-management of America in the past century, up to date. However, this development was not easily achieved. The establishment of rights of workers to have unions and a say in work rules took years of economic upheaval, political battles, and industrial strife. Before the 1930s, workers in the United States did not have the rights to bargain collectively. As such, railroads workers in the 1870s who protested due to the cut wages and poor working conditions were referred to as communists and anarchists. Many people related the strikers to the violent upheavals that took place in the year 1871 in France, known as the Paris Commune. The achievement of the right of workers to unionize remains a remarkable struggle. The struggle involved overcoming both the ethnic divisions in the working class and the resistance of the employers. In the late nineteenth century, many employers employed workers from different ethnic groups with the intention of making unionization more difficult. The bitter disputes that busted in the American rail coalfields and yards in the year 1877 give an illustration of the depth of labor conflict in the post-Civil War. Various presidents had different policies on the railroads in 1877- World War I.
President Ulysses Grant ruled in the U.S from the year 1869 to 1877. During this time, various financial institutions in the Eastern region were doing so badly owing to a widespread failure to service loans. There was panic in the nation which led to the closure of many banks. Also, people suffered an economic depression as the stock market stability went down. As a result, more than 90 railroads collapsed as they were not in business. A lot of farmers were affected as there were no means of transporting their produce to the market. Perishable products went to waste as they got spoiled. There was a downward cycle in the new states industrialized economy as more than 20000 companies were forced to close shop. Due to the frustrations from the Stock exchange collapse, the American civilian population was left frustrated. The frustrations of Americans were expressed by their violent actions towards the available targets that include banks, governments, immigrants, businesses, and corporations. 1
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During Grant's presidency, there was enormous political corruption. However, Grant's presidency provides insights into the complex difficulties that he faced in the post Civil War period. Some of these difficulties majored on the necessity to restore the financial equilibrium of the country after the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln, whom Grant succeeded, sought methods to end the government's over-deployment of the American military. He passed an act assertively deciding on the use of printed money. About $350 million was printed in the civil war era. The money was purposed to fund salaries of the soldiers, supplies of the military, and the railroads. The printed money was not backed by gold and silver but was in the form of promissory notes that had values based on the confidence of investment bankers who were wealthy. President Grant had a policy of returning specie backed money, gold and silver, when he took office. He also abolished income tax in the year 1872. He argued that returning the use of specie money was a necessary step for the railroads. President Grant believed that this strategy would lead to future financial stability of America. He also thought that the strategy would facilitate industrial overexpansion, particularly of the railroads and curb potential economic disasters. Many Americans saw the act of keeping the military in the South to enforce federal law as expensive. However, there was an urgent necessity to deploy the military to quell the ongoing labor strikes such as the great railroad strikes in 1877 that resulted partly due to the poor wages brought about by specie backed money payments.
The United States took almost twelve years to bring the nation to its position after the adverse period of war. The reconstruction came to an end with lots of positive changes, especially to the railroads. Rutherford B. Hayes, a Republican, the then president, had only served office for four months. His presidency was hardly won because Hayes had lost some of the popular votes to Samuel Tilden, New York's Governor. 2 However, Hayes won the presidential elections with the help of the partisan Electoral College. Just before the World War I in the Northern parts, the industrial growth had spread in many regions changing the nation's economic standards. Changes in the economic growth changed Hayes's relationship to both his work and to the nation's work. During his presidency, Hayes ordered the federal troops to intervene during a labor dispute of the railroad workers. During this time, there were no antitrust laws in place. As a result, four main railroad companies privately decided to raise their rates and cut wages. This led to the president's use of the military in an aggressive manner. The specie issue from Grant's administration remained an issue. An 1875 law required the government to begin redeeming devalued Civil War era greenbacks for gold beginning on January 1, 1879. Another law passed in 1878 regulated the government's use of silver in coins. Hayes ordered the Treasury Secretary to coin the minimum amount allowed by the law and the economy did improve.
The World War I was devastating for the civilians, for the police force, and for the states. It affected a lot of businesses as the nation's economic stability enhanced more production of food which was to be used for both the home front and the battlefield. The economy boomed many agribusiness entrepreneurs as food production was necessary during the period. The numerous technological advancements boosted innovation. For instance, the manufacturing technological advancement (Bessemer process) was important in the steel industry because the technique used less amount of coal as compared to the previously used manufacturing technology. The technological advancements in steam engines and also water power machines increased the revenues made from shipping business. Within a short period, New York City, a center for commerce operations and mercantilism, changed to a hub of selling and money and also became the home of New York City's Stock Exchange.
Some of the businessmen such as Drew and Cornelius became more successful from the prosperity of their business. However, the economic foundation and the future of the States belonged to the younger generation. Greed money, much advancement in technology and also the lack of regulations and policies from the government led to the formation of reforms of various corporations and firms. Railroads were among the many businesses that grew big. Frequently, the regional lines had monopolies on the transport and freight charges. In fact, the freight industry received a total of$250 million just from the railroad charges in the year 1870. After a period of 10 years, freight profits raised up to $600 million on the railroads' earnings. Most of the farmers were tied to the policies and regulations of railroads charges, and this made them take their concerns to the authorities, the Supreme Court.
The value of labor in the United States was greatly transformed by the change shift to an industrial economy from an agrarian economy. The effects of declined revenues beyond the acceptable limits for the stakeholders were dismissal or reduced wages of workers. Business owners were provided with a constant source of cheap labor due to the constantly increasing number of immigrants who were in need of sources of income and the rural dwellers who moved to the urban industrial areas. Such individuals were willing to work even in the most deplorable conditions. By 1870s, the workers were not yet organized and their unions were not protected or sanctioned by the federal government.
America's 28th president, Woodrow Wilson, led the country through World War I from the year 1914 to 1918. The President served in office from the year 1913 to 1921. He was an advocate for world peace and democracy and is currently ranked as one of the country's greatest presidents. The president pursued ambitious agendas that led to progressive reforms which include establishments of Federal Trade Commission, Federal Reserve, and Labor Reforms, especially for the railroad workers. The railroads' takeover of the U.S government during World War I caused the long process of intervention that resulted to the democratic, economic, and political repercussions during the presidential term of Wilson. Until World War I, the railroad was the most productive industry with respect to the state intervention. The railroads' industry had special privileges. The U.S government often gave the railroads a tax status that was favorable and also ensured the use of eminent domain for land acquisitions through incorporations.
The railroads were granted subsidies by the federal and state authorities of above $350 million between the years 1861 and 1890. The subsidies were offered as part of the government commitments to the internal improvements of the country's development. The government also granted the industry more than 130 million acres of the federal land and more than forty million acres of the state land. However, the fund of railway construction after the year 1873 was from private capital. The land grants of the government were less than ten percent of the total investment of the railways. The major significance of the direct aid from the government was seen in the time of underdevelopment of factors of production and the great inflationary expansion of the supply of money that results in the Civil War. These conditions caused a major economic malinvestment followed by the great depression in the 1870s.
An industry that is protected from market pricing system faces challenges in promoting any kind of rational economic calculations. The railroads' result was a state of economic chaos. Railroads were the face of the economy during the 1870s. The expansion and reconstruction of railroads took place in the late 1900s, and by the end of the nineteenth century, the size of the United States government was rivaled by railways corporations. Railroads had approximately one-sixth of United States capital investments by 1900. The industrial economy was powered by railroads. Iron and steel produced in the United States before the 1890s was consumed by railroads. Railroads became the country's largest consumer of lumber and steel and a major coal consumer. The railroads also facilitated the distribution of these commodities across the country. 3 However, there were times when the railroads threatened to throw the economy of America into the abyss. This was a result of the overbuilding of rail corporations, reckless borrowings, and atrocious management. There was rampant economic collapse caused by the descent of railroads and its associate banks in the late nineteenth century.
The misery of working people throughout the history of America is attributed to the great strike that caused a major economic downturn. Evictions, wage cuts, strikes, layoffs, and hunger increased on a weekly basis. Thousands of unemployed workers together with their families suffered as they were on the brink of starvation. The depression stretched into the year 1874, and the unemployed started to demand work as unions fought wage cuts. Millions of people suffered for months in mounting miseries. By the year 1877, over three million people were unemployed. About two fifths of those employed worked for less than seven months a year. There was approximately forty-five percent wage cut of those who were employed. The depression led to many cases of suicide and starvation all over the country. 4
On 17th of July 1877, the great railroad strike began in Martinsburg in West Virginia. The railroad company reduced wages of workers a couple of times in the previous year. The workers of Ohio and Baltimore Railroads went on strike as a result. The strikers demanded that most recent pay cuts be returned to the employees. They blocked the railroads and did not let trains to run until they were paid. As a result, the West Virginia's governor called out the militia of the state. However, most of the militia members sympathized with the workers and therefore did not intervene. This prompted the governor to request the assistance of the federal government. Federal troops were sent to various locations by President Rutherford B. Hayes to reopen the railroads. Meanwhile, the strike spread to various states such as Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Maryland. The strikers took control in most of the cities while the federal soldiers strived to reestablish peace and order. Thousands of people rallied supporting the strikers in Chicago, Illinois. Governor Thomas Young of Ohio advised Ohioans to come up with private police forces that they were to use in defense of their businesses from strikers. Ohio militia were patched in various locations in the attempt to maintain law and order. The residents of Cleveland heeded to the call of the governor and formed a policy force to protect the railroad property of Ohio and Baltimore. The protest worsened in some areas while slowed down in others.
Violence caused by the protest was at its worst in Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Some authorities suggested that the militia should fire on the strikers. However, officers of the local law enforcement denied the suggestion. Nevertheless, the suggestion was passed on 21st July 1877, and the militia fired on strikers who were throwing rocks, leaving twenty people dead and twenty-nine others wounded. The action infuriated the strikers who set fires that gazed many buildings and destroyed several properties including locomotives and passenger cars. The militia was forced to take refuge in roundhouses of the railroads. The militia men shoot their way out of their hiding places killing twenty more strikers as they made their way out of the city. The rioting and bloodshed went on for more than a month when President Rutherford B. Hayes sent in federal troops to put an end to the strikes. In Philadelphia, the strikers fought the local militia and set a large part of Center City on fire before the intervention of the federal troops who put down the uprising. Reading was Pennsylvania's third largest industrial city at that time. The city also fell victim of the fury. Many engineers resided in the city, and they had already been protesting since April of 1877. The Reading Railroad Massacre led to the killing of several citizens by the militia of the state. The massacre also led to the stoppage of railroad local workforce's classes, blockage of rail traffic, mass marches, and destruction of the bridge that provided the railroad's link to the West, hence preventing mustering of the local militia to Pittsburgh or Harrisburg. The Reading Railroad management mobilized the shooting by the militia. 5
Fourteen states were ultimately involved in the strike with more than a hundred thousand railroad workers smashing cars, pulling up tracks, and walking off their jobs in Chicago, Toledo, Buffalo, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Boston. More than a hundred people were killed, hundreds left injured, thousands of people jailed, and approximately $5 million worth of property destroyed before the restoration of service. The economic mess at this time was a reflection of the political crisis. 6 The majority of Americans in the year 1877 believed that Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican), the new president, won the elections fraud. Many voters had not cast their ballots on Rutherford B. Hayes in the previous year. Troops were withdrawn from the South by the president causing an end to reconstruction and the promise of political equity to the former slaves.
The federal government's intervention was the primary reason for the end of the strike by August 1877. Other reasons for the end of the strike include the employment of the strikebreakers by Ohio and Baltimore Railway Company. Most strikes of this era were typical of the Great Railroad Strike. The ability of workers to gain concessions from the employees was majorly limited by the support of the government for businesses and the availability of laborers in the market. The strike ended unsuccessfully with the workers barely in a better position than when the strike began. 7 There were no pay raises for the workers, the state militias were increased and the anti-union attitudes were strengthened by the legislation. The unsuccessful strike was as a result of the strikers being unorganized. The strike erupted due to a collective dissatisfaction of the workers and the loss of control to company bosses. The strikers had a subliminal idea that mutual support was the source of their power. Able to sustain their unity and momentum as the strike became bigger and more intense. The authorities of law and order regrouped their forces in a short order and marshaled their forces confidently and swiftly. The violence caused by the striking workers instilled a lot of fear into the general public. The actions of these workers were aligned with the actions of the 1871 Paris Commune uprising. The federal government with its legislative and military muscle was from all the state and the local efforts to shut down the strike.
The government control of railroads was a success despite the high cost of money that was spent. The railroads constituted the first line of defense that was against the state socialism. The Great Strike of 1877 made a history of the first strike that had thousands of followers. The movements of society and commerce were ceased by the dramatic display of cooperative power. The strike gave a great lesson to several business owners, most of whom were afraid to cut wages in the following years. Many business leaders took an initiative of improving their organizations and the working conditions of their workers. Various organizations initiated labor reforms in the 1880s by putting in place pension plans, limited medical services, and providing death benefits for their workers. 8 Despite agreeing to some of the demands of the workers, some bosses saw to it that workers were never given an upper hand. The workers got to learn that they could never defeat the alliances of capital and the government if they did not have a nationwide organization and a strong union. Some people saw the striking experience as a justifying factor to the development of a conservative business union that would promote social change or create an easy way for bosses to control their workers. Others saw the experience as an organizing factor for the national labor union and building of labor parties that were meant to reorient the government.
Labor reformations that are as a result of the great railroads strike have greatly impacted the labor force of the United States as workers are able to seek their rights through protests. Various presidents of America in the late nineteenth century until the First World War are contributors to the workers' rights to demand better working conditions and pay rise in one way or the other. The general public viewed the great railroads strikers as communist. However, the strike led to the improvements of working conditions of many employees and the restriction of employers from taking advantage of their employees. Various institutions in the United States currently have workers unions through which employees can express their opinions and interests.
Bibliography
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