Co-Authored By:
More than 100,000 workers participated in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, at the height of which more than half the freight on the country's tracks had come to a halt. By the time the strikes were over, about 1,000 people had gone to jail and some 100 had been killed. In the end the strike accomplished very little.
Similarly, you may ask, why did the great railroad strike of 1877 Fail?
Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Workers for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad went on strike, because the company had reduced workers' wages twice over the previous year. The strikers refused to let the trains run until the most recent pay cut was returned to the employees.
Considering this, what did the great railroad strike of 1877 achieve?
It spread across the nation halting rail traffic and closing factories in reaction to widespread worker discontent over wage cuts and conditions during a national depression. Broken by Federal troops in early August, the strike energized the labor movement and was precursor to labor unrest in the 1880s and 1890s.
President Rutherford B. Hayes called out the army, which broke the strike and maintained peace along the lines. This action effectively ended the strike.