In the course of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Americans witnessed a myriad of strikes. Their causes differed. Occasionally, economic grievances (fairly low pay and prolonged hours) precipitated strikes by means of strifes. Nonetheless, the schisms could be more subdued, as executives made essays at augmenting their jurisdiction over the labor process. Normally, the predominant bone of contention was the right of the workers to have/retain unions and to engage in collective bargaining. Strikes were usually thwarted by the government’s exertion of authority against the subordinate unions. Such was the case of the Pullman Strike. One significant strike in particular, the notable Pullman Strike of 1894, was peculiarly salient in American …show more content…
It came to pass that the Pullman Strike of 1894 was the first national strike in the history of the United States of America. Prior to the strike’s demise, it encompassed over 150,000 persons and twenty-seven states and territories and would cripple the nation's railway system. The entire rail workforce of the nation would abandon their vocations, in an effort to not allow their cause to perish in vain. In affirming and fortifying the capital position of this strike, President Cleveland, for the first time in United State’s history, would deploy federal troops (U.S. Marines), who would fire on, in order to neutralize dissidents, and kill the nation’s citizens. Such atrocities were inimical to the entreaties of the states. The judiciary of the nation would proscribe striking by the sanctioning/imposition of the Omnibus indictment. This detriment to unionized labor would not be nullified until the enactment of the Wagner Act in 1935. The riots engendered by the mistreatment of industrial workers arose in the small town of Pullman, Illinois, just south of