The Pullman Strike: A Gilded Age Clash between Labor, Capital, and Government [Paperback]

This book examines the 1894 Pullman Strike, one of the most consequential clashes between labor and capital that paralyzed Americas railroad system.

Edward T. ODonnell is an associate professor of history in the history department at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, USA. He is the author of several books including Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age (2015) and Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum (2003), and is co-author of Visions of America: A History of the United States (3rd ed. 2016). His scholarly articles have appeared in The Public Historian, Journal of Urban History, and the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

Introduction  1. The Stupendous Results of American Enterprise  2. Millions Born to Suffering and Poverty  3. Striking to Avert Slavery and Degradation  4. To Battle Such an Extended Evil  5. Rioters Will Be Fired Upon  6. The Strong Arm of the National Government  7. Epilogue

This book examines the 1894 Pullman Strike, one of the most consequential clashes between labor and capital that paralyzed Americas railroad system.

The Gilded Age saw rapid economic growth, expansion of industrialization, and real wage growth. Yet between 1800 and 1900 there were nearly 37,000 strikes, and the Pullman Strike reflected the broad dissatisfaction and unrest among American workers. The book consists of an engaging narrative, analysis of existing scholarship, sidebars, and primary source documents which collectively answer why the Pullman Strike is so critical to the American Experience: it expl3