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:{{main|Pullman Strike}}

:{{main|Pullman Strike}}

Deep in the depression, in summer 1894 the Pullman strike, based in Chicago, was an attempt by workers tried to stop all trains, including those carrying the U.S. mail. Noting that the mail is a constitutional duty of the federal government, Cleveland rejected the demands by Illinois Governor [[John Peter Altgeld]], a fellow Democrat, to stay out. Altgeld, with ties to the labor unions, was a leader of the radical left wing of the party, and was using states rights arguments favored by southerners who wanted  no federal protection of the voting rights of blacks. "If it takes the the entire army and navy ... to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card will be delivered,"  he promised. Cleveland ignored Altgeld and the states rights argument—and indeed consulted with no one outside his cabinet—and sent in the army to take control of the rail yards in Chicago and dozens of other major cities. Cleveland had the strike leaders arrested as strikers attacked the army violently in numerous cities. The army reopened the rail system, ended the strike, and broke the union. Cleveland had made the most dramatic intervention of federal power into local affairs since the end of [[Reconstruction]], and was bitterly resented by states-rights elements.

Deep in the depression, in summer 1894 the Pullman strike, based in Chicago, was an attempt by workers tried to stop all trains, including those carrying the U.S. mail. Noting that the mail is a constitutional duty of the federal government, Cleveland rejected the demands by Illinois Governor [[John Peter Altgeld]], a fellow Democrat, to stay out. Altgeld, with ties to the labor unions, was a leader of the [[radical left wing]] of the party, and was using states rights arguments favored by southerners who wanted  no federal protection of the voting rights of blacks. "If it takes the the entire army and navy ... to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card will be delivered,"  he promised. Cleveland ignored Altgeld and the states rights argument—and indeed consulted with no one outside his cabinet—and sent in the army to take control of the rail yards in Chicago and dozens of other major cities. Cleveland had the strike leaders arrested as strikers attacked the army violently in numerous cities. The army reopened the rail system, ended the strike, and broke the union. Cleveland had made the most dramatic intervention of federal power into local affairs since the end of [[Reconstruction]], and was bitterly resented by states-rights elements.

The fall elections of 1894 brought a massive Republican landslide, and wiped out the Populist party in the West and the Democratic party in the Northeast. The result was that Cleveland's leftist enemies in the Democratic party, based in the South and Midwest, ganied strength.

The fall elections of 1894 brought a massive Republican landslide, and wiped out the Populist party in the West and the Democratic party in the Northeast. The result was that Cleveland's leftist enemies in the Democratic party, based in the South and Midwest, ganied strength.