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The '''Pullman Strike''' of 1894 was the biggest strike in American history.  The upstart American Railway Union (ARU), led by [[Eugene Debs]], was supporting a factory strike in Chicago against the makers of Pullman cars.  The nation was in the midst of a deep depression, and the strike in Chicago was failing. Debs escalated it by having his ARU members refuse to handle trains that carried Pullman cars (which were luxury passenger cars, and also carried the U.S. mail.) The railroads fired the ARU members, the ARU then tried to shut down the national railroad system in July, 1894. It largely succeeded west of Detroit (but failed in the East and South because it had few members there). The federal government under President [[Grover Cleveland]], a [[Bourbon Democrat|conservative Democrat]] went to federal court to get an injunction against Debs and the ARU, noting federal responsibility to move the mails.  They ignored the injunction and Cleveland sent in the U.S. Army to enforce the law, move the mail, and break the strike.  Disorganized violence by strikers against the army and the railroads broke out in many rail centers from Chicago to the West Coast, but the army got the job done and the strike soon ended.

The '''Pullman Strike''' of 1894 was the biggest strike in American history.  The upstart American Railway Union (ARU), led by [[Eugene Debs]], was supporting a factory strike in Chicago against the makers of Pullman cars.  The nation was in the midst of a deep depression, and the strike in Chicago was failing. Debs escalated it by having his ARU members refuse to handle trains that carried Pullman cars (which were luxury passenger cars, and also carried the U.S. mail.) The railroads fired the ARU members, the ARU then tried to shut down the national railroad system in July, 1894. It largely succeeded west of Detroit (but failed in the East and South because it had few members there). The federal government under President [[Grover Cleveland]], a [[Bourbon Democrat|conservative Democrat]] went to federal court to get an injunction against Debs and the ARU, noting federal responsibility to move the mails.  They ignored the injunction and Cleveland sent in the U.S. Army to enforce the law, move the mail, and break the strike.  Disorganized violence by strikers against the army and the railroads broke out in many rail centers from Chicago to the West Coast, but the army got the job done and the strike soon ended.

The aftermath was complex. Debs went to prison (for violating a court order) and his ARU disappeared.  The traditional railroad brotherhoods, which had not supported the strike, went back to work, but ARU activists were blacklisted and could not get jobs on any railroad.  The Democratic party was ripped apart. Governor [[John peter Altgeld]] of Illinois, a left-wing Democrat, denounced President Cleveland and started organizing the forces that defeated Cleveland's supporters at the 1896 Democratic convention.  It seemed for a while that the big winners were the Populists ([[Populist Party]]) who endorsed the ARU, and their vote increased in the fall 1894 elections for Congress. However they were splitting the Democratic vote, and the conservative Republicans, led by Ohio Governor [[William McKinley]] scored the biggest landslide in Congressional history. In New England, for example, the Democrats elected only one member of Congress.  

The aftermath was complex. Debs went to prison (for violating a court order) and his ARU disappeared.  The traditional railroad brotherhoods, which had not supported the strike, went back to work, but ARU activists were blacklisted and could not get jobs on any railroad.  The Democratic party was ripped apart. Governor [[John Peter Altgeld]] of Illinois, a left-wing Democrat, denounced President Cleveland and started organizing the forces that defeated Cleveland's supporters at the 1896 Democratic convention.  It seemed for a while that the big winners were the Populists ([[Populist Party]]) who endorsed the ARU, and their vote increased in the fall 1894 elections for Congress. However they were splitting the Democratic vote, and the conservative Republicans, led by Ohio Governor [[William McKinley]] scored the biggest landslide in Congressional history. In New England, for example, the Democrats elected only one member of Congress.  

The strike permanently shaped American labor relations, with the government demonstrating it would not tolerate a shutdown of the national transportation grid (in the days before automobiles and trucks, railroads were essential.) The [[AFL]] unions refused to support the strike and now moved to close cooperation with business and the GOP, as typified by the [[National Civic Federation]].  The next wave of major strikes hit the country in 1919, and again unions were badly hurt by their rash actions.

The strike permanently shaped American labor relations, with the government demonstrating it would not tolerate a shutdown of the national transportation grid (in the days before automobiles and trucks, railroads were essential.) The [[AFL]] unions refused to support the strike and now moved to close cooperation with business and the GOP, as typified by the [[National Civic Federation]].  The next wave of major strikes hit the country in 1919, and again unions were badly hurt by their rash actions.