Pullman Strike Of 1894 Essay

Words: 637
Pages: 3

The Pullman Strike of 1894 is historically significant because it went down as a major failure. Some say it was the turning point of labor laws as it put the American Railway Union against the Pullman Company. George Pullman became a millionaire by inventing a luxurious car that attached to railway car and was intended for rich people. He then built his own town in which he controlled almost every aspect of its economy. Later the country went through a recession and he reduced the pay for his workers but kept all the necessities at the same price which caused the workers to start a strike. The government then decided to stop the strikes and reopen the railroads.

After the reconstruction ended the people who were in charge before the civil
…show more content…
The end of the Civil war in the year 1865 gave about four million slaves their freedom. This brought the country many problems, the south still wasn’t happy to have no slaves and the population had to hire workers or do manual labor themselves. Southern whites wished to keep African Americans in a condition close to being slaves, extending few civil rights and strongly rejecting social equality. African Americans on the other hand, wanted full freedom and mainly and of their own. Inevitably, there were frequent clashes. Some erupted into race riots, but acts of hatred against individual African American leaders were more common. War. The war had many negative effects on the Southern economy. Farms and plantations were in destroyed and ruined many burned to the ground. Many of the railroad had been destroyed which was a huge problem because there wasn’t many to start off. Even though not everything was positive this era had its good improved events for example the Southern Homestead Act which set aside 45 million acres of government-owned land in southern states to provide free farms for African Americans. The 14th and 15th amendment were enacted, 14th amendment (equal citizenship to all citizens, including African Americans), prohibited states from depriving anyone of life, liberty, and property (due process);