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The Pullman Strike

The Pullman Strike. Chicago 1894. Pullman Palace Car Company. Railway car company owned by George Pullman Over 6,000 workers Workers lived in “company town” Rent was 25% higher than other areas. Interior of a Pullman Sleeper Car. George M. Pullman’s Model Town.

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The Pullman Strike

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  1. The Pullman Strike Chicago 1894

  2. Pullman Palace Car Company • Railway car company owned by George Pullman • Over 6,000 workers • Workers lived in “company town” • Rent was 25% higher than other areas Interior of a Pullman Sleeper Car

  3. George M. Pullman’s Model Town Pullman sets up a factory to build sleepers and other railroad cars

  4. He created a model town for his workers

  5. Town of Pullman provided… Apartments Doctor’s offices Sport’s fields Shops And expected… Rent No alcohol No loitering

  6. Letters from the citizens of Pullman “One fine morning a number of men...will knock at your door and tell you that they have come to whitewash your house. They will not bother you with questions...but they just go in and do it...all charges for repairs....will be DEDUCTED FROM YOUR WAGES next pay day. You would have liked to wait another week...because you wanted to buy a pair of shoes for your boy. The company can't care about that!”

  7. “Pullman was all very well as an employer, but to live and breathe and have one's being in Pullman was a bit too much. Residents paid rent to the Pullman Company, they bought gas of the Pullman Company, they walked on streets owned in fee simple by the Pullman Company, they paid water-tax to the Pullman Company...They sent their children to Pullman's school, attended Pullman's church, looked at but dared not enter Pullman's hotel with its private bar, for that was the limit. Pullman did not sell them their grog [liquor]...The lives of the working men were bounded on all sides by the Pullman Company; Pullman was the horizon in every direction.”

  8. Reasons for the Strike • Historical Context: Depression of 1893 • Pullman cut workers’ wages but didn’t cut rent for apartments • On May 10, 1894, workers walked out of their factory

  9. ARU Supports Pullman Workers • American Railway Union was a national union of railway workers • Eugene Debs, ARU leader, decided to support Pullman strikers • Across the nation, railway workers refused to run trains that had Pullman cars attached to them • The country was paralyzed

  10. Eugene Debs Eugene V. Debs, the rail union president at the time of the strike, later campaigned as the American Socialist presidential candidate

  11. President Grover Cleveland sends in troops

  12. Violence Erupts • Presence of federal troops set off riots • Rioters burned buildings • Troops killed 4 people and wounded 20

  13. End of Strike • By August the strike fell apart • 1000 union workers were fired • New workers had to sign contracts promising not to join a union • Debs was arrested and jailed for 6 months

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