AMH 2020 Economic Downturn & Unequal Distribution of Wealth Discussion

From 11 May until 20 July 1894, the Pullman Railway Strike crippled the railroad infrastructure of the United States. What began as a strike at the Pullman railroad car factory, quickly escalated to a strike where workers of the ARU (American Railroad Union) refused to work on trains carrying Pullman cars across the country. This caused great disruption to the transportation of people and goods in the US. Eventually, President Grover Cleveland deployed U.S. Marshals and troops to break up the strikes city by city, with some loss of life. 

The article assigned for this discussion examines different perspectives on the meaning of the Pullman Strike by those who witnessed it:

Wade Hampton – United States Commissioner of Railroads

Harry Robinson – Editor of the Railway Age, a railway trade journal

Samuel Gompers – President, American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Please read the document attached and respond to this queation:

Considering the arguments of each of the authors, which of the authors do you believe has best portrayed both reasons why the strike occurred, and the “meaning” of the strike in the larger social and political context? Why?