On September 24, 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 and issued Executive Order 10730, federalizing the Arkansas National Guard and dispatching 1,000 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas. This dramatic federal intervention became …
Orval FaubusDwight EisenhowerLittle Rock Nine101st Airborne DivisionArkansas National Guardcivil-rightsinstitutional-racismsegregationfederal-interventiondemocratic-erosion
On August 25, 1921, nearly 13,000 armed coal miners began marching from Marmet, West Virginia, toward Logan County to challenge the oppressive company town system that had kept them in wage slavery for decades, triggering the largest armed uprising in the United States since the Civil War. The …
United Mine Workers of AmericaSheriff Don ChafinBaldwin-Felts Detective AgencyPresident Warren Hardinglabor-suppressionstate-violencecorporate-violencefederal-intervention
On October 3, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt convened an unprecedented conference in Washington bringing together representatives of government, labor, and management to resolve the anthracite coal strike that threatened to leave Americans without heating fuel for the approaching winter. …
On May 12, 1902, 147,000 anthracite coal miners in eastern Pennsylvania, organized by the United Mine Workers under President John Mitchell, went on strike after railroad companies that owned the mines refused to meet with union representatives. The miners demanded better wages, shorter work weeks …
United Mine WorkersJohn MitchellTheodore RooseveltRailroad companiesCoal mine operatorslabor-rightsprogressive-eracorporate-powerfederal-intervention
On July 3, 1894, President Grover Cleveland deployed federal troops to Chicago to crush the Pullman Strike, marking the first time the federal government used an injunction to break a labor action. The strike began on May 11 when Pullman Palace Car Company workers walked out after the company …
Eugene V. DebsAmerican Railway UnionPresident Grover ClevelandAttorney General Richard OlneyPullman Palace Car Companylabor-suppressionstate-violencefederal-intervention
Workers at George Pullman’s railroad car manufacturing company in Pullman, Illinois—a company town where Pullman owns all housing, stores, churches, and infrastructure—launch a strike protesting wage cuts averaging 25% following the Panic of 1893 while rents and prices at company-owned …
George PullmanEugene V. DebsAmerican Railway UnionGrover ClevelandU.S. Army+1 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agepullman-strikecompany-townsfederal-intervention+1 more
Violent confrontation erupts between striking silver and lead miners and company guards at mines in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after union workers discover a Pinkerton agent has infiltrated their organization and routinely provided confidential union information to mine owners. The violence follows …
Western Federation of MinersPinkerton Detective AgencyIdaho National GuardU.S. ArmyGeneral J.M. Schofield+2 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agemining-industrymartial-lawfederal-intervention+1 more
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 begins when Baltimore & Ohio Railroad workers walk off the job in response to a 10% wage cut—the second reduction in eight months during the severe economic depression following the Panic of 1873. The strike spreads rapidly across the nation’s rail …
Baltimore & Ohio RailroadRutherford B. HayesU.S. ArmyRailroad workersState militiaslabor-suppressiongilded-agerailroad-strikefederal-interventionmilitary-force+1 more