Pullman Strike and Gilded Age Chicago

Chicago expanded rapidly during the late nineteenth century as railroads, factories, breweries and stockyards drew migrants and immigrants into a city divided by ethnicity, class and political influence. The World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 displayed an idealised vision of progress while an economic depression deepened insecurity for workers.

In 1894, employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company struck after wage reductions were not matched by lower rents in the company town. The American Railway Union supported a nationwide boycott, and federal intervention turned the dispute into a major confrontation over labour, corporate power and the use of government force.