$4.46
Details
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877: The History and Legacy of the Protests across America over Wages and Labor Conditions
Author: Charles River Editors
Narrator: Steve Knupp
Unabridged: 1 hr 23 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Published: 11/17/2022
Synopsis
When trains were introduced as a popular means of transportation, some of the first tracks laid terminated in New York, and the expansion of railroads led to the birth of train stations across the country. In general, these were small buildings where passenger could buy tickets and wait for their trains to arrive, and according an article written by Samuel Dunn around the turn of the 20th century, “The first Manhattan terminal was opened in 1832 at Centre Street, near the present City Hall, by the New York and Harlem road, now leased to the New York Central. Trains were run by steam as far south as Fourteenth Street and pulled from there by horses.” If it is hard to conceive of large box cars or even heavier locomotives being pulled by horse, it’s important to remember that the first train cars were little more than traditional carriages designed to move on iron tracks.
Initially, the nation’s railway system was a fragmented, often chaotic system, but Cornelius Vanderbilt went about creating an interregional system, integrating a network of smaller railroads that ran according to their own policies, procedures, and even timetables. It was not only more customer-friendly, but it helped lower shipping costs and created a more efficient system of transporting goods and people. This led to the creation of one of the nation’s first corporations, the New York Central and Hudson Railroad.
While companies competed with each other, the employees themselves were often squeezed, not only working long hours in hazardous conditions, but making pitiful pay. Put simply, in an age before widespread labor regulations were enacted and unions organized, the employers exercised nearly absolute power over employees.
by Captivating History
Explore the captivating life of Martin Van Buren History chiefly remembers Martin Van Buren as the eighth president of the United States (1837- 1841). He was also, however, notable for achieving many firsts in American politics. He was th...
Published: 06/04/2018
by Nicholas Biddle
In 1804, President Jefferson asked two Virginians-Meriwether Lewis and William Clark-to lead an expedition into the unexplored wilderness of North America. The journals of these explorers are both a priceless piece of national history and a great ad...
Published: 03/04/2008
by Charles River Editors
Many of the first artists in the West were assigned to exploration and geological parties, working as archivists and obedient to demands of cold accuracy. However, a few were driven by an imaginative mix of real events and fantastical visions to whe...
Published: 03/16/2020
by Captivating History
Explore the captivating life of Andrew Jackson!When Jackson left the White House after two presidential terms, he had achieved a rare feat: He left office with even more popularity than when he first entered it. His reputation as a strong president ...
Published: 07/25/2018
by Charles River Editors
By the golden age of the mountain man in the mid-19th-century, there were perhaps only 3,000 living in the West. Their origins were disparate, although they included many Anglo-Americans. A good number hailed from wilderness regions of Kentucky and...
Published: 04/18/2019
by Charles River Editors
By the second half of the 19th century, still less than a century old, the United States had become a regional power. It had soundly defeated its southern neighbor, Mexico, and greatly enlarged itself in the process. America’s navy and mercha...
Published: 02/09/2020
by Charles River Editors
Many of the first artists in the West were assigned to exploration and geological parties, working as archivists and obedient to demands of cold accuracy. However, a few were driven by an imaginative mix of real events and fantastical visions to wh...
Published: 03/16/2020
by Charles River Editors
During the Civil War, over 180,000 black men fought in volunteer units as part of the United States Colored Troop (USCT), but it was only after the end of it that they were allowed to enlist in the Regular Army. They did so in four segregated regime...
Published: 12/27/2019
by Charles River Editors
In the 1600s, cotton and silk fabrics that bore colorful and exotic printed patterns, known as “calico,” were flying off the shelves of the East India Company’s stores. The rapidly escalating demand for calico had taken a visible ...
Published: 10/16/2019