The Great Railroad Strike of 1877: The History and Legacy of the Protests across America over Wages and Labor Conditions
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by Steve Knupp
()
About this audiobook
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.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Life and Legacy of the Father of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cambrian Period: The History and Legacy of the Start of Complex Life on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSigmund Freud and Carl Jung: The Pioneering Lives and Works of History’s Most Influential Psychologists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America's Most Famous Murder Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medieval England: The History of England from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Tudor Dynasty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMadame de Pompadour: The Life and Legacy of French King Louis XV’s Chief Mistress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Midwest: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in America's Heartland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Culper Ring: The History and Legacy of the Revolutionary War's Most Famous Spy Ring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Related audiobooks
The Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia: The History of the Parthian Kings Who Ruled the Ancient Kingdom of Armenia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chiefs Now in This City: Indians and the Urban Frontier in Early America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Armenian Empire: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Kingdom of Greater Armenia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIndelible Ink: The Trials of John Peter Zenger and the Birth of America's Free Press Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Abolitionist and the Spy: A Father, a Son, and Their Battle for the Union Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wall Street Bombing of 1920: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Anarchist Attack on New York City Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Strivers Row Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Native American Tribes: Cherokee, Apache, Comanche, Eskimo, Pawnee, and Sioux Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History of Vladimir Lenin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrisoners of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life of Samuel Johnson, Vol. I (version 2) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerica’s Weirdest Riots: The History and Legacy of the Most Unique American Riots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Slave Uprisings that Shook the South: The History and Legacy of America’s Biggest Revolts in the 19th Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Anglo-Ashanti Wars: The History and Legacy of the Conflicts Between the British and the Ashanti Empire in Africa Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife and Adventures of Jack Engle An Autobiography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ottoman Empire’s Worst Defeats: The History and Legacy of the Decisive Battles that Checked the Ottomans’ Expansion into Europe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerican Heritage History of the Confident Years: 1866-1914 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Panic of 1792: The History and Legacy of America’s First Financial Crisis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Megalithic Temples: Stonehenge, Gobekli Tepe, Ggantija Temples & Baalbek Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBritish Colonialism: The British Raj and the Story of Horatio Nelson Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
United States History For You
The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Up From Slavery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Untold History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Land of Delusion: Out on the edge with the crackpots and conspiracy-mongers remaking our shared reality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wright Brothers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Adams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lafayette in the Somewhat United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51776 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
0 ratings0 reviews