For one week in late July of 1877, America shook with anger and fear as
a variety of urban residents, mostly working class, attacked railroad
property in dozens of towns and cities. The Great Strike of 1877 was one
of the largest and most violent urban uprisings in American history.
Whereas most historians treat the event solely as a massive labor strike
that targeted the railroads, David O. Stowell examines America's
predicament more broadly to uncover the roots of this rebellion. He
studies the urban origins of the Strike in three upstate New York
cities--Buffalo, Albany, and Syracuse. He finds that locomotives rumbled
through crowded urban spaces, sending panicked horses and their wagons
careening through streets. Hundreds of people were killed and injured
with appalling regularity. The trains also disrupted street traffic and
obstructed certain forms of commerce. For these reasons, Stowell argues,
The Great Strike was not simply an uprising fueled by disgruntled
workers. Rather, it was a grave reflection of one of the most direct and
damaging ways many people experienced the Industrial Revolution.
Through meticulously crafted case studies . . . the author advances the
thesis that the strike had urban roots, that in substantial part it
represented a community uprising. . . .A particular strength of the book
is Stowell's description of the horrendous accidents, the toll in human
life, and the continual disruption of craft, business, and ordinary
movement engendered by building railroads into the heart of
cities.--Charles N. Glaab, American Historical Review
