September 1, 1860 | Illustration
This image from the September 1, 1860 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts celebratory fireworks following the completion of the Victoria Tubular Bridge in Montreal, Canada.
1878 | Illustration
Railroad detective Allan Pinkerton's history of the strike emphasized the unruliness of the mob and the threat of foreign, anarchist, and communist influences on American labor. Here, his illustration shows the military defending law and order, firing their weapons into a mob in Baltimore during the 1877 strike.
July 21, 1877 | Newspaper
This July 21, 1877 article from the Baltimore Sun gives an account of the Maryland Sixth Infantry Regiment firing into the crowd in Baltimore.
October 10, 1894 | Newspaper
Railroads changed the spatial relationship of cities and regions, altering trade routes, access to markets, credit, and information. Despite his campaign against railroad political corruption, the editor of The Omaha Bee celebrates the new Billings route with great enthusiasm for the opportunities it will create.
October 17, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
October 30, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
1864 | Photograph
Confederate guerrilla forces, often operating as regular cavalry units, attacked Union-controlled railroad lines. They shot into trains, destroyed tracks, took prisoners, killed Union soldiers, and burned bridges. Union commanders responded by developing block houses and fortified bridges to protect the vulnerable lines, equipping trains with special armor, recruiting loyal local citizens to ferret out guerrillas, and dispatching special counterinsurgency cavalry units to track down the Confederate guerrillas.
September 2, 1894 | Newspaper
The Republican State Journal criticizes Bryan and his Populists allies in Congress for their votes on the sugar tariff, a protectionist measure that, the paper asserts, practically killed the local sugar beet industry. Bryan is also criticized for his editorship of the Omaha World Herald.
August 11, 1877 | Illustration
This August 11, 1877 front page from Leslie's Illustrated is meant to capture the immediacy of the violence and action associated with the strikes.
August 11, 1877 | Illustration
This August 11, 1877 full page from Leslie's Illustrated demonstrates the impact groupings of illustrations had in this type of periodical.
August 4, 1877 | Illustration
This August 4, 1877 full page from Leslie's Illustrated demonstrates the impact groupings of illustrations had in this type of periodical.
August 4, 1877 | Illustration
A striking cover from the August 4, 1877 Railroad Riot Extra from Leslie's Illustrated emphasizes the tone of newspaper coverage of the Railroad Strike.
3, 1862 | Photograph
Similar in composition to the December 13, 1862 Harper's Weekly image, in this picture the close proximity of armies to one another is evident.
September 19, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
July 21, 1877 | Newspaper
This article from the July 21, 1877 issue of the Baltimore Sun provides numerous details of the Baltimore riot, including names of the killed and wounded and an account of what occurred.
July 21, 1877 | Newspaper
This article from the July 21, 1877 issue of the Baltimore Sun gives an account of the fire started by rioters at Camden Station in Baltimore.
April 2, 1852 | Contract
Contractors on the Blue Ridge Railroad and Tunnel project filled out elaborate and detailed descriptions of work that they were to complete.
October 24, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
July 11, 1877 | Newspaper
This July 11, 1877 circular announces a wage reduction for workers on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
July 23, 1877 | Newspaper
This July 23, 1877 article in the Baltimore American notes Secretary of War George W. McCrary's order to General William H. French to send troops to Cumberland, Maryland to "suppress the riot."