June 9, 1874 | Contract
In this June 9, 1874 application to buy land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, James O'Reily purchases 160 acres of land at $6.00 per acre on ten years credit. Leaving the "Length of time in Nebraska" line blank, O'Reily's application from Minnesota to purchase railroad land shows how the railroad's involvement in real estate may have influenced migration choices.
March 14, 1874 | Contract
This March 14, 1874 application to purchase land in Lancaster County, Nebraska from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company details the costs associated with land purchases. As both an immigrant and a woman, this applicant shows that the availability of relatively cheap land opened ownership opportunities to a variety of non-traditional demographic groups.
March 18, 1874 | Contract
In this March 18, 1874 application to buy land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, a quarter section of Nebraska land sells for $7.00 per acre. A German immigrant who had lived in the United States for six years, Johann Brunken had spent only five days in Nebraska prior to his land purchase. The opportunity to own land as a recent immigrant may have influenced his decision to relocate.
March 26, 1874 | Contract
This March 26, 1874 document is an application to purchase land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company in Lancaster County, Nebraska. The applicant, Adolph Brauer, was a German immigrant who had lived in the United States for only four years, but apparently seized the opportunity provided by the railroads to purchase his own property.
May 25, 1874 | Contract
This May 25, 1874 document is an application to purchase land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company in Lancaster County, Nebraska. This applicant was an immigrant from Prussia, and financed his land purchase on "long credit", paying $43.20 when he filled out the application. Abundant land in the Great Plains gave immigrants like this man opportunities to become property owners.
March 18, 1874 | Contract
This signature sheet from a Johann Brunken's Nebraska land contract has spaces for fares and freight on the Burlington and Missouri River and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads, showing at least two of the railroads that had expanded into Nebraska by 1874.
July 2, 1864 | Illustration
This image from the July 2, 1864 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts Union soldiers under the command of General William T. Sherman destroying a railroad bridge at Resaca, Georgia during the American Civil War.
November 7, 1863 | Illustration
This image from the November 7, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts the burning of the Rappahannock Railway Bridge on October 13, 1863 during the American Civil War.
April 22, 1871 | Illustration
This image from the April 22, 1871 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts the three large piers of the terminus of the Central Pacific Railroad in California.
July 16, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
1928 | Photograph
This 1928 image of Camden Station shows the look of the Baltimore landmark years after the 1877 strike.
September 22, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
February 7, 1891 | Time Table
August 10, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
July 24, 1877 | Newspaper
This July 24, 1877 editorial from the Martinsburg Statesman downplays the extent of the riot, stresses the dignity of the strikers convictions, and portrays the officers of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as stubborn and tone-deaf in the face of the strikers' reasonable requests.
September 14, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
July 20, 1877 | Newspaper
On July 20, 1877, Maryland Governor John L. Carroll requests military assistance from President Rutherford B. Hayes to stop the "rioters" and prevent "domestic violence."
July 21, 1877 | Letter
On July 21, 1877, Maryland Governor John L. Carroll sends Secretary of War George W. McCray a report, informing him that order has been restored in the state.
July 21, 1877 | Newspaper
On July 21, 1877 Maryland Governor John L. Carroll issued a second proclamation, asking the state's citizens to maintain law and order.
August 4, 1877 | Illustration
This August 4, 1877 image from Leslie's Illustrated depicts citizens carrying the dead from the streets of Baltimore. The image dramatizes the strike violence Americans were reading about in newspapers and periodicals.