If you were a Robber Baron!
Railway workers were paid poorly in 1877, but the bosses
wanted more money. So they cut wages. It started a strike on
July 14, 1877, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and spread nationwide. More than 20 workers were killed, and the
government was forced to send in troops. Facing the military, the strike petered out; the workers returned to their jobs. With no pay increase.