The Great Railroad StrikeIn the first half of the 19th century, the working class of newly industrialized American society suffered many forms of exploitation. The working class of the mid-19th century, subject to constant capitalist oppression and division between class, race, and ethnicity, made the formation of solidarity difficult. After years of oppression and exploitation by the ruling class, the working class fought back and briefly crippled American commerce. The strike, which lasted only a few weeks, was the spark needed to ignite a national working class revolt with the most violent labor uprisings of the century. Railroads were big business in the mid-19th century. The railroad companies employed thousands of people and managed their operations throughout the country. The railroad transformed American society from a rural, agrarian society to an urban, industrialized society. The railways contributed to an economic boom that attracted millions of immigrant peasants from southern and eastern Europe in search of job opportunities and a better life. However, this same industry took advantage of a vast surplus of labor and exploited its workers. A record number of immigrants were admitted to the United States in the mid-19th century. Attracted primarily by job opportunities and cheap travel from all corners of Southern and Eastern Europe, a wave of immigrants flooded the American economy. This mass immigration created a surplus of labor that created a market where workers could be hired and fired at will and were required to sell their labor regardless of the going rate; labor had become a commodity. Adding to the surplus of available labor was the cycle of boom and bust. The depression of 1873 undermined the situation of many workers...... middle of paper ......information about the conditions workers faced. This would lead to the progressive movement of the early 20th century. The railroad was America's first great business. This brought people from agricultural labor and individual proprietors to work for wages in a large corporation. Workers were now treated like merchandise. They were exploited to keep corporate dividends high during an economic recession cycle. In an attempt to resist big business, small craft unions began to form, but they represented only a very small segment of the working class. Strike power seemed to be the only chance to fight back, to take a stand for minimal life balance. Although the strikes themselves did little to improve the situation, they did focus national attention on the working conditions of the various middle classes. This national attention would help launch a new reform movement called progressivism..