Close Read: Pullman Strike CR
Objective
CR
Introduction
How did industrialization lead to the formation of workers/labor
unions? How does media influence social change?
By 1890, the railroads had become a necessity in American society. Needed for both expansion
of the economy and the expansion of our nation’s borders, nearly every industry from agricultural
to scientific relied on railroads to transport raw materials and finished goods. Furthermore,
following the post-civil war industrial boom, transportation for private citizens around the nation
became a vital part of economic, social, and political life of Americans. In May of 1894, when
railway workers employed by Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike, the nation’s way of
life was threatened.
Pre-Analysis Questions:
1) What or who is the media? What is their role or roles in society? (For example, think about the
impact of political cartoons on public opinion, or the role of documents such as “Join or Die”
on the American Revolution)
2) What does it mean to be biased?
3) Is the media ever biased?
Pullman Strike - Media Analysis
Directions: Imagine you are a historian trying to conduct research on the 1894 Pullman Strike. In your
research, you come across 7 newspaper articles from the Pullman Strike of 1894. Based on the
articles you are assigned to read - please put together a short summary of the Pullman Strike.
Before writing your summary, please answer the following questions:
a. What caused the Pullman Company workers to strike?
b. Was the strike a sudden surprise or was it building slowly?
c. How would you describe the striking laborers? Violent and angry or innocent and
peacefully protesting? Why?
d. What was the effect of the Pullman company strike?
e. How would you describe Eugene Debs?
f.
How would you describe the American Railway Union?
Summary of the Pullman Strike: ​
Using the information you gathered from your historical sources (7
newspaper articles) and the analysis of these sources you conducted above, write a short summary
of the Pullman strike. Your summary should be at least 3 paragraphs long and include the causes,
effects, a description of the people involved, and a description of the events of the strike.
Corroboration:​
Now that you have completed your research, it is time to corroborate with other
historians. You will be assigned a partner! Your partner historian read articles from a DIFFERENT
newspaper about the same topic - the 1894 Pullman Strike. Compare and contrast your accounts
using the venn diagram below. When you are done, answer the two subsequent analysis questions.
1) What is the most GLARING difference in the accounts of the strike?
2) Readers of which newspaper - the Chicago Tribune or the Chicago Times would have been
more sympathetic of the striking workers? Why?
CR
Analysis &
Comprehension
Task
Pullman Strike: Bias & the Media
Directions: ​
Using information from the document above, please respond to the following task. Task: ​
Using the information from the documents above and your knowledge of US History to
respond to the following task:
In a short written response, please answer the following prompt:
How could bias in the media impact the way historians document an event?
● Explain​
what bias in the media is
● Evaluate​
the way it impacts the work of historians.
● explain​
means “to make plain or understandable; to give reasons for or causes of; to show
​
the logical development or relationships of”
● evaluate​
means to “examine and judge the significance, worth, or condition of; to determine
the value of ”