The labor strike immediately exposes longstanding racial…
August 1835 CE
The labor strike immediately exposes longstanding racial discord in the Washington Navy Yard.
This is the first strike by federal shipyard workers.
The strike reveals the corrosive effects of racism on the Navy Yard workforce, as white workers seek to blame their own precarious economic situation on both free and enslaved African Americans.
After days of disorder and riot, President Andrew Jackson orders a company of U.S. Marines to restore order.
After mediation, the Navy Yard labor strike ends on August 15, 1835.
While the striking mechanics are allowed to return to work, they gain little from the strike; the subsequent Snow Riot left as part of its legacy a deep and abiding racial mistrust, which will linger.
The city's black community, though, are the chief sufferers; they receives no compensation for the destruction of their houses and churches.