Street Car Strike of 1917: Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | Prairie Mosaic Shorts

Learn about the streetcar strike of 1917, a demonstration in St. Paul and Minneapolis, which came about due to unfair conditions for the working class. The ownership had created the Citizens’ Alliance, a group that unified to deny any attempt at striking or demonstrating by workers. Fed up with a lack of progress, the workers went ahead with striking, and the Twin Cities saw radically different outcomes. While the St. Paul ownership began negotiation after the streetcars were shut down, the Minneapolis ownership sent out strikebreakers, called the Home Guard, armed and ready to fight, backed by legislation from President Wilson due to the demands of World War I.