What happened at the Blue Island, Illinois, gathering after Eugene V. Debs left?

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shantytown in Chicago — Pullman Strike A shantytown on the lakefront in Chicago during the Pullman Strike and general economic downturn of 1893–94.

Following the peaceful gathering in Blue Island, Illinois, on June 29, 1894, where Eugene V. Debs had spoken, the situation turned violent after his departure. Enraged groups within the crowd set fire to nearby buildings and derailed a locomotive.1

This act of violence proved detrimental to the strikers because the derailed locomotive was attached to a U.S. mail train. This interference with the delivery of mail deeply angered President Grover Cleveland, as it obstructed the federal government from fulfilling one of its essential responsibilities.1