Why did U.S. Attorney General Richard Olney seek a federal injunction against the Pullman Strike?

U.S. Attorney General Richard Olney sought a federal injunction against the Pullman Strike primarily to assert federal authority over the disruption of interstate commerce and the U.S. postal service.12

As the strike and boycott expanded, the federal government became concerned that its ability to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities was being compromised, particularly after strikers derailed a locomotive attached to a U.S. mail train. By obtaining an injunction, Olney aimed to legally prohibit American Railway Union leaders from inducing or compelling railroad employees to stop performing their duties.234

The injunction, which invoked the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Interstate Commerce Act, provided the legal framework for President Grover Cleveland to dispatch federal troops to Chicago. Ultimately, Olney’s strategy was designed to break the strike by framing it as an illegal obstruction of federal operations rather than a labor dispute, a move later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case In re Debs.1452