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Why was Eugene V. Debs arrested during the Pullman Strike?

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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.

Eugene V. Debs, president of the American Railway Union, was arrested during the Pullman Strike for contempt of court and for criminal conspiracy to interfere with the U.S. mail.1

His arrest stemmed from his violation of a federal injunction issued on July 2, 1894, by circuit court judges. This injunction prohibited union leaders from "compelling or inducing" railroad employees to refuse their duties and prevented them from communicating with their subordinates. Although Debs had attempted to prevent violence, the injunction effectively stripped him of his ability to manage the strike or advise against the unrest.2

Following his arrest, the conspiracy charge was eventually withdrawn, but he was found in contempt of court for violating the injunction. His six-month prison sentence was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case In re Debs (1895).13