Part 4/13:
But the post-war years saw a reversal. As Wilson’s wartime policies waned in 1919, the government pulled back from actively supporting unions. At the same time, company owners, emboldened by the absence of government intervention, began striking back—leading to a wave of strikes totaling around 3,000 in that year alone.
West Virginia: A Powder Keg of Conflict
West Virginia, the "El Dorado of Appalachia," was a focal point of this tension. Rich in coal, the state was crucial for national energy needs but also notoriously hostile to union organizing. Its mining towns were often isolated, fiercely independent, and under the tight control of powerful mining companies. These corporations justified their dominance by citing economic fluctuations and the necessity of controlling costs.