At least 34 people were shot, two killed and hundreds injured by the San Francisco police when fights broke out today between the city's police force and strikers. Two months earlier, dock workers along the West Coast went on strike for better hours and pay, a union hiring hall and a coast-wide contract.

"San Francisco was swept today by the bloodiest day of rioting in three quarters of a century. Striking maritime workers, pitting themselves against police, terrorized half of the waterfront and the warehouse area of the city. Fires were set. Windows were smashed. Traffic was tied up. Trucks were overturned," reported the Nevada State Journal on July 6, 1934. "For the next hour, police and strikers and their sympathizers fought with fists, clubs and finally riot guns, revolvers, tear-gas and at last a vicious, nausea-creating gas recently introduced into police work."

NOTE: In total, the West Coast Waterfront Strike lasted 83 days with longshoremen returning to work on July 31. The strike led to the unionization of all West Coast ports in the United States.

Links to the Past
Guard Called After Police Shoot 34 in Strike Battle
The Syracuse Herald, July 6, 1934

Troops Rule S.F. Docks After Riots
Nevada State Journal, July 6, 1934

Continued: Troops Rule S.F. Waterfront


Tieup of San Francisco Result of Long-Sustained
Middletown Times Herald, July 16, 1934

July 4th is Independence Day in the U.S., though it is celebrated all weekend. This federal holiday commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Edinburgh Advertiser, out of Scotland, had this to say on July 9, 1776: “It was a little premature in the continental Congress to issue their resolve at Philadelphia, dated May 15, declaring themselves an independent people, as on the 20th they received an express from Montreal, with an account of their forces having totally dispersed themselves on the arrival of two or three English Frigates at Quebec. The resolve for independency was however published, so could not be recalled. It is to be observed, that the resolve was carried by a strong majority, and signed by John Hancock, Esq., once of the Bostonian delegates, whose principles, as well as those of his constituents, are well known.”

Links to the Past
A letter received…
The Edinburgh Advertiser, July 9, 1776

In Congress, July 4, 1776
Idaho State Journal, July 4, 1976

Bicentennial Edition
The Daily Times, July 4, 1776

In Congress, July 4, 1776
The Bridgeport Post, July 4, 1976

Happy Birthday America!
The Daily Inter Lake, July 4, 1976