Pinkerton (detective agency) significant event Anti-Pinkerton Act
U.S. government contractor
In 1871, Congress appropriated $50,000 (about equivalent to $1,221,000 in 2022) to the new Department of Justice to form a sub-organization devoted to "the detection and prosecution of those guilty of violating federal law." The amount was insufficient to fashion an internal investigating unit, so they contracted out the services to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.However, as news leaked about the Pinkerton's involvement in strikebreaking, lawmakers began pushing against the government contracts with the Pinkertons. The Pinkertons reached their zenith in the 1870s and 80s which saw them frequently engage in violent crackdowns against striking workers. The most notable example of this was the involvement of the Pinkertons in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. However, it was the confrontation in Homestead, Pennsylvania, in 1892 that led to a national outcry against the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Following the strike, Congress took swift action against the Pinkertons and passed the Anti-Pinkerton Act in 1893, which severely curtailed the relationship between the federal government and the agency.  The act states that, "individual employed by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, or similar organization, may not be employed by the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia."