Haymarket+Riot+of+1886

Haymarket Riot of 1886 by Mark Dente

The workers vs. The Company

The business owners of Chicago’s McCormick reaper factory had laborers working up to twelve hours per day and sometimes six days a week. The laborers saw the long working hours as a kind of slavery. They wanted to limit their hours to an eight hour work day.

The Problem

The Haymarket Riot was centered around workers at the McCormick Reaper Works. These workers had the slogan known as the eight hour slogan. The workers preached, “Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what we will!” The strike grew out of a nationwide movement of working people demanding an eight hour working day. On May 4th, leaders of the McCormick Reaper Works lock out called for a meeting in Haymarket Square to protest. This day would change American labor forever.

The Haymarket Riot

On May 1, 1886, groups of workers had a national demonstration wanting an eight-hour work day. On May 3, 1886, at Chicago’s McCormick reaper factory, police broke up a fight between striking factory workers and scabs. Union leaders called for a protest rally on May 4th in Chicago’s Haymarket Square and a group of anarchists joined the strikers. At the event, someone threw a bomb killing seven policemen and injuring seventy people. Even though the person who threw the bomb was never found eight anarchists and socialists were tried for conspiracy to commit murder. The press and the public blamed the Knights of the Labor Union for the Haymarket Riot, even though it was never proven that they were involved in the incident. A New York Times newspaper article called "The Chicago Anarchists" was written on May 10, 1866, just days after the riot. It gives a detailed account of the riot and talks about the anarchsits involved. The article writes about how police have gained evidence on the anarchsits and have indicted eight of them. It also adresses the issue of the growing of the socialists party in America.

The Anarchists

The leaders that called the meeting a Haymarket Square were anarchists. Eight of them were indicted on charges of murder and conspiracy but seven of them were sentenced to death. Four were hanged on November 11, 1887, one killed himself in prison, and the last two had their death sentence commuted to life in prison when the government intervened and the governor of Illinois made the decision to spare the last man. The last anarchist that wasn’t sentenced to death received the punishment of 15 years in prison. A primary source that aided my reaserch was a letter written by Albert Parsons to his wife after his conviction. Parsons was one of the radicals convicted in the Haymarket Square bombings. The letter is written from his own point of view of the event and about his conviction. Parsons writes how his guilty verdict made the “tyrants” happy even though he feels there was no evidence to show he was involved with the bombing. He writes that the government is just looking for someone to blame for this event and his life is being sacrificed to appease all those who are angry with the Haymarket tragedy. Parsons tells his wife not to do anything foolish after he is gone. He wants her to pick up with the cause of socialism where he left off. Parsons wants his children to have a better life with liberty, justice, and equality.

The Impact of the Haymarket Riot

Because this event received nation wide publicity, it damaged the image of the growing labor movement. The labor movement was now seen as a group anarchists rather than an organization of workers trying to secure better conditions for themselves and their families. The people who died at this riot, known as the Haymarket Martyrs, became an inspiration to other labor activists. The event inspired the activists to continue their actions for better working conditions and shorter hours. Labor activists around the world dedicated May 1st as World Labor Day.

References

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=227 "Haymarket Square riot." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 11 May 2011. "The Dramas of Haymarket: Act II." //Chicago// //History Museum// //|//. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2011. . "The Chicago Anarchists." //New York Times// [New York City ] 11 May 1866: 1. Kogan, Bernard. //The Chicago Haymarket Riot//. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1959. Lucy Parsons, Life of Albert R. Parsons (Chicago: 1889), 211-212.

Pictography

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