Haymarket affair

Haymarket affair
Part of the Great Upheaval
Illustration of Haymarket square bombing and riot
This 1886 engraving was the most widely reproduced image of the Haymarket massacre. It shows Methodist pastor Samuel Fielden speaking, the bomb exploding, and the riot beginning simultaneously; in reality, Fielden had finished speaking before the explosion.[1]
DateMay 4, 1886
Location
41°53′5.6″N 87°38′38.9″W / 41.884889°N 87.644139°W / 41.884889; -87.644139
GoalsEight-hour work day
Methods
  • Strikes
  • protest
  • demonstrations
Parties
Lead figures
Casualties and losses
Deaths: 8 (including 4 who were executed)
Injuries: 70+
Arrests: 100+
Deaths: 7
Haymarket affair is located in Central Chicago
Haymarket affair
Haymarket Square, Chicago, Illinois

The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois, United States.[2] The rally began peacefully in support of workers striking for an eight-hour work day, the day after the events at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, during which one person was killed and many workers injured.[3] An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at the police as they acted to disperse the meeting, and the bomb blast and ensuing retaliatory gunfire by the police caused the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians; dozens of others were wounded.[3]

Eight anarchists were charged with the bombing. The eight were convicted of conspiracy in the internationally publicized legal proceedings.

The Haymarket affair is generally considered significant as the origin of International Workers' Day held on May 1.[4][5] It was also the climax of the social unrest among the working class in America, known as the Great Upheaval.

The evidence put forward in the court trial was that one of the defendants may have built the bomb, but none of those on trial had thrown it, and only two of the eight were at the Haymarket at the time.[6][7][8][9] Seven were sentenced to death and one to a term of 15 years in prison. Illinois Governor Richard J. Oglesby commuted two of the sentences to terms of life in prison; another died by suicide in jail before his scheduled execution. The other four were hanged on November 11, 1887.[3] In 1893, Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned the remaining defendants and criticized the trial.[10]

The site of the incident was designated a Chicago landmark in 1992,[11] and a sculpture was dedicated there in 2004. In addition, the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 at the defendants' burial site in Forest Park.[12]

  1. ^ Act II: Let Your Tragedy Be Enacted Here, Moment of Truth, 2000, The Dramas of Haymarket, Chicago Historical Society
  2. ^ "Originally at the corner of Des Plaines and Randolph". Cityofchicago.org. Archived from the original on May 6, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "Haymarket Riot | History, Outcome, & Knights of Labor". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  4. ^ Trachtenberg, Alexander (March 2002) [1932]. The History of May Day. Marxists.org. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  5. ^ Foner, "The First May Day and the Haymarket Affair", May Day, pp. 27–39.
  6. ^ Timothy Messer-Kruse, The Haymarket Conspiracy: Transatlantic Anarchist Networks (2012)
  7. ^ Smith, Carl. "Act III: Toils of the Law". The Dramas of Haymarket. Chicago Historical Society and Northwestern University. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  8. ^ See generally, Gilmer, Harry L. (July 28, 1886). "Testimony of Harry L. Gilmer, Illinois vs. August Spies et al". Haymarket Affair Digital Collection. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  9. ^ See generally, Thompson, Malvern M. (July 27, 1886). "Testimony of Malvern M. Thompson, Illinois vs. August Spies et al". Haymarket Affair Digital Collection. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  10. ^ Altgeld, John P. (June 26, 1893). "Reasons for Pardoning Fielden, Neebe and Schwab". digital.lib.niu.edu. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  11. ^ "Site of the Haymarket Tragedy". City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. 2003. Archived from the original on July 14, 2006. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  12. ^ "Lists of National Historic Landmarks". National Historic Landmarks Program. National Park Service. March 2004. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2008.

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