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Writer: The writers of Britannica

Text/Subject: An encyclopedia article about the Haymarket protests and was one of many of the labor movements in the United States.

Audience: Americans and people who are interested in socialism and labor movements.

Context: An article about the Haymarket Massacre

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Haymarket Affair, violent confrontation between police and labour protesters in Chicago on May 4, 1886, that became a symbol of the international struggle for workers' rights. It has been associated with May Day (May 1) since that day's designation as International Workers' Day by the Second International in 1889.

On May 3 one person was killed and several injured as police intervened to protect strikebreakers and intimidate strikers during a union action at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company that was part of a national campaign to secure an eight-hour workday. To protest police brutality, anarchist labour leaders called a mass meeting the next day in Haymarket Square. That gathering was pronounced peaceful by Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison, who attended as an observer. After Harrison and most of the demonstrators departed, a contingent of police arrived and demanded that the crowd disperse. At that point a bomb was thrown by an individual never positively identified, and police responded with random gunfire. Seven police officers were killed and 60 others wounded before the violence ended; civilian casualties have been estimated at four to eight dead and 30 to 40 injured.

The Haymarket Affair created widespread hysteria directed against immigrants and labour leaders. Amid the panic, August Spies and seven other anarchists were convicted of murder on the grounds that they had conspired with or aided an unknown assailant. Many of the so-called "Chicago Eight," however, were not even present at the May 4 event, and their alleged involvement was never proved. Nevertheless, Spies and three other defendants were hanged on November 11, 1887, and another defendant committed suicide.

In 1893 Illinois Gov. John Peter Altgeld was petitioned by the criminal attorney Clarence Darrow and others to grant clemency to the surviving three men. Studying the transcript of the case, Altgeld concluded that the defendants had not been given a fair trial because the judge was biased, the jury packed in the prosecution's favour, and much of the evidence fabricated. His decision to issue the pardons was widely condemned by industrialists and the conservative press but was applauded by labour reformers.

The Haymarket Affair had a lasting effect on the labour movement in the United States. The Knights of Labor (KOL), at the time the largest and most successful union organization in the country, was blamed for the incident. While the KOL also had sought an eight-hour day and had called several strikes to achieve that goal, its involvement in the riot could not be proved. Public distrust, however, caused many KOL locals to join the newly formed and less-radical American Federation of Labor.

The Haymarket tragedy inspired generations of labour leaders, leftist activists, and artists and has been commemorated in monuments, murals, and posters throughout the world, especially in Europe and Latin America. In 1893 the Haymarket Martyrs Monument was erected in a cemetery in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park. A statue dedicated to the slain police officers, erected in Haymarket Square in 1889, was moved to the Chicago Police Department's training academy in the early 1970s after it was repeatedly damaged by leftist radicals. An official commemoration, The Haymarket Memorial, was installed on the site of the riot in 2004.

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Haymarket Affair | History, Aftermath, & Influence

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Haymarket Affair, violent confrontation between police and labor protesters in Chicago on May 4, 1886, that became a symbol of the international struggle for workers' rights. It has been associated with May Day (May 1) since its designation as International Workers' Day in 1889.

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The Chicago Haymarket Riot of 1886 by Robert Pettit

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The Chicago Haymarket Riot of 1886 by Robert Pettit

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Writer: Robert Pettit

Text/Subject: A poem that depicts the 1886 Haymarket Massacres and how a lot of people got physically hurt from it.

Audiences: People who like history and poetry.

Context: What happened during the 1886 haymarket massacure and how it impacted the US.

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It was in eighteen eighty-six in the streets of Chicago, where the greatest miscarriage of justice people would know transpired in an infamous labor-police rendezvous. Albert Parsons led eighty thousand people on revue. The strikers marched down Chicago's Michigan Avenue. The Knights of Labor were sponsors for the work stoppage venue. Demands for shorter work hours and no child labor were made. This would be regarded as the world's first May Day parade. Thousands nationwide would join in with the activities In the next few days, the striking workers stopped whole industries. On the third, some strikers and police engaged in melees. These actions resulted in two ill-fated fatalities. The struggles also caused some severe hideous injuries. The fights took place at the McCormick Harvester Company. Many held the police for murderous culpability. Organizers from the Knights of Labor held a mass rally at the Haymarket in Chicago's West Loop vicinity. They would assemble there in the early part of May. Thousands crowded there peacefully on the month's fourth day. Leaflets were passed noting the police for murder to the crowd as anarchists urged the mobs to join forces and shout aloud. A bomb thrown at the police catalyzed an altercation. One officer was killed and others hurt in the explosion. Matthias Degan was the officer fallen in duty. Seven other policemen died later from an injury. The police opened fire on the people immediately. At least eleven of the strikers were shot at fatally. Eight men stood trial for the death of police officer Degan. They were Parsons, August Spies, George Engel, Samuel Fielden, Adolf Fischer, Louis Lingg, Michael Schwab, and Oscar Neebe. All eight were tried and found guilty by a judge and jury. Neebe got fifteen years; the others got the death penalty. Schwab and Fielden were commuted to life; then got clemency. Lingg took his own life before his scheduled execution. The remaining four men were hanged in public exhibition. Since then, there have been enacted many labor reform laws The men who died are considered martyrs to a noble cause. I thank wikipedia.org online encyclopedia for the information I obtained to write this poem.

Copyright © Robert Pettit | Year Posted 2012

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It was in eighteen eighty-six in the streets of Chicago, where the greatest miscarriage of justice people would know transpired in an infamous labor-police

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HayMarket Massacre Essay by Melisa Linenberger

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HayMarket Massacre Essay by Melisa Linenberger

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Writer: Melisa Linenberger

Text/Subject: A nice looking essay about the haymarket massacre.

Audience: People who like reading essays about history.

Context: Essay talks about how the haymarket massacure changed US labor history forever.

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Haymarket Massacre video by History for Humans

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Haymarket Massacre video by History for Humans

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Writer: History for Humans

Text/Subject: A video about the background and what happened during the haymarket massacre.

Audience: Historians and people interested in labor rights movements from around the world.

Context: A youtube video about the Haymarket Massacure.

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The Haymarket Square Riot & The Fight For Workers Rights