The Haymarket Riot
In 1884 the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions announced from their convention that the eight hour workday would become the national standard on May 1, 1886. Labor organizations nationwide prepared to strike and demonstrate in support of the eight hour day’s implementation. In Chicago, which was a major industrial center, the Knights of Labor were active in preparing its members and those of other unions in supporting the nationwide strikes. On May 1 striking workers held rallies across the country, with up to 500,000 demonstrating, including up to 40,000 in Chicago, with another 80,000 people demonstrating their support.
On May 3, strikers gathered outside the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, home of the famous McCormick reaper. The strikers gathered in support of the molders, who had been on strike against McCormick since the preceding winter. The company had hired replacement workers, who were harassed by strikers when they entered and left the plant, and were escorted by armed Pinkerton guards. Although the strikers harassed the replacement workers, they did allow them across the picket line. When the shift ended on May 3 and the replacement workers encountered the strikers, guards fired into the crowd and three workers were killed.
The violence led to anarchists calling for a rally to be held in Haymarket Square the following day, with the anarchists distributing fliers throughout the city. The anarchists called the police actions’ the deliberate murders of workingmen. The rally was held in the early evening, under a steady rain which grew worse as the speakers at the event droned on. The final speaker was a British socialist who spoke for between ten and twenty minutes, according to conflicting reports in the newspapers. At about ten-thirty police arrived and ordered the crowd to disperse, marching towards the wagon on which the speakers had stood.
As the crowd, which had shrunk steadily during the evening due to the inclement weather, began to dissolve a bomb was thrown at the police, killing one officer instantly and fatally injuring six others. The police opened fire on the crowd as they fled, killing at least four workers, and injuring several other policemen with misdirected fire. Though the bomb had been brought to the rally by an anarchist, and was never officially connected to the union workers, in the public mind the organizers, especially the Knights of Labor, were tied to the violence. Union membership and public support of organized labor nosedived.
Eight were arrested for the bombing, including two of the speakers during the rally, though they had been complying with police orders to disperse when the bomb exploded. All were found guilty and seven were sentenced to death. One committed suicide in jail, the other six were hanged. The final defendant was given fifteen years. Union membership dwindled under the anti-union backlash generated by the international publicity over the bombing and the testimony during the trial. Nonetheless other union activity continued, as did public pressure for the eight hour work day, as the unions worked to separate themselves from the activities of the anarchists.