Haymarket Riot 1886
Harvesting Machine Company had been locked out since February for demanding an eight-hour workday for the same pay. The general strike was an act of solidarity among union workers, and across Chicago and the nation workers attended public speeches, meetings, and informal gatherings.
Since 1869, as workers struck, managers hired people to cross the picket lines to keep the factories operating. The hiring of strikebreakers was extremely contentious. During the late-nineteenth century Irish, Italian, Germans, Bohemians, and other eastern European groups comprised most of the factory labor force. It was common for southern blacks, who had just migrated into cities, to be hired as strikebreakers. Factory owners believed that ethnic whites would rather work with little pay, work long hours, and work in unsafe conditions than lose their job to a freed black. This tactic added a perceived racial aspect to the labor movement that spilled into other areas of urban life.
As the general strike dragged into a third day, speakers encouraged workers to stand firm and stand in solidarity with their union. If they did not, the strike would be broken and workers would gain nothing. When factory sirens marked the end of the workday, striking workers rushed the gates at McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. To quash the violent exchanges the police fired into the crowd. Three men were killed.
On May 4, 1886, a rally was held at Haymarket Square. Located on the western side of the Chicago Loop, the Haymarket was just that, a place to obtain hay for working horses. The rally was peaceful. At 10:30 pm a police inspector asked the crowd to disperse. As the crowd began to leave a homemade bomb was thrown into the police ranks. An officer was killed and several others were mortally wounded by the bomb. Chaos ensued with the police and protesters firing shots. Within five minutes, the square was clear of all people except the wounded. Those who could flee did so. Seven policemen and at least four workers were killed.
Newspapers reported the incident in vastly different ways. Some stated that the workers-labeled as anarchists-held the rally with the intent to shoot the police. Others stated that the police shot and wounded each other in the dark and rainy night. Still others recalled scenes of “wild carnage” estimating that at least fifty workers lay dead in the square.
A quick trial commenced on June 21, 1886. Eight men were placed on trail together – five were German-born, two were of British heritage, and one US-born citizen of German ancestry. A motion to try the men individually was denied. The trial concluded on August 11, 1886, and all eight men were found guilty of conspiracy. After all, appeals had been exhausted, four of the convicted were hanged in November 1887. One of the convicted committed suicide, two others had their sentences commuted to life in prison, and one severed a 15-year prison sentence.