![]() American observance was strongest in the decade before The Haymarket tragedy is remembered throughout the world in speeches, murals, and monuments. In the twentieth century, the Soviet Union and otherĬountries officially adopted it. ![]() Inspired by the American movement for a shorter workday, socialists and unionists around the world began celebrating May 1, or “May Day,” as an international workers' holiday. In 1893, Governor John Peter Altgeld granted the three imprisoned defendants absolute pardon, citing the lack of evidence against them and the unfairness of the trial. Hundreds of thousands turned out for the funeral procession of the five dead men. Two death sentences were commuted, but on November 11, 1887, four defendants were hanged in the Cook County jail one committed suicide. Many Americans were outraged at the verdicts, but legal appeals failed. The trial is now considered one of the worst miscarriages of justice in American history. The jury, instructed to adopt a conspiracy theory without legal precedent, convicted all eight. Lacking credible evidence that the defendants threw the bomb or organized the bomb throwing, prosecutors focused on their writings and speeches. Gary conducted the trial, and all 12 jurors acknowledged prejudice against the defendants. Amidst public clamor for revenge, however, eight anarchists, including prominent speakers and writers, were tried for murder. Police arrested hundreds of people, but never determined the identity of the bomb thrower. The violence demoralized strikers, and only a few well-organized strikes continued. Publicized unsubstantiated police theories of anarchist conspiracies, and they published attacks on the foreign-born and calls for revenge, matching the anarchists in inflammatory language. Police made picketing impossible and suppressed the radical press. ![]() Mayor Harrison quickly banned meetings and processions. The Haymarket bomb seemed to confirm the worst fears of business leaders and others anxious about the growing labor movement and radical influence in it. Sixty officers were injured, and eight died an undetermined number of the crowd were killed or wounded. Then someone hurled a bomb at the police, killing one officer instantly. But when one speaker urged the dwindling crowd to “throttle” the law, 176 officers under Inspector John Bonfield marched to the meeting and ordered it to disperse. The crowd gathered on the evening of May 4 on Des Plaines Street, just north of Randolph, was peaceful, and Mayor Carter H. Anarchists called a protest meeting at the West Randolph Street Haymarket, advertising it in inflammatory leaflets, one of which called for “Revenge!” Police clashed with strikers at least a dozen times, three with shootings.Īt the McCormick reaper plant, a long-simmeringĮrupted in violence on May 3, and police fired at strikers, killing at least two. Many now adopted the radical demand of eight hours' work for ten hours' pay. Crowds traveled from workplace to workplace urging fellow workers to strike. ![]() Tens of thousands more, both skilled and unskilled, joined them on May 3 and 4. On Saturday, May 1, 35,000 workers walked off their jobs. Between April 25 and May 4, workers attended scores of meetings and paraded through the streets at least 19 times. On May 1, 1886, Chicago unionists, reformers, socialists,Īnd ordinary workers combined to make the city the center of the national movement for anĭay.
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