The Haymarket Riot was a union demonstration in Chicago in 1886 for an eight-hour working day. A bomb was thrown, killing a policeman, and police retaliated, injuring and killing protesters. Eight people were charged and seven sentenced to death, but some believe the Pinkerton Detective Agency was involved. The incident highlighted social and class issues, and May 1 became May Day, a day to celebrate global labour.
The Haymarket Riot – also sometimes called the Haymarket Tragedy, depending on who tells the story – was a union demonstration that took place in Chicago on May 4, 1886. While the demonstration began peacefully, a bomb was thrown when police ordered protesters to disperse. A policeman was killed by the bomb and the police retaliated by advancing the line and shooting at the protesters. An unknown number of protesters were injured and killed, and several policemen were also injured. The aftermath of the Haymarket Incident is often referred to by people wishing to illustrate the problems with the justice system in the United States in the 1800s.
The impetus for the Haymarket demonstrations was the push for an eight-hour working day. Many companies were already beginning to institute eight-hour workdays by the 1880s, in response to growing pressure. Unions wanted all workers to be given an eight-hour day, so they urged workers to go on strike on May 1. Strikes, demonstrations and walkouts took place across the country. On May 3, four strikers from the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company were killed in a scuffle with strikers and police. In response, the union community distributed posters calling for a demonstration in Haymarket Square the following day.
Initially, the rally went well. A number of speakers, including noted anarchist August Spies, spoke at the event and the crowd remained calm. Later in the day, police began ordering protesters to disperse. The origin of this order is unknown. A bomb was thrown into an advancing police line, killing Police Officer Mathis J. Degan. Angry police opened fire on the crowd, who fought back. The incident illustrated the social and class issues of the period.
Almost immediately following the Haymarket incident, eight people connected with the rally were charged, tried and convicted of involvement in the bombing. Of the eight, seven were sentenced to death: August Spies, Albert Parson, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Louis Lingg, Michael Schwab and Samuel Fielden. Oscar Neebe was sentenced to 15 years in prison. After appeals, the Illinois governor commuted the sentences of Fielden and Schwab to life. The other five were sentenced to hang on November 11, 1887. Lingg committed suicide the night before, but the other four were publicly hanged and buried in the Waldheim German Cemetery. In 1893, the governor pardoned Neebe, Fielden and Schwab.
Many members of the anarchist community believed that there was strong evidence linking the Pinkerton Detective Agency with the Haymarket bomb and that the bomb had been used to give the state a reason to prosecute leading members of the anarchist community. The identity of the bomb thrower has never been determined. The rapid pace of the trial and the irregularities in the way the investigation was conducted led many contemporaries to criticize the legal system. Labor movement leaders used the Haymarket crash as a rallying point and many adopted May 1 as May Day, a day to celebrate global labour.
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