A Brief Introduction to American Labor History by way of the Haymarket Affair

Near the End of the 1800’s, Working Conditions: Typical working day would range from 10 to 16 hours. Child labor was common. Poor conditions led to health problems, injuries, and very low morale. People hardly made enough money to get by.

“Working[people] of all countries UNITE!” By the 1870s, the 8-Hour Day was a central demand of the labor movement. Radicalized Americans and immigrants alike—socialists, anarchists, and unionists—played a huge role in the struggle for more rights for workers.

The Haymarket Affair May 1st, 1886, 80,000 people marched down Michigan Ave., Chicago, in what is regarded as the first modern May Day Parade, in support of the eight-hour day. In the next few days they were joined nationwide by 350,000 workers who went on strike at 1,200 factories, including 70,000 in Chicago, 45,000 in New York, 32,000 in Cincinnati, and additional thousands in other cities.

The Haymarket Affair May 3rd, 1886, a confrontation between strikers, strike-breakers and police led to the police killing 4 people and wounding others. May 4th, a rally was held at Haymarket Square to protest police violence and support striking workers. The rally was organized by anarchists.

The Haymarket Affair The rally was peaceful. But as the meeting was ending the police decided to disperse the crowd. At this point an unknown person threw a bomb at the police. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of eight police officers—mostly from friendly fire—and an unknown number of civilians.

The Haymarket Affair Eight anarchist organizers were arrested, though none of them were near the bombing. Seven of these organizers were immigrants— six from Germany, one from England. They were all convicted, four were executed and one committed suicide in prison, despite the fact that the prosecution conceded none of the defendants had thrown the bomb. The other three were eventually pardoned.

The Haymarket Affair The Haymarket Affair triggered a national wave of fear; public officials, civic leaders, the press, and some union leaders joined in equating foreign birth with anarchism. And both foreign birth and anarchism were equated with terror.

The Haymarket Affair But the Haymarket Affair also sparked a radical consciousness in many people—many became active in social struggles and the labor movement after Haymarket.