The Haymarket Affair
The Haymarket Affair
For many, America is not just the country they happen to live in but also it is a place of freedoms, liberties and independencies and even a refuge for some people. In 1886 though, a group of people attempted to share their opinion in Haymarket Square, Chicago, which led to a dangerous riot and a series of trials with convictions and executions. Throughout the affair, innocent lives were lost, people were wrongly accused, and the judicial system was revealed as flawed. Throughout the trial, Constitutional rights were overlooked in the name of prejudice and because of fear, just to please the public. The Haymarket Affair involved a violent riot caused by overbearing police officers; it also involved unfair trials which attempted to defend American ideals but instead, all it did was infringe the principle rights in the Constitution. The prominence of the belief in anarchy in the labor movements was prevalent in the prejudice that was made evident in the arrests and trials of the affair. The anarchists of this time thought that the government and its laws were made to tyrannize the working people, and they wanted to get rid of the capitalist system. As for their political movements, anarchists wanted an eight-hour work day, decent housing, an end to child labor, and free public schooling. Including these requests, anarchists gained the trust and respect of laborers because of their support of strikes and unions, their public writings on labor grievances, and their talk of revolution and elimination of bosses. Across the nation, discontent workers agreed to go on strike in demand of an eight-hour work day on May 1, 1886. The tension and excitement caused by the planned strike led to an editorial in the Chicago Mail. The writer of this editorial wrote about two anarchists, Albert Parsons and August Spies, who he called dangerous. He said to, “Hold them personally responsible for any trouble that occur”.
The writer of the editorial was
For many, America is not just the country they happen to live in but also it is a place of freedoms, liberties and independencies and even a refuge for some people. In 1886 though, a group of people attempted to share their opinion in Haymarket Square, Chicago, which led to a dangerous riot and a series of trials with convictions and executions. Throughout the affair, innocent lives were lost, people were wrongly accused, and the judicial system was revealed as flawed. Throughout the trial, Constitutional rights were overlooked in the name of prejudice and because of fear, just to please the public. The Haymarket Affair involved a violent riot caused by overbearing police officers; it also involved unfair trials which attempted to defend American ideals but instead, all it did was infringe the principle rights in the Constitution. The prominence of the belief in anarchy in the labor movements was prevalent in the prejudice that was made evident in the arrests and trials of the affair. The anarchists of this time thought that the government and its laws were made to tyrannize the working people, and they wanted to get rid of the capitalist system. As for their political movements, anarchists wanted an eight-hour work day, decent housing, an end to child labor, and free public schooling. Including these requests, anarchists gained the trust and respect of laborers because of their support of strikes and unions, their public writings on labor grievances, and their talk of revolution and elimination of bosses. Across the nation, discontent workers agreed to go on strike in demand of an eight-hour work day on May 1, 1886. The tension and excitement caused by the planned strike led to an editorial in the Chicago Mail. The writer of this editorial wrote about two anarchists, Albert Parsons and August Spies, who he called dangerous. He said to, “Hold them personally responsible for any trouble that occur”.
The writer of the editorial was
Bibliography: Avrich, Paul, The Haymarket Tragedy (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1986) 205. Burgan, Michael, The Haymarket Square Tragedy, We the People: Industrial American Series (Minnesota: Compass Point Books, 2006), 19. Fliege, Stu, Tales and Trails of Illinois (Champagne: University of Illinois Press, 2002), 109. Green, James Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America (New York: Pantheon Publishing, 2006) 269. Werstein, Irving, Strangled Voices: The Story of the Haymarket Affair (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1970), 14. [ 4 ]. Michael Burgan, The Haymarket Square Tragedy, We the People: Industrial American Series (Minnesota: Compass Point Books, 2006), 19. [ 5 ]. Irving Werstein, Strangled Voices: The Story of the Haymarket Affair (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1970), 26. [ 7 ]. Stu Fliege, Tales and Trails of Illinois (Champagne: University of Illinois Press, 2002), 109. [ 8 ]. Michael Burgan, The Haymarket Square Tragedy, We the People: Industrial American Series (Minnesota: Compass Point Books, 2006), 22. [ 10 ]. Stu Fliege, Tales and Trails of Illinois (Champagne: University of Illinois Press, 2002), 107. [ 12 ]. Paul Avrich, The Haymarket Tragedy (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1986) 205. [ 14 ]. Michael Burgan, The Haymarket Square Tragedy, We the People: Industrial American Series (Minnesota: Compass Point Books, 2006), 39. [ 16 ]. James Green, Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America (New York: Pantheon Publishing, 2006) 286. [ 17 ]. Stu Fliege, Tales and Trails of Illinois (Champagne: University of Illinois Press, 2002), 107. [ 20 ]. Michael Burgan, The Haymarket Square Tragedy, We the People: Industrial American Series (Minnesota: Compass Point Books, 2006), 36. [ 22 ]. Stu Fliege, Tales and Trails of Illinois (Champagne: University of Illinois Press, 2002), 110. [ 26 ]. James Green, Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America (New York: Pantheon Publishing, 2006) 269. [ 28 ]. Irving Werstein, Strangled Voices: The Story of the Haymarket Affair (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1970), 51. [ 29 ]. Stu Fliege, Tales and Trails of Illinois (Champagne: University of Illinois Press, 2002), 111. [ 30 ]. Paul Avrich, The Haymarket Tragedy (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1986) 205. [ 31 ]. Michael Burgan, The Haymarket Square Tragedy, We the People: Industrial American Series (Minnesota: Compass Point Books, 2006), 35.