home


 * The Forgotten History of May Day: The Haymarket Square Riot and Trial**

Welcome to the Haymarket Wiki! This important event in U.S. labor history and the history behind Labor Day/ May Day is too often unknown by U.S. Citizens. It’s important to know the history of not only generals and presidents, but also the average American citizen that fought for the rights we enjoy today. The eight-hour workday was a hard won battle in labor history. Prior to the addition of labor laws that include the eight-hour workday and its enforcement, employers could demand any amount of grueling and inhumane work hours from their employees.

The following primary sources, listed as individual pages on your left, will walk you through images, political cartoons, contemporary newspaper articles, trial evidence, and other material that will enrich your knowledge of the Haymarket event. As the historical thinking theorist Bruce A. Van Sledright asserts, the varied forms of sources presented here will allow for a more holistic view of this contentious event. Hopefully, the material will awaken you to the amazing and controversial history surrounding the Haymarket Square Riot. I firmly agree with most historians and education theorists, like James Loewen, who believe that historical reasoning is deeply enriched when students interact with primary sources. Furthermore, the accompanying data-based questions guide students to learn, for "there can be no new knowledge without new questions" (Wineburg, Sam and Jack Schneider. "Was Blooms Taxonomy Pointed in the Wrong DIrection?" Kappan. Dec 2009/January 2010. p. 61). Each primary source has its own discussion board with developed data-based questions. They follow the concepts of Bloom (1956) and Cochran (2007) and scaffold from a lower level of knowledge, remembering, to questions that require higher order thinking such as evaluation.

Below, the main page includes a chronology and some history of the event. Teachers should scaffold student knowledge with discussions and lessons using this site. The order you should investigate the sources is not set in stone, but I would suggest a general trajectory. I would start with the Haymarket Agitational Pamplet, which was a reaction to another tragedy prior to Haymarket. Next, you can view the most famous images of the Haymarket riot through the Haymarket Square Riot pictorial and the sketch. Afterwards, the Chicago Tribune excerpts provide more detailed information and a window into some public opinion on the incident. The Haymarket evidence for the defense and prosecution are the same pamphlet, but one contains a critical edit that reveals the labor movement’s various opinions on whether proceed peacefully or not. Now, the various editorial cartoons will have more relevance. The images of the slain officer and accused bomber provide more human faces to those involved. Then, I would view the police memorial original photo and the second image of its virtual destruction by 1986. Lastly, you can view the recent photos of the Haymarket Square Memorial and see an Anarchist gathering at the 100th anniversary of the Haymarket Square Riot.

“I do not claim any power of prophesy but I can see ahead of me an organization that will cover the globe. It will include men and women of every craft, creed and color; it will cover every race worth saving.” Uriah Stephens, founder of the Knights of Labor (Mason, pg. 81). The Knights advocated for the eight-hour workday and equal pay for equal work, state-backed credit for small business, and the creation of cooperatives.
 * The U.S. Labor Fight for the Eight- Hour Workday Student Re-enactment: [|Re-enactment of Haymarket Riot]**

On May 4, 1886, in what came to be known as the Haymarket riot, a bomb exploded in Haymarket Square Chicago, Illinois at Randolph and Desplaines Streets just west of downtown. It occurred during a rally for the eight-hour workday. American workers were enduring dangerous and degrading conditions at the hands of powerful factory owners. In the 1880s they began to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining. In 1884 the American Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions demanded an eight-hour workday, to come in effect on May 1, 1886. At the Haymarket event August Spies, a Methodist minister, was making a speech atop a wooden wagon to labor protesters when someone hurled a bomb. At least one police officer died from injuries suffered in the bomb blast and seven more died later, possibly from wounds caused by "friendly fire" in the ensuing melee. Police had opened fire on the crowd, killing four workers and wounding many more. The bombing came a day after two workmen were killed at the strike against the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company in Chicago. Furthermore, it was three days after 80,000 protesters marched down Michigan Avenue to advocate for a shorter workday. The march led to the first May Day to commemorate it in 1890. In the riot's wake, eight labor leaders -- some of whom called themselves anarchists -- were convicted of inciting the incident. Four were hanged, one committed suicide, and three were later pardoned. Historians generally agree the men were not guilty of inciting violence.


 * Chronology of events leading up to and after the Haymarket Riot**


 * = 1866 ||< National Labor Union passes a resolution calling for an eight-hour work day. ||


 * = 1867 ||< Illinois enacts the nation's first eight-hour law, but employers refuse to comply and the law is rendered meaningless. ||


 * = 1878 ||< Albert Parsons becomes secretary of Chicago's Eight-Hour League. ||


 * = October 1884 ||< The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Union declares its goal of having eight hours constitute a legal day of work, beginning May 1, 1886. ||


 * = April 1886 ||< American laborers rally and lobby in support of an eight-hour work day with no reduction in pay. In Chicago, nearly 50,000 workers win such this concession from employers. The Chicago City Council, with the support of Mayor Harrison, approves an eight-hour work day for city employees. ||


 * = May 1, 1886 ||< 100,000 American workers go on strike in support of the eight-hour workday. The strike day ends peacefully in Chicago, where German anarchists toast their "Emancipation Day." ||


 * = May 3, 1886 ||< While Spies speaks, police attack demonstrators with clubs and bullets at McCormick’s Reaper Works. Spies writes a circular (the “Revenge Circular”) urging a militant response to the death of "six brothers." In the evening, 8-hour leaders meet at Grief's Hall to discuss strategy. Prosecutors will later describe this meeting, attended by Engel and Fischer, the "Monday Night Conspiracy." ||


 * = May 4, 1886 ||< Louis Lingg and William Seliger make 30 to 50 bombs. They later transport them to Nepf’s Hall....At 7:30 PM, a rally to protest the violent attack on demonstrators at McCormicks and support the eight-hour day begins at Haymarket in Chicago. At 8:15, August Spies arrives at the rally. At 8:30, Albert Parsons arrives at the meeting of the American Group. A half hour later, he begins speaking at the Haymarket. He speaks for about an hour, and then leaves for Zepf's Hall. Samuel Fielden begins speaking about 10 PM. About 10:20, police demand that the Haymarket rally promptly end. As Fielden steps down from the speaker's wagon, a bomb is thrown into the ranks of the police, fatally injuring several. Officer Degan is the first to die. After hearing of the violence at Haymarket, Parsons boards a train for Geneva, Illinois. ||


 * = May 5, 1886 ||< August Spies, Henry Spies, Lizzie Holmesand Michael Schwab are arrested at the office of the Arbeiter-Zeitung, as the police raid the newspaper. Elsewhere, police arrest Adolph Fischer, Gerhard Lizius, Herman Pudewa, Lucy Parsons, Sarah Ames, and Samuel Fielden..... In response to the Haymarket Riot, Mayor Harrison proclaims that all public gatherings are now illegal. ||


 * = May 7, 1886 ||< Rudolph Schnaubelt is arrested. ||


 * = May 18, 1886 ||< The Grand jury begins its examination of witnesses. ||


 * = May 27, 1886 ||< The Grand jury returns indictments against Albert Parsons, August Spies, Michael Schwab, Samuel Fielden, George Engel, Adolph Fischer, Oscar Neebe, Louis Lingg, William Seliger, and Rudolph Schnaubelt. They are charged with the murder of Officer Degan. ||


 * = June 5, 1886 ||< The Grand Jury issues its report to Judge Rogers. The grand jury concludes that the bombthrowing was a direct result of a deliberate conspiracy. ||


 * = June 21, 1886 ||< In dramatic fashion, Parsons willingly surrenders by walking into court on the first day of the proceedings. Jury selection begins. ||


 * = July 15, 1886 ||< Jurors are sworn in. The prosecution opens its case. ||


 * = July 31, 1886 ||< The state closes its case; the defense begins its case. ||


 * = August 19, 1886 ||< Judge Gary instructs the jury and it begins deliberations. ||


 * = August 20, 1886 ||< Jury delivers its verdict of guilty for the 8 defendants. All defendants, except Neebe, are sentenced to receive the death penalty. Neebe is sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. ||


 * = October 7, 1886 ||< Appeal is denied; the execution date is set for December 3, 1886. ||


 * = October 7-9, 1886 ||< The defendants give speeches in court. ||


 * = November 2, 1886 ||< The defendants appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court for a writ of error. ||


 * = November 25, 1886 ||< A stay of execution is granted. ||


 * = March 1887 ||< The Illinois Supreme Court hears the appeal by the defendants. ||


 * = September 14, 1887 ||< The Illinois Supreme Court upholds the lower court’s ruling. November 11, 1887 is the date set for the defendants’ execution. ||


 * = October 27, 1887 ||< Counsel for the defense petitions the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of error. ||


 * = November 2, 1887 ||< The U.S. Supreme Court denies the writ of error. ||


 * = November 6, 1887 ||< Four bombs are found in the cell of Louis Lingg. ||


 * = November 9, 1887 ||< The Amnesty Association presents a petition with 41,000 signatures from Chicago residents. ||


 * = November 10, 1887 ||< Governor Oglesby announces he is commuting the sentences of Samuel Fielden and Michael Schwab to life sentences. Lingg commits suicide in his cell, by biting on a dynamite cap. ||


 * = November 11, 1887 ||< Spies, Parson, Fielden, and Engel are hanged at noon. ||


 * = June 25, 1893 ||< Thousands attend the unveiling of a new monument to the Haymarket martyrs at Waldheim Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois. ||


 * = June 26, 1893 ||< Fielden, Schwab, and Neebe are pardoned by Governor John Peter Altgeld. The move effectively ends Altgeld's promising political career. ||


 * = 1938 ||< The Fair Labor Standards Act makes eight hours a legal days work in the United States ||