Haymarket Trial: 1886

Little more than a village when it was founded in the 1830s, by the 1880s, Chicago was one of America's industrial hubs. Jobs brought immigrants from central and eastern Europe to the city. Many of these same immigrants, dissatisfied with their lot, joined the labor movement and embraced anarchism. One of the most vocal members of the labor movement was August Spies, the editor of a German-language newspaper who was deeply involved in the union and anarchist movements.

In 1886, the efforts of unions in general, and Spies in particular, were focused on the struggle to enforce an eight-hour workday. Most businesses insisted on a 10-hour workday, and even longer shifts were common. Labor demanded that management reduce the workday to eight hours, while keeping the daily wage the same. On the great holiday of labor, May 1, or May Day, unions staged nationwide demonstrations in favor of the eight-hour workday. Two days later, on May 3, Spies spoke before the striking workers of the McCormick farm machinery works. Fights broke out between the strikers and the "scab" workers hired to replace them. The police intervened, firing into the crowd of strikers, killing two and wounding many.

Spies promptly publicized the incident in his newspaper, and called for a rally against police brutality at Chicago's Haymarket Square the next day. At first, the meeting proceeded peacefully. Chicago's Mayor, Carter Harrison, showed up briefly so that he would be seen by working-class voters. After Spies spoke and Harrison had left, however, the situation rapidly deteriorated. Two of Spies' fellow anarchists, Samuel Fielden and Albert Parsons, spoke to the gathered workers and lashed out at business, government, and the Chicago police.

Intending to end the meeting and disperse the crowd, Chicago police Captain John Bonfield, who was present with nearly 200 men, ordered his officers to advance toward the crowd. Suddenly, someone in the crowd threw a bomb made of dynamite at the police. The powerful explosion killed eight policemen and wounded 67 others. Furious, the police retaliated. They fired into the crowd, killing or wounding dozens of people.