On this day in Labor History the year was 1886.
This was one of the most significant days in US labor history.
A mass meeting of workers was called for that night in Chicago’s Haymarket Square.
The purpose of the meeting was to protest the police brutality that had killed and injured strikers at McCormick Reaper the day before.
Rally organizers were part of the movement demanding an eight hour day.
The days rally was much smaller than organizers expected. Rain began to fall as the last speaker was finishing, when an army of 200 policemen appeared demanding the meeting disperse.
Someone, unknown to this day, threw a dynamite bomb into the ranks of the advancing police.
In the confusion of the moment, police began firing their weapons indiscriminately into the dark.
When the smoke cleared police killed at least four in the crowd and wounded many more.
A total of seven police men were killed, most were killed by their own gunfire.
In the aftermath of the event, unions were raided all across the country.
The Eight-Hour Movement was effectively derailed.
Eight men were put on trial in Chicago. Some were not even present at the time the bomb was thrown.
They were put on trial for their ideas.
Four of the men, Albert Parsons, August Spies, George Engel, and Adolph Fischer were sentenced to death by hanging. A fifth man, Louis Lingg died under mysterious circumstances in prison.
The remaining three went to prison, and were eventually pardoned by Illinois Governor Altgeld in 1893.
Before he was hung, August Spies declared, “The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today.”
His words proved true. The Haymarket Martyrs inspired and continue to inspire labor activists throughout the world.
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Labor History in 2:00 brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and The Rick Smith Show