1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Lately, I've 4 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: been reading a lot of articles about the purported labor 5 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: shortage in the United States. I feel like you maybe 6 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: need to have been under a rock to have seen 7 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: none of this discussion and discourse. I was going to 8 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: make a fake like, what I haven't heard about this, 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: but it's too on the nose. Yeah, So there's just 10 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: I mean, there's been a lot of conversation about whether 11 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: there's a labor shortage, and whether it's not a labor 12 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: shortage it's late. It's like a shortage of jobs that 13 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: are paying a living wage and have decent working conditions. 14 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: But then I've read a bunch of other articles that 15 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: are about how even that idea is a little oversimplified. 16 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: And it's more that in the wake of the ongoing 17 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen pandemic, people just all across the socioeconomic spectrum 18 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: are reevaluating their lives and what they want to do 19 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 1: with them and what kind of work they want to do. 20 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: So all of that discourse has led me to just 21 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: think a lot about how here in the United States 22 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: we arrived at a work week being at least theoretically 23 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: forty hours long, with a work day again theoretically eight 24 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: hours long, and a weekend that falls on Saturday and Sunday. 25 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:32,759 Speaker 1: Like all of that is just kind of random and arbitrary, 26 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: and yet it feels almost like a given at this point, Right, 27 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: That's just how the world works. Yeah, even even if 28 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: you're in an industry or a job where you work 29 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: on Saturdays and Sundays, like I have been in those 30 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: jobs before, like Saturday and Sunday, we're still the weekend. 31 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: Even though my weekend might be on a Tuesday and 32 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: a Thursday, they're not even consecutive days off. Yes, in 33 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: any conversations, because I too have had those jobs, people 34 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: are always like, oh, you have to work the weekend, 35 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: Like you are always clearly the outlier if you have 36 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: a job that doesn't fall on that Monday to Friday. Right, 37 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: So you know, I've just I've been thinking about that 38 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: a lot, and how as a society that became a thing, 39 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: and really there are a whole lot of different interconnected 40 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: people and movements and events that have all been connected 41 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: to this basic idea of what a full time job is, 42 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: and some of them particularly stand out. One is the 43 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:34,079 Speaker 1: Haymarket Riot, also called the Haymarket affair or the Haymarket massacre. 44 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,519 Speaker 1: I really feel like none of those three terms really 45 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: encapsulate what happened. Uh, that's been on our listeners suggestion 46 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: list for a long time, and it's what we're going 47 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: to talk about today after all of my navel gazing 48 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:53,679 Speaker 1: about what a work week is. Oh yeah, we could 49 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: get into a whole thing. Maybe we will on Friday. Um. 50 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: The Haymarket Riot took place in Chicago in eight six 51 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: during a period of widespread labor activism in Chicago and 52 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 1: across the United States. Workers were facing a lot of 53 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: the same issues that have come up pretty much every 54 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: time we have discussed labor rights and the labor movement, 55 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,640 Speaker 1: so things like long hours and low pay and unsafe 56 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: or otherwise poor working conditions. Yeah, this also clearly was 57 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: not just in the US, but that's where we're talking 58 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: about today, and the United States had also been rapidly industrializing. 59 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: People had been losing their jobs in the wake of 60 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: that industrialization. Sometimes whole positions had just been eliminated as 61 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: workplaces had become more mechanized, and in other cases, tasks 62 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: that required some kind of specialized training or skills had 63 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: been mechanized in a way that allowed employers to replace 64 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: those workers with ones who had less training and could 65 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: be paid lower wages. So the US Civil War had 66 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: ended a little more than twenty years before in eighteen 67 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: six five, followed by the abolition of slavery except in 68 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: punishment for a crime. This had contributed to huge shifts 69 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: all across the nation, as industries that had relied on 70 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: enslaved workers having to adjust to an economy where slavery 71 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: was outlawed. This also led to demographic shifts nationwide, as 72 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: freed people from former slave states tried to move north 73 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: to find work. In the eighteen seventies and eighteen eighties, 74 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,160 Speaker 1: huge numbers of people had also immigrated to the United 75 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: States from Europe, especially from England, Ireland, and Germany. These 76 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: are the same years that the US was also trying 77 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: to curb immigration from Asia, especially from China. We have 78 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,799 Speaker 1: talked about that on several previous episodes of the show, 79 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: including our recent one on Chomping. Most of these new 80 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: arrivals were fleeing some kind of financial or economic hardship, 81 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: and so this all led to even more competition for 82 00:04:55,880 --> 00:05:00,799 Speaker 1: paying work. Economic factors compounded these jobs short is, including 83 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:03,840 Speaker 1: the Panic of eighteen seventy three and the economic depression 84 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: that followed it. For Chicago specifically, these changes in the 85 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: economic conditions connected to them were massive. In eighteen thirty, 86 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: about thirty years before the start of the Civil War, 87 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: Chicago had basically been a small outpost with the population 88 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: of only about a hundred people, and then over the 89 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: next sixty years it became the second largest city in 90 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: the US, with a population of more than a million people. 91 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,719 Speaker 1: For comparison, the largest city in the world at that 92 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: point was London, with a population of about five million, 93 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,239 Speaker 1: and in the late nineteenth century more than forty percent 94 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: of Chicago's population were immigrants. At some points that number 95 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: was as much as half. So working in most of 96 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: Chicago's industries generally involved low pay and long hours. Ten 97 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: to twelve hour work days six days a week were 98 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: really common. At packing houses, shifts were often between twelve 99 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: and sixteen hours long, and mills usually ran in twelve 100 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: hours shifts. So the idea of a shorter work day 101 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: had become a big issue for labor activists, coalescing around 102 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 1: the idea that a day should be eight hours long. 103 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,840 Speaker 1: One popular slogan basically divided the twenty four hour day 104 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: into thirds. It was eight hours for work, eight hours 105 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,719 Speaker 1: for rest, eight hours for what we will. Robert Owen, 106 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: who we talked about in our episode on the New 107 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,360 Speaker 1: Harmony Utopia, is often credited with coining this phrase as 108 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: eight hours labor, eight hours of recreation, eight hours rest. 109 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: So by eighteen eighty six, labor organizations in Chicago and 110 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: elsewhere in the US had been working to shorten the 111 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: work day for decades, and in theory they had some success. 112 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: On May one, eighteen sixty seven, Illinois Governor Richard James 113 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,919 Speaker 1: Oglesby signed a law establishing an eight hour day for 114 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: workers in Illinois. On June sixty eight, Congress passed an 115 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: act doing the same for some federal workers. Other governments 116 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: passed similar or laws as well, but our focus here 117 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 1: is Illinois. So that federal law only applied to laborers, workmen, 118 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,239 Speaker 1: and mechanics who were being paid by the federal government, 119 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: so that was not everyone by any stretch, and the 120 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: Illinois law contained some really big loopholes. It applied only 121 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: quote where no special contract exists, and that meant employers 122 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 1: could just completely get around it by getting their workers 123 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: to sign special contracts. Employers threatened to close if their 124 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: employees didn't agree to work longer shifts, or they made 125 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: new job offers contangent on the worker signing a waiver 126 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: that just required that person to accept longer working hours. 127 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: Labor activists in Illinois didn't think this law was good 128 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: enough for obvious reasons, so they organized a statewide strike 129 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: to begin on May first, eighteen sixty seven. This strike 130 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: partially nearly shut down the city of Chicago, and it 131 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: lasted for about a week, But the strike eventually crumbled, 132 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: and the eight hour law, which was already full of holes, 133 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: wasn't really enforced after that. Yeah, I found conflicting accounts 134 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: about whether the city of Chicago was just totally brought 135 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: to a standstill or if it was more like specific 136 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: sectors of Chicago grounds to a halt. For the next 137 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,600 Speaker 1: two decades, though, activists and organizers in Chicago and in 138 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: the rest of the US kept working toward an eight 139 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:27,679 Speaker 1: hour work day, even though these two laws were already 140 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: supposedly guaranteeing that for at least some people aside from 141 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: this focus on an eight hour day, though a lot 142 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: of these people who were doing this work did not 143 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: share the same political perspectives. Some labor organizations were focused 144 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: on the idea of collective bargaining and trying to secure 145 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: better working conditions, shorter hours, and higher pay for workers 146 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: while operating within the structures of capitalism, but there were 147 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: also socialists, communists, and anarchists who worked more from the 148 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: idea that capitalism was inherent, corrupt and exploitive, and that 149 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: the capitalist system needed to be dismantled entirely. I'm just 150 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:11,680 Speaker 1: marveling at the ongoing discussion that remains the same forever um. Yeah, 151 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: the thing that led me to this episode was this 152 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: whole thing about like what's a work week? Why? Why 153 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: is it this way? But so many of the things 154 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 1: in this episode have parallels to discussions and events still 155 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: happening now. For sure. Anarchists, in particular, we're focusing on 156 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: the idea of an eight hour work day at a 157 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: ten hour pay rate. This was something that employers were 158 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:35,959 Speaker 1: not likely to accept at all, and it was more 159 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: of a tool to try to push workers to demand 160 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: more radical changes. People who opposed. These groups generally saw communists, socialists, 161 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: and anarchists is indistinguishable from one another and as antithetical 162 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,599 Speaker 1: to so called American values. So we noted earlier that 163 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: about of Chicago's population were immigrants, and many of these 164 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:02,959 Speaker 1: immigrants were from Germany. Many of the labor movements communists, socialist, 165 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: and anarchist members were also German. But Chicago's German immigrant 166 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: community was just It was not monolithic at all. They 167 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: represented a whole spectrum of the population of Germany. They 168 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: had arrived in the US for a range of reasons 169 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: and it pursuit of a range of goals. But especially 170 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: after the events that we're going to talk about, German 171 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: immigrants were also groups together as like one indistinguishable mass, 172 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: regardless of their individual politics or backgrounds, once again under 173 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:36,080 Speaker 1: the idea that they were opposing American values. In eighteen 174 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:39,320 Speaker 1: eighty four, nearly two decades after the federal government in 175 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: Illinois had each passed laws setting a work days eight hours, 176 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions called for 177 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: May first, eighteen eighty six, to mark the start of 178 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,800 Speaker 1: a massive nationwide movement for an eight hour work day 179 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: for everyone. The Nights of Labor and the International Working 180 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: People's Association i w p A, which was an anarchist organization, 181 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:05,079 Speaker 1: were also part of this eight hour work day movement. 182 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 1: The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions organized a 183 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: national strike and huge demonstrations, rallies, parades, and other events 184 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: were held all over the United States. The Haymarket riot 185 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 1: took place just a few days after the start of 186 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,439 Speaker 1: this national event, and we will talk about it after 187 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: a sponsor break. Before the break, we talked about activism 188 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: that had been ongoing for just decades before this national 189 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: strike started on May one, six, but we didn't get 190 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: into how those same decades were often very violent. In general, 191 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: business owners, political leaders, and the public saw striking workers 192 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 1: as a threat, so police, militia, pinkerton detectives, and sometimes 193 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: even the National Guard frequently tried to disperse strike and 194 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: demonstrating workers with force, or to intimidate and terrify them 195 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 1: into backing down on their demands. Leading up to the 196 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: Haymarket incident, in May of eighty five, Illinois militia had 197 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 1: killed two striking workers in Lamont and today that's a 198 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: suburb of Chicago. Three months later, bystanders were beaten during 199 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:24,439 Speaker 1: a strike at the West Division Railway Company. Any time 200 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:28,079 Speaker 1: there was a labor demonstration of any size, law enforcement 201 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:30,959 Speaker 1: tended to be on edge, regardless of who was there 202 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: and whether the demonstration itself was peaceful. But parts of 203 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: this movement were also employing violent rhetoric and actual violence. 204 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: Dynamite had been invented in eighteen sixties seven and had 205 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 1: made it a lot easier for people to make and 206 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: transport bombs. Anarchist publications in particular, did everything from waxing 207 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 1: rhapsodic about the potential political power of dynamite to actually 208 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: printing instructions on how to make bombs. Guest Spies, who 209 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: was editor of the German language anarchist newspaper are Biter Zeitung, 210 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:07,839 Speaker 1: kept a pipe on his desk that he said was 211 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: a bomb. In April of eighteen eighty five, the radical 212 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 1: newspaper The Alarm printed a piece that read, in part quote, 213 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,200 Speaker 1: dynamite is a peacemaker because it makes it unsafe to 214 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: harm our fellows. Although they were happening in this incredibly 215 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: tense atmosphere at first, the events in Chicago around the 216 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 1: May one, eighteen eighty six national strike proceeded mostly without incident. 217 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,560 Speaker 1: May one was a Saturday, and about thirty five thousand 218 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 1: workers walked off the job. That day, about eighty thousand 219 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 1: people participated in a march down Michigan Avenue. This march 220 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: was organized largely by husband and wife team Albert and 221 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: Lucy Parsons. Lucy had been born in Virginia and enslaved 222 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: from birth, and her enslaver had moved his enslaved workforce 223 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: to Texas shortly before the end of the Civil War. 224 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 1: Albert had fought for the Confederacy before becoming a radical 225 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:02,839 Speaker 1: Republican again after the war was over. Albert and Lucy 226 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,320 Speaker 1: had married in eighteen seventy two, and they moved to 227 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:09,200 Speaker 1: Chicago together in eighteen seventy three. Albert had become a 228 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: type setter and had joined Chicago socialist movement, later becoming 229 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: editor of the periodical The Alarm. So marches and demonstrations 230 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 1: continued on May second, which was a Sunday. Monday. May 231 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: three would have been the first day back to work. 232 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: Uh May first had been considered a work day even 233 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: though it was a Saturday, because Saturday as were not 234 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: considered a weekend day yet at that point, So Sunday 235 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: was the only day off that people typically had, so 236 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: on Monday, May three, August spies spoke at a rally 237 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: to support the lumber Shovers union, which was on strike, 238 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: and then after that rally, some of the attendees joined 239 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: union workers from the nearby McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, who 240 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 1: had been locked out of their workplace since February. After 241 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: they went on strike, McCormick had brought in non union 242 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:00,120 Speaker 1: replacement workers, and so the striking members of both of 243 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: these unions, along with members of the i w p A, 244 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: who were there basically to support them, they all started 245 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: heckling these strike breakers at McCormick as they left the building. 246 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 1: And as a side note, yes, this harvesting machine company 247 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 1: was owned by the same McCormick family, whose fortune Katherine 248 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: Dexter McCormick inherited part of, and that was money that 249 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 1: she used to fund the development of the first oral contraceptives. 250 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: So it's not entirely clear what happened outside the McCormick 251 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,480 Speaker 1: Harvesting Machine Company on May three, but at some point 252 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: about two hundred police attacked the demonstrators and at least 253 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: one demonstrator was killed. I've seen sources say anything from 254 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: one to two, all the way up to as many 255 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: as six people. After this, Spies went to the arbiter 256 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: z I Tongue office and wrote up a handbill in 257 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: both German and English. It read, working men to arms. 258 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: Your masters sent their bloodhounds the police. They killed six 259 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: of your brothers at McCormick's this afternoon. They killed the 260 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: poor wretches because they, like you, had the courage to 261 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: disobey the supreme will of your bosses. They killed them 262 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: because they dared ask for the shortening of the hours 263 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: of toil. They killed them to show you, free American citizens, 264 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: that you must be satisfied and contented with whatever your 265 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: boss's condescend to allow you, or you will get killed. 266 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: You have four years endured the most abject humiliations. You 267 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: have four years suffered unmeasurable inequities. You have worked yourself 268 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: to death. You have endured the pangs of want and hunger. 269 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: Your children, you have sacrifice to the factory lords. In short, 270 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: you have been miserable and obedient slave all these years. 271 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: Why to satisfy the insatiable greed to fill the coffers 272 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: of your lazy thieving master. When you ask them now 273 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: to lessen your burden, he sends his bloodhounds to shoot you, 274 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: kill you. If you are men, if you are the 275 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: sons of your graham sires who have shed their blood 276 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:07,200 Speaker 1: to free you, then you will rise in your might 277 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: hercules and destroy the hideous monster that seeks to destroy you. 278 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:15,959 Speaker 1: Two arms, we call you to arms. So when he 279 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: was setting the type for this handbill, the types that 280 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,119 Speaker 1: are added the word revenge and all capital letters up 281 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: at the top of the page. Meanwhile, anarchists George Engle 282 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: and at All Fisher started planning and advertising a rally 283 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,720 Speaker 1: to be held May fourth in Haymarket Square. Posters in 284 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: English and German announced a mass meeting to begin at 285 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,479 Speaker 1: seven thirty, featuring quote good speakers who would be present 286 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: to quote denounced the latest atrocious act of the police, 287 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:47,679 Speaker 1: the shooting of our fellow workmen. This also read in 288 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: bold letters, working men, arm yourselves and appear in full force. 289 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,440 Speaker 1: Fisher invited Speeds to speak of this rally, and shep 290 00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: is actually refused unless that last sentence was you from 291 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: the poster, and it was, and the posters were reprinted, 292 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: but a few that still had that line in there 293 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:10,439 Speaker 1: did wind up in distribution. Although the language promoting this 294 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:15,919 Speaker 1: demonstration was deliberately incendiary, the event itself was relatively subdued. 295 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: Only about hundred people attended, a fraction of the number 296 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:23,199 Speaker 1: who had attended other events earlier in the week, and 297 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,400 Speaker 1: the whole thing started more than an hour late. Chicago 298 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: Mayor Carter Harrison, who was pro union, was in attendance, 299 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: both to verify that it was a peaceful gathering and 300 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:36,400 Speaker 1: to encourage it to remain that way. As the speeches 301 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 1: went on, he repeatedly ReLit his cigar to make sure 302 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 1: the assembled crowd saw him and knew that he was there. 303 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,160 Speaker 1: Three men spoke at this rally, August Spies, Albert Parsons 304 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,439 Speaker 1: and Samuel field In. After a while, it started to 305 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 1: rain and people started leaving. Eventually only three hundred people 306 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: are so still remained. Species, Parsons, and the mayor all 307 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 1: left before the rally was over. A little after ten 308 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 1: thirty pm, as field In was getting to the end 309 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: of his speech, more than a hundred and seventy five 310 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: police officers moved in and Captain William Ward ordered the 311 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:14,439 Speaker 1: crowd to disperse. At first, Fielding told them that he 312 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: was almost done with his speech and that the crowd 313 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,879 Speaker 1: was peaceful so they should be allowed to stay. Ward 314 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: insisted that the crowd disperse immediately failed an agreed, but 315 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: just after that someone threw a bomb into the police ranks. 316 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:34,119 Speaker 1: It detonated an officer, Matthias J. Deagan was killed instantly. 317 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 1: Dozens more were injured, and the police opened fire on 318 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: the crowd. Some of the people in the crowd were 319 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: armed and returned fire, and this previously peaceful protests just 320 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 1: turned into a riot or a melee like it was 321 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 1: a whole huge incident. In addition to Officer Degan, seven 322 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: other police officers died, including one whose death two years 323 00:19:57,359 --> 00:20:00,440 Speaker 1: later was attributed to the injuries that he sustained. Aimed. 324 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 1: At least sixty officers were wounded. It's estimated that about 325 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: the same number of attendees at the rally were injured 326 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: and killed, but that number is a lot harder to determine. 327 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: Samuel Fielden was shot, as was August SPI's brother Henry, 328 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,399 Speaker 1: but both of those men survived. In general, people feared 329 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,240 Speaker 1: retribution for having been at the rally, so many of 330 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 1: the injured people were patched up in one another's homes. 331 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 1: This incident led to a huge crackdown against labor activists, anarchists, 332 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 1: and German immigrants, and we'll talk more about that after 333 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: a sponsor break. After the bombing in Haymarket Square, rumors 334 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 1: spread that it had been part of a much bigger plot, 335 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,119 Speaker 1: one that had been planned as a coordinated attack on 336 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: police stations and on freight houses were strike breaking workers 337 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: were staying. Labor meetings were banned, and police raided the 338 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: homes and workplaces of anarchists, labor organizers, and German immigrants, 339 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,479 Speaker 1: arresting people on mass This included a raid on the 340 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:14,480 Speaker 1: Arbiter's I Tung offices. Illinois States Attorney Louis Grinnell was 341 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 1: reported as saying, make the raids first and look up 342 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,359 Speaker 1: the law afterward. Sometimes this response to the Haymarket bombing 343 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:26,399 Speaker 1: is described as the first Red Scare, although the first 344 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: Red Scare label is a lot more often used to 345 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 1: describe the period that followed World War One and included 346 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:34,919 Speaker 1: the Palmer Raids, which we've talked about on the show before. 347 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: During these raids in six officers found radical texts, pistols, daggers, 348 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: and other weapons, along with explosives, bomb making materials and 349 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:50,720 Speaker 1: instructions on making bombs at various locations all around the city. 350 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: Detective Herman Shuttler said that while he was trying to 351 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: arrest anarchist Louis Ling, Lynn cocked his revolver and tried 352 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: to fire at him. Shoot said that he only stopped 353 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: Ling by biting his thumb while the two men fought. 354 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: Although labor organizers, anarchists, socialists, and others protested against this crackdown, 355 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,399 Speaker 1: for the most part, there was a public surge of 356 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,400 Speaker 1: support for police and approval of the wide scale raids 357 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:21,600 Speaker 1: and arrests. They were not finding weapons at everyone's homes, 358 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:24,879 Speaker 1: but since they were finding weapons that anyone's homes, people 359 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,399 Speaker 1: felt like it was a good thing that this mass 360 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 1: sweep was being done. The Chicago business community generally approved 361 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,200 Speaker 1: of this crackdown as well, with some of the city's 362 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,400 Speaker 1: wealthiest and most prominent men vocally supporting it, people whose 363 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 1: names people may still recognize today, including Marshall Field, George Pullman, 364 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:49,119 Speaker 1: and Cyrus McCormick Jr. On a grand jury indicted thirty 365 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,359 Speaker 1: one men on charges of rioting and unlawful assembly. The 366 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: grand jury also delivered a sixty nine count indictment of 367 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: nine purported ringleaders, August Bees, Albert Parsons, Samuel field In, 368 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: Michael Schwab, Adolf Fisher, George Engel, Louis ling Oscar Neebe 369 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: and Rudolph Schnellbelt. These nine men were charged with the 370 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 1: murder of Matthias J. Deagan. Even though other officers were killed, 371 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: the men were not charged in their deaths, possibly because 372 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 1: it wasn't clear whether they were killed by the bomb 373 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,399 Speaker 1: or by gunfire, and if it was gunfire, whether the 374 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:30,880 Speaker 1: shots had been fired by demonstrators or by other officers. Yeah, 375 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: there's been some debate over the decades since this happened 376 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: about exactly how many of the officers were killed by 377 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,680 Speaker 1: shots that were fired by other officers and not by 378 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:45,120 Speaker 1: the crowd. It's not a percent resolved question, I think. 379 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,080 Speaker 1: So we have mentioned some of these men and their 380 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:51,639 Speaker 1: work already. Species and Parsons had both been speakers at 381 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,359 Speaker 1: the rally, but both had left before the bomb was thrown. 382 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,200 Speaker 1: Parsons and his wife Lucy had actually brought their children 383 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: with them, something you would not expect them to do 384 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:03,760 Speaker 1: if they knew about a violent plot that was going 385 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:07,439 Speaker 1: to be uh put into play During the night. The 386 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: last speaker, Samuel Fielden, had been wrapping up his speech 387 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,680 Speaker 1: at the time of the bombing. Although Sprees, Parsons, and 388 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: Fielden all spoke at this rally, none of them was 389 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: involved in the planning of it. George Angle and Adolf 390 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 1: Fisher had organized the rally, as we mentioned, but also 391 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,719 Speaker 1: had not been there when the bomb was thrown. Angle 392 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: had not attended at all, and he was home playing 393 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,679 Speaker 1: cards at the time. Along with Louis Ling, who regularly 394 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: practiced with a rifle, had learned how to make bombs 395 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 1: and advocated resisting violence with violence. Angle and Fisher were 396 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,480 Speaker 1: probably the most radical of the men charged with Deagan's murder. 397 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: Michael schwab had been at the rally, but had also 398 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,159 Speaker 1: left before the bombing. Police had also focused on his 399 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:56,160 Speaker 1: brother in law, Rudolf Schnabot, as a suspect in throwing 400 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,120 Speaker 1: the bomb, but he seems to have fled to Europe 401 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 1: and was never seen in the u S again. Of 402 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 1: the nine men who were indicted in the murder, Schnaubot 403 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 1: was the only one who did not stand trial. Oscar 404 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: Neebe was a labor organizer and a communist, and he 405 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: worked with Spies Parsons, Fielden, and Schwab pretty regularly, but 406 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:19,679 Speaker 1: he wasn't involved with the rally at all, and he 407 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 1: was not there. Although there were suspicions that Louis Ling 408 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: had built the bomb, he also had nothing to do 409 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:31,080 Speaker 1: with the actual rally. Although SPI's Parsons, field In, Schwab, 410 00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:35,159 Speaker 1: and Need were frequent collaborators, they didn't really know Angle 411 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: and Fisher that well, and none of the other indicted 412 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,600 Speaker 1: men really had much contact with Ling at all. Of 413 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,920 Speaker 1: all of these men, Samuel Parsons was the only one 414 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,359 Speaker 1: who had been born in the United States. Samuel Fielden 415 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,879 Speaker 1: had been born in England and had immigrated to the U. 416 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: S in eighteen sixty eight. The other men who were 417 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 1: invited in the murder were all immigrants from Germany, and 418 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:01,119 Speaker 1: most of them had m graded to the US in 419 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 1: the eighteen seventies or early eighteen eighties. With snow Belt 420 00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,879 Speaker 1: having disappeared, the eight remaining defendants were tried as a group. 421 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: Their trial began on June twenty one, eighteen eighty six, 422 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 1: with jury selection stretching all the way until July fIF nine, 423 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:22,199 Speaker 1: eight one. Potential jurors were questioned and the transcript of 424 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: those proceedings is about four thousand pages long. Ultimately, only 425 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:30,959 Speaker 1: two of the twelve selected jurors had a working class background. 426 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:36,000 Speaker 1: The rest were businessmen, clerks, or salesmen. All had acknowledged 427 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: that they were prejudiced against the defendants, but said that 428 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: they thought they could hear the case impartially in spite 429 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: of that prejudice. This jury selection continues to be pretty controversial. 430 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: Some historians have concluded that it was unfairly biased against 431 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,920 Speaker 1: the defendants, with the judge refusing to dismiss potential jurors 432 00:26:54,920 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 1: who were obviously and unchangeably biased against them. As Ashiel 433 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: bailiff had selected the potential jurors, which has led to 434 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,720 Speaker 1: speculation that the pool itself was biased, so like they 435 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,320 Speaker 1: started with people who were probably going to find the 436 00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 1: defendants guilty and picked the jurors from there. But it 437 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:17,200 Speaker 1: was actually the defense counsel who requested a special bailiff 438 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: after the original pool of potential jurors had been totally 439 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: exhausted without finding twelve appropriate people. The defense team was 440 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: headed by William Perkins Black, who argued that all eight 441 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: men had alibis for the bombing. Only two of the 442 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,919 Speaker 1: defendants were even at the rally when the bomb was thrown. 443 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:37,520 Speaker 1: Both of them were on the wagon that was being 444 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: used as a stage, and one of them was speaking. 445 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:43,919 Speaker 1: Black also argued that the violent rhetoric in some of 446 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:47,679 Speaker 1: the men's writings and materials confiscated from their homes was 447 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:52,159 Speaker 1: just that rhetoric. Although Rudolf Schnowbelt was not on trial, 448 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 1: Black introduced evidence showing that he was not at the 449 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: rally when the bomb was thrown. Black also argued that 450 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 1: there was no reason and to send more than one 451 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:05,119 Speaker 1: hundred seventy police officers to try to disperse a crowd 452 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,359 Speaker 1: of about three hundred people at an event that was 453 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:12,639 Speaker 1: nearly over. But the prosecution, led by Julius Es Grannell, 454 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: argued that the small crowd and the generally non threatening 455 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: speeches were a trap, one that was meant to lure 456 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:24,399 Speaker 1: police into complacency and then bomb them. The prosecution also 457 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 1: argued that this was an international anarchist conspiracy introduced by 458 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:33,960 Speaker 1: foreign agitators. The prosecution did not establish who had thrown 459 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 1: the bomb, but this entire case rested on the idea 460 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: that the eight defendants were part of a conspiracy with 461 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 1: that unknown person The trial continued until August eleven. By 462 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: that point, two hundred twenty seven witnesses had testified, including 463 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,480 Speaker 1: fifty four members of the Chicago Police Department and four 464 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:59,560 Speaker 1: of the defendants themselves. The working Men Arm Yourselves version 465 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: of the liar advertising the rally was introduced as evidence. 466 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 1: One of the witnesses for the defense was Mayor Carter Harrison, 467 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 1: who described the rally as tame. The jury deliberated for 468 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 1: about three hours before finding all eight defendants guilty. Oscar Neebe, 469 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: who had no clear involvement with the rally in addition 470 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,479 Speaker 1: to not being there, was sentenced to fifteen years of 471 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: hard labor, and the other seven men were all sentenced 472 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:31,240 Speaker 1: to death. On October seven. Through the ninth of eighty six, 473 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 1: the men who had been sentenced to death were allowed 474 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: to speak before the judge to give any reason why 475 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: they should not be put to death. The most vehement 476 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,800 Speaker 1: of these speeches came from Louis Ling, who said, quote, 477 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: I despise your order, your laws, your force, prompt authority, 478 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: hang me for it. In the end, the sentence of 479 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: death was upheld for each of the men. To raise 480 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,800 Speaker 1: money for their appeals, the men's supporters published their speeches 481 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:00,760 Speaker 1: and sold copies of them, as well as printing and 482 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: selling autobiographies that the men had written from prison. Parsons 483 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: also whittled a small wooden boat that was auctioned off 484 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: to provide some money for his family. From prison, Spy's 485 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: had a relationship with Nina van Zandt, who married him 486 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,800 Speaker 1: by proxy on January twenty nine of eighteen eighty seven. 487 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 1: She was the daughter of a prominent businessman, leading to 488 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,840 Speaker 1: fears that this relationship would skew public opinion against the 489 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,440 Speaker 1: convicted men even further. Basically with this idea that he 490 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: was corrupting the good daughter of a prominent citizen. The 491 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 1: men's appeals were unsuccessful. On September four, eight seven, the 492 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:44,680 Speaker 1: Illinois Supreme Court upheld the conviction. The defense petitioned the U. S. 493 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,360 Speaker 1: Supreme Court for a writ of error, but the Supreme 494 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: Court denied it on November two, eight seven. A movement 495 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:55,320 Speaker 1: for clemency had been growing throughout all of this. People 496 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: increasingly started to see the trial as unfair and as 497 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: a serious miscarriage of justice. Fielden and Schwab both asked 498 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 1: for mercy, and Governor Richard Oglesby reduced their sentences to 499 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: life in prison. Oglesby said he couldn't offer clemency to 500 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:13,520 Speaker 1: any of the other men because they had not asked 501 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: for it. This whole movement for clemency was also kind 502 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:20,720 Speaker 1: of undermined when pipe bombs were found under Ling's bed 503 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 1: in his prison cell. The execution was scheduled for November eleven. 504 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: On November ten, Louis Ling took his own life using 505 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 1: a blasting cap that had been smuggled into his cell. 506 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: George Angle at All, Fisher, Albert Parsons, and August Spies 507 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: were all hanged on the eleventh. On November thirteenth, funeral 508 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: procession for the executed men drew enormous crowds. Estimates that 509 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,160 Speaker 1: you read will place the number at anywhere from a 510 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand to five hundred thousand people. By 511 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,760 Speaker 1: this point, the general public still largely approved of the 512 00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 1: trials and the hanging, but to the labor movement, anarch is, socialists, 513 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: and other supporters, those men had become martyrs. For decades 514 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 1: after all of this, historians have generally interpreted the trial 515 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 1: and the executions as an enormous miscarriage of justice, but 516 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: in twenty eleven, and twelve. Historian Timothy Messer Cruz published 517 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: two books on this. One is The Haymarket Conspiracy Transatlantic 518 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 1: Anarchist Networks, and the other is The Trial of the 519 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:30,840 Speaker 1: Haymarket Anarchists, Terrorism and Justice in the Gilded Age. And 520 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:33,920 Speaker 1: these two interconnected books, he argues that the trial would 521 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,200 Speaker 1: not be considered fair by today's standards, but that it 522 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 1: was reasonably fair given the standards of the time, and 523 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:44,280 Speaker 1: he also argues that there really was an international violent 524 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: anarchist conspiracy at work. Messr Cruz drew these conclusions after 525 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: pouring over the trial transcripts that had been digitized by 526 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 1: the Chicago Historical Society, along with other primary source documents. However, 527 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,479 Speaker 1: critics of his work have noted that trial transcripts and 528 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:08,240 Speaker 1: police records are not inherently unbiased. Basically, can't use them 529 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:12,720 Speaker 1: to just correct the earlier record without more contexts and 530 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,880 Speaker 1: analysis of that, and they've also noted that his books 531 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 1: essentially argue the same case that the prosecution argued in 532 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty six, which other historians have already poked various 533 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 1: holes in. In eighteen eighty nine, socialist and labor rights 534 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: groups designated May First as international Workers Day, choosing the 535 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:37,320 Speaker 1: date in commemoration of the Haymarket incident. That same year, 536 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:39,720 Speaker 1: a statue in honor of the police who had been 537 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:44,280 Speaker 1: killed was dedicated in Haymarket Square, unveiled by Officer Degan's 538 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 1: teenage son. In eighteen, another monument to the executed men, 539 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,480 Speaker 1: known as the Haymarket Murders Monument, was dedicated in Waldheim 540 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: Cemetery in Forest Park. Albert Parson's son, Albert Jr. Unveiled 541 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 1: that statue. The next day, Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld 542 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:08,680 Speaker 1: pardoned Samuel Fielden, Michael Schwab, and Oscar Need. Because several 543 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: of the men who were tried in the wake of 544 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:13,359 Speaker 1: the Haymarket bombing had all been involved with the Nights 545 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:18,000 Speaker 1: of Labor, that organization was viewed with increasing suspicion. After 546 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: all of this, a lot of its chapters ultimately moved 547 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 1: over to the American Federation of Labor. The bombing also 548 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,720 Speaker 1: stoked anti union sentiments in xenophobia, and it really fueled 549 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:35,160 Speaker 1: a perception that anarchism was intrinsically connected to violence and terrorism, although, 550 00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:36,680 Speaker 1: as we noted up at the top of the show, 551 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,439 Speaker 1: anarchists were kind of all over the map in terms 552 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,720 Speaker 1: of what they thought about violence. The Haymarket riot also 553 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:47,319 Speaker 1: caused a temporary pause in the national campaign for an 554 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:50,880 Speaker 1: eight hour work day. About four years passed after the 555 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,440 Speaker 1: bombing before the American Federation of Labor renewed its calls 556 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:57,399 Speaker 1: for an eight hour work day. Although workers in some 557 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:01,439 Speaker 1: industries and places did wind up securing at eight hour day, 558 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:04,720 Speaker 1: at this point, it's still not universal. The Fair Labor 559 00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:08,960 Speaker 1: Standards Act, passed into law in ninety seven, sets a 560 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:13,160 Speaker 1: forty hour maximum for some workers with work beyond forty 561 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 1: hours requiring overtime pay. The Fair Labor Standards Act applies 562 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:21,160 Speaker 1: to most, but not all, businesses, and some types of 563 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:26,080 Speaker 1: employees are exempt from the overtime rule, including executives, professionals, 564 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:32,400 Speaker 1: administrative employees, and highly compensated employees. In more recent decades, 565 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,520 Speaker 1: the Haymarket area of Chicago has been home to both 566 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:40,640 Speaker 1: pro labor and pro police rallies. After Weather Underground bombed 567 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:45,760 Speaker 1: the police Memorial repeatedly in nineteen nineteen seventy, that memorial 568 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:50,080 Speaker 1: was relocated to the Chicago Police Department's training academy. A 569 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 1: new Haymarket Memorial, designed by Mary Brogger, was unveiled in 570 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:57,759 Speaker 1: two thousand four. This was commissioned by the City of Chicago, 571 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:02,200 Speaker 1: the Illinois Federation of Labor History, Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, 572 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:06,959 Speaker 1: and the Chicago Department of Transportation. It depicts figures both 573 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,920 Speaker 1: on and under a wagon that is a nod to 574 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:13,200 Speaker 1: the wagon that was used as a stage at the rally. 575 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 1: So that's the Haymarket incident or the Haymarket riot or 576 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:19,560 Speaker 1: the Haymarket affair. Again, as I said at the top 577 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:21,440 Speaker 1: of the show, I don't think any of those terms 578 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 1: are perfect terms for it at all. The complicated Haymarket. Um, 579 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:33,239 Speaker 1: I don't know what to call it. Yeah, none of 580 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:37,560 Speaker 1: them completely work in my opinion. Yeah, yeah, Do you 581 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:41,920 Speaker 1: have email that works from a listener? Perhaps I do so. 582 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:45,240 Speaker 1: I actually have two short emails on the same subject, 583 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,160 Speaker 1: because like we've gotten we've gotten a couple of emails 584 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,160 Speaker 1: on the subject, like this is really interesting, and I 585 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:52,960 Speaker 1: don't I don't think there's enough info on it for 586 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,200 Speaker 1: it to be an episode or maybe even a six 587 00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:58,759 Speaker 1: impossible episodes entry, So I just thought we would have 588 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:01,600 Speaker 1: it as listener mail. So the first one is from Natalie. 589 00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,160 Speaker 1: Natalie says, hi, I was listening to the stuff umiss 590 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:06,680 Speaker 1: in history class classic about the Crystal Palace, and I 591 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:08,879 Speaker 1: thought you guys would get a kick out of one 592 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:11,120 Speaker 1: of the exhibits, a copy of which you can see 593 00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:16,080 Speaker 1: at the Whitney Museum in Yorkshire, The Tempest Prognosticator. It's 594 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:20,000 Speaker 1: a barometer. It predicts the weather using leeches. It is 595 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:23,680 Speaker 1: in fact a leitch barometer, designed by the curator of 596 00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:27,319 Speaker 1: the period, George Merryweather. It's one of my husband and 597 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,040 Speaker 1: I his favorite exhibits at the Whitney. Whitney Museum, which 598 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:33,160 Speaker 1: also hosts The Hand of Glory, a bottleship collection that 599 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,680 Speaker 1: includes a Mary Celeste, some very creepy wax dolls and 600 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 1: plenty more beside. It's a very old fashioned museum and 601 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:42,600 Speaker 1: the best way with all sorts of treasures cram together. 602 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:45,320 Speaker 1: And if you're ever in North Yorkshire, I thoroughly recommend 603 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:47,600 Speaker 1: a visit. I love the podcast and I've been looking 604 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,279 Speaker 1: for something worth emailing you about for a while, so 605 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:53,600 Speaker 1: I hope you get a kick out of The Tempest Prognosticator. 606 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,279 Speaker 1: All the best, Natalie. And then the other email is 607 00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:01,439 Speaker 1: from Eva or perhaps a Eva that just came in 608 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:04,839 Speaker 1: this morning that says, Hi, Holly and Tracy, I hope 609 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:08,319 Speaker 1: you're both well. Is there an episode about leeches and barometers? 610 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: I recently read something brief about George Merryweather see for example, 611 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:16,440 Speaker 1: and there's a link to a brief excerpt from an 612 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:19,480 Speaker 1: Atlas Obscura book that's at The Atlantic. I thought you 613 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:21,560 Speaker 1: would both find this interesting too. I would love to 614 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:24,319 Speaker 1: hear more about the history and how it works if 615 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,880 Speaker 1: you would consider making this an episode. Sincerely from your 616 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:33,919 Speaker 1: longtime listener, Eva. So, uh, yeah, this leech barometer does 617 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:38,640 Speaker 1: seem really interesting. But that also, uh from you know, 618 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,480 Speaker 1: from my from my poking around, seems like most of 619 00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:43,799 Speaker 1: the whole story. This guy had an idea to make 620 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:47,200 Speaker 1: a barometer using leeches, and the idea was that if 621 00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:50,719 Speaker 1: stormy weather was coming, it would change the leeches behavior, 622 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:55,680 Speaker 1: and that was like what the barometer relied on. I 623 00:38:55,800 --> 00:39:00,360 Speaker 1: do not think, uh scientists generally agree to day that 624 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:05,480 Speaker 1: this works. But man, it is so weird and interesting 625 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:11,520 Speaker 1: and relying on leeches, which are just kind of I 626 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:14,120 Speaker 1: don't want to call them gross, because animals are just 627 00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:19,200 Speaker 1: doing their thing, right. It's still a very particular kind 628 00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:23,200 Speaker 1: of animal, right. I Mean, there's part of me that 629 00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:27,200 Speaker 1: has to applaud and recognize the insight that comes from 630 00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:30,960 Speaker 1: recognizing the animals are sometimes sensitive to things that we 631 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 1: humans are not perceiving in the natural world. So there's 632 00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:36,080 Speaker 1: part of me it's like I totally get how this 633 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:41,920 Speaker 1: came to be a thing, But also that also comes 634 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:45,799 Speaker 1: with the unpredictability of animals and other factors we might 635 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:50,479 Speaker 1: not understand about how they behave for sure. So thank 636 00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:54,080 Speaker 1: you both for your emails about the Tempest Prognosticator, which 637 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:57,320 Speaker 1: is also just a great name in general. It's you 638 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:02,440 Speaker 1: could google Tempest Prognosticator and there it will be various 639 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:04,920 Speaker 1: things about it. Um And if you would like to 640 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:07,160 Speaker 1: write to us about this or any other podcasts, where 641 00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:10,000 Speaker 1: History podcast at i heeart radio dot com and we're 642 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,440 Speaker 1: all over social media at missing History and that's where 643 00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:17,720 Speaker 1: you'll find our Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest and Instagram. 644 00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:20,640 Speaker 1: And you can subscribe to our show at the i 645 00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:23,600 Speaker 1: heart radio app and Apple podcasts and anywhere else that 646 00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:31,360 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class 647 00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:34,480 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts 648 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:38,040 Speaker 1: from i heeart Radio, visit the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, 649 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:40,200 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,