Police arrested hundreds of people, but never determined the identity of the bomb thrower. The violence demoralized strikers, and only a few well-organized strikes continued. Publicized unsubstantiated police theories of anarchist conspiracies, and they published attacks on the foreign-born and calls for revenge, matching the anarchists in inflammatory language. Police made picketing impossible and suppressed the radical press. Mayor Harrison quickly banned meetings and processions. The Haymarket bomb seemed to confirm the worst fears of business leaders and others anxious about the growing labor movement and radical influence in it. Sixty officers were injured, and eight died an undetermined number of the crowd were killed or wounded. Then someone hurled a bomb at the police, killing one officer instantly. But when one speaker urged the dwindling crowd to “throttle” the law, 176 officers under Inspector John Bonfield marched to the meeting and ordered it to disperse. The crowd gathered on the evening of May 4 on Des Plaines Street, just north of Randolph, was peaceful, and Mayor Carter H. Anarchists called a protest meeting at the West Randolph Street Haymarket, advertising it in inflammatory leaflets, one of which called for “Revenge!” Police clashed with strikers at least a dozen times, three with shootings.Īt the McCormick reaper plant, a long-simmeringĮrupted in violence on May 3, and police fired at strikers, killing at least two. Many now adopted the radical demand of eight hours' work for ten hours' pay. Crowds traveled from workplace to workplace urging fellow workers to strike. Tens of thousands more, both skilled and unskilled, joined them on May 3 and 4. On Saturday, May 1, 35,000 workers walked off their jobs. Between April 25 and May 4, workers attended scores of meetings and paraded through the streets at least 19 times. On May 1, 1886, Chicago unionists, reformers, socialists,Īnd ordinary workers combined to make the city the center of the national movement for anĭay.
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