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79-637: Around the time of the construction of the building, labor riots had occurred in a number of cities in the United States, including the Haymarket riot in Chicago in 1886. Leaders in many cities saw the need for local armories to be prepared for worker strikes and uprisings. Thus, when funding the building, the Wisconsin legislature clearly saw its use by local militia. The architects, Conover and Porter, designed it with

158-634: A United States Senator from Illinois (from 1873 to 1879), and earlier was a member of the Illinois Senate , elected in 1860. The town of Oglesby, Illinois , is named in his honor, as is an elementary school situated in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood of Chicago's south side . He served in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War of 1846–47, and after the war became

237-592: A German immigrant, signed pardons for Fielden, Neebe, and Schwab, calling them victims of "hysteria, packed juries, and a biased judge" and noting that the state "has never discovered who it was that threw the bomb which killed the policeman, and the evidence does not show any connection whatsoever between the defendants and the man who threw it". Altgeld also faulted the city of Chicago for failing to hold Pinkerton guards responsible for repeated use of lethal violence against striking workers. Altgeld's actions concerning labor were used to defeat his reelection. Soon after

316-453: A consensus developed that suppression of anarchist agitation was necessary while for their part, union organizations such as The Knights of Labor and craft unions were quick to disassociate themselves from the anarchist movement and to repudiate violent tactics as self-defeating. Many workers, on the other hand, believed that industry-hired men of the Pinkerton agency were responsible because of

395-507: A dual purpose in mind: armory and gymnasium. Modifications were made to the plans when a new university president, Charles Adams , insisted that the second floor be capable of accommodating large assemblies. Construction began in fall, 1892, and was completed in September, 1894. As originally constructed, the first floor of the Red Gym held military offices, an artillery drill room, bowling alleys,

474-473: A farmhand and carpenter. With the outbreak of the Mexican–American War , he enlisted as a 1st Lieutenant in Company C, 4th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment taking part in the battles of Veracruz and Cerro Gordo "where his regiment almost captured Mexican President General Santa Anna, but they had to settle for his cork leg, carriage and $ 20,000 in gold". He might have participated in what may have been

553-402: A jury was extraordinarily difficult, lasting three weeks, and nearly one thousand people called. All union members and anyone who expressed sympathy toward socialism were dismissed. In the end a jury of 12 was seated, most of whom confessed prejudice against the defendants. Despite their professions of prejudice Judge Gary seated those who declared that despite their prejudices they would acquit if

632-572: A locker room, and a swimming tank. The second floor contained a drill hall wide enough to permit a four-column battalion. The third floor was occupied by the gymnasium, which contained a baseball cage, gymnastic apparatus, and rowing machines. Two rifle ranges and a running track were on a level a few steps lower than the gym. Over the next 30 years, the second floor assembly hall was the scene of speeches by William McKinley (1894), William Jennings Bryan (1912), Eugene Debs (1923), Upton Sinclair (who in 1922 had to promise not to be controversial), and

711-401: A long time ago". In the end, Oglesby decided he would only pardon those who asked for clemency. Four of the seven outright refused this on the grounds that they had committed no crime, and so only the two who did request mercy, Fielden and Schwab, had their sentences commuted to life in prison on November 10, 1887. On the eve of his scheduled execution, Lingg died by suicide in his cell with

790-525: A militant revolutionary force with an armed section equipped with explosives. Its revolutionary strategy centered around the belief that successful operations against the police and the seizure of major industrial centers would lead to massive public support by workers, start a revolution, destroy capitalism, and establish a socialist economy. In October 1884, a convention held by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions unanimously set May 1, 1886, as

869-498: A piece for The Atlantic Monthly in which he identified the fears of middle-class Americans concerning labor radicalism, and asserted that the workers had only themselves to blame for their troubles. Edward Aveling remarked, "If these men are ultimately hanged, it will be the Chicago Tribune that has done it." Schaack, who had led the investigation, was dismissed from the police force for allegedly having fabricated evidence in

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948-879: A prospector during the California Gold Rush and was elected to the Illinois General Assembly . During the American Civil War , Oglesby volunteered for the Union Army and rose to the rank of major general , serving in the Western Theater ; he left the army when he was elected Governor of Illinois in 1864. Oglesby was born in Floydsburg , Oldham County, Kentucky . He was orphaned and moved to live with his uncle in Decatur, Illinois in 1836, where he worked as

1027-592: A rally the following day at Haymarket Square (also called the Haymarket), which was then a bustling commercial center near the corner of Randolph Street and Desplaines Street. Printed in German and English, the fliers stated that the police had murdered the strikers on behalf of business interests and urged workers to seek justice. The first fliers contain the words Workingmen Arm Yourselves and Appear in Full Force! When Spies saw

1106-460: A review somewhat more critical of the defendants, historian Jon Teaford concludes that "[t]he tragedy of Haymarket is the American justice system did not protect the damn fools who most needed that protection... It is the damn fools who talk too much and too wildly who are most in need of protection from the state." Historian Timothy Messer-Kruse revisited the digitized trial transcript and argued that

1185-659: A scheme in which Oglesby ran again for governor, but turned the office over to the lieutenant governor immediately after inauguration in return for a seat in the U.S. Senate . He served as a Senator from 1873 until 1879. In 1884, he was reelected governor for a third time, becoming the first man in Illinois history to serve three times as governor. At the end of his third term as governor, he tried unsuccessfully to be reelected to his Senate seat. He spent his remaining years in retirement and died at his "Oglehurst" estate in Elkhart, Illinois . He

1264-463: A six-day work week. The city became a center for many attempts to organize labor's demands for better working conditions. Employers responded with anti-union measures, such as firing and blacklisting union members, locking out workers, recruiting strikebreakers; employing spies, thugs, and private security forces and exacerbating ethnic tensions in order to divide the workers. Business interests were supported by mainstream newspapers, and were opposed by

1343-507: A smuggled blasting cap which he reportedly held in his mouth like a cigar (the blast blew off half his face and he survived in agony for six hours). The next day (November 11, 1887) four defendants—Engel, Fischer, Parsons, and Spies—were taken to the gallows in white robes and hoods. They sang the Marseillaise , then the anthem of the international revolutionary movement. Family members including Lucy Parsons , who attempted to see them for

1422-461: A typesetter. A search of the premises resulted in the discovery of the "Revenge Poster" and other evidence considered incriminating by the prosecution. On May 7, police searched the premises of Louis Lingg where they found a number of bombs and bomb-making materials. Lingg's landlord William Seliger was also arrested, but cooperated with police, identified Lingg as a bomb-maker, and was not charged. An associate of Spies, Balthazar Rau, suspected as

1501-511: Is intensifying" and articulated the vision advocated by the Knights of Labor for an industrial system of worker-owned co-operatives , another among the strategies pursued to advance the conditions of laborers. The interview was republished as a pamphlet to include the bill Stanford introduced in the Senate to foster co-operatives. Popular pressure continued for the establishment of the 8-hour day. At

1580-636: The Haymarket massacre , the Haymarket riot , the Haymarket Square riot , or the Haymarket Incident , was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago , Illinois , United States. The rally began peacefully in support of workers striking for an eight-hour work day , the day after the events at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company , during which one person

1659-566: The International Working People's Association [IWPA], his wife and fellow organizer Lucy , and their children. Speaking to a rally outside the West Side, Chicago , McCormick reaper plant on May 3, August Spies advised the striking workers to "hold together, to stand by their union, or they would not succeed". Well-planned and coordinated, the general strike to this point had mainly remained non-violent. However, workers surged to

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1738-551: The Republican Party at its formation. Oglesby ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Congress in 1858 but was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1860. In 1859, Oglesby married Decatur native Anna White. They had four children: Richard, Elizabeth, Robert, and Olive. Oglesby was one of the earliest advocates for Abraham Lincoln's nomination as the 1860 presidential candidate of the Republican Party; it may have been he who applied

1817-558: The Siege of Corinth . Oglesby sustained severe injuries in the Battle of Corinth in 1862 and was elevated to the status of major general that same year. After a brief period of recovery, Oglesby resumed military service in 1863. However, at the request of Abraham Lincoln , he abandoned his commission in 1864, successfully running for Illinois governor on the Republican ticket. He was present in

1896-567: The Anarchists bore bloody fruit in Chicago tonight and before daylight at least a dozen stalwart men will have laid down their lives as a tribute to the doctrine of Herr Johann Most ." (Most was a German-American anarchy-theorist and leader, who was not in Chicago). The article referred to the strikers as a "mob" and used quotation marks around the term "workingmen". At about 10:30 pm, just as Fielden

1975-526: The Haymarket Affair, were arrested. Ignoring legal requirements such as for search warrants, Chicago police squads subjected the labor activists of Chicago to an eight-week shakedown, ransacking their meeting halls and places of business. The emphasis was on the speakers at the Haymarket rally and the newspaper Arbeiter-Zeitung . A small group of anarchists were declared to have been engaged in making bombs on

2054-634: The Haymarket incident and the Great Upheaval subsided. Employers regained control of their workers and traditional workdays were restored to ten or more hours a day. There was a massive outpouring of community and business support for the police and many thousands of dollars were donated to funds for their medical care and to assist their efforts. The entire labor and immigrant community, particularly Germans and Bohemians, came under suspicion. Police raids were carried out on homes and offices of suspected anarchists. Dozens of suspects, many only remotely related to

2133-461: The Republican state conventions of 1902 and 1904, which nominated Robert M. La Follette for governor. The anti-military sentiment in Wisconsin that occurred after World War I resulted in the elimination of compulsory military training. The Red Gym was also no longer used for Big Ten basketball games following the construction of the university field house in 1930. In the 1930s and 1940s, much of

2212-501: The United States sang the anthem, Eight Hour. The song's chorus reflected the ideology of the Great Upheaval, "Eight Hours for work. Eight hours for rest. Eight hours for what we will." Estimates of the number of striking workers across the U.S. range from 300,000 to half a million. In New York City, the number of demonstrators was estimated at 10,000. and in Detroit at 11,000. In Milwaukee , some 10,000 workers turned out. In Chicago,

2291-519: The agency's tactic of secretly infiltrating labor groups and its sometimes violent methods of strike breaking. The police assumed that an anarchist had thrown the bomb as part of a planned conspiracy; their problem was how to prove it. On the morning of May 5, they raided the offices of the Arbeiter-Zeitung , arresting its editor August Spies and his brother, who was not charged. Also arrested were editorial assistant Michael Schwab and Adolph Fischer,

2370-502: The basis of interviews, that the anarchists had been experimenting for years with dynamite and other explosives, refining the design of their bombs before coming up with the effective one used at the Haymarket. At the last minute, when it was discovered that instructions for manslaughter had not been included in the submitted instructions, the jury was called back, and the instructions were given. The jury returned guilty verdicts for all eight defendants. Before being sentenced, Neebe told

2449-595: The beginning that this meeting has not been called for any such purpose. The object of this meeting is to explain the general situation of the eight-hour movement and to throw light upon various incidents in connection with it. Following Spies' speech, the crowd was addressed by Parsons, the Alabama-born editor of the radical English-language weekly The Alarm . The crowd was so calm that Mayor Carter Harrison Sr. , who had stopped by to watch, walked home early. Parsons spoke for almost an hour before standing down in favor of

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2528-406: The bomb exploded. Spies and Fielden had spoken at the peaceful rally and were stepping down from the speaker's wagon in compliance with police orders to disperse just before the bomb went off. Two others had been present at the beginning of the rally but had left and were at Zepf's Hall, an anarchist rendezvous, at the time of the explosion. They were Arbeiter-Zeitung typesetter Adolph Fischer , and

2607-407: The bomber, was traced to Omaha and brought back to Chicago. After interrogation, Rau offered to cooperate with police. He alleged that the defendants had experimented with dynamite bombs and accused them of having published what he said was a code word, "Ruhe" ("peace"), in the Arbeiter-Zeitung as a call to arms at Haymarket Square. Rudolf Schnaubelt, the police's lead suspect as the bomb thrower,

2686-586: The building by anti-war protesters in 1970 resulted in severe damage, which was repaired. Since then, the building has seen various administrative uses; it currently houses student services-related offices and centers. The University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993. Haymarket affair August Spies   [REDACTED] Albert Parsons   [REDACTED] Samuel Fielden Carter Harrison Sr. John Bonfield The Haymarket affair , also known as

2765-587: The case, but was reinstated in 1892. The case was appealed in 1887 to the Supreme Court of Illinois , then to the United States Supreme Court where the defendants were represented by John Randolph Tucker , Roger Atkinson Pryor , General Benjamin F. Butler and William P. Black . The petition for certiorari was denied. After the appeals had been exhausted, it was left to Illinois Governor Richard James Oglesby to decide whether to commute

2844-599: The convention of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1888, the union decided to campaign for the shorter workday again. May 1, 1890, was agreed upon as the date on which workers would strike for an eight-hour workday. Richard J. Oglesby Richard James Oglesby (July 25, 1824 – April 24, 1899) was an American soldier and Republican politician from Illinois , who served three non-consecutive terms as Governor of Illinois (from 1865 to 1869, for ten days in 1873, and from 1885 to 1889) and as

2923-596: The court that Schaack's officers were among the city's worst gangs, ransacking houses and stealing money and watches. Schaack laughed and Neebe retorted, "You need not laugh about it, Captain Schaack. You are one of them. You are an anarchist, as you understand it. You are all anarchists, in this sense of the word, I must say." Judge Gary sentenced seven of the defendants to death by hanging and Neebe to 15 years in prison. The sentencing provoked outrage from labor and workers' movements and their supporters, resulting in protests around

3002-513: The court trial was that one of the defendants may have built the bomb, but none of those on trial had thrown it, and only two of the eight were at the Haymarket at the time. Seven were sentenced to death and one to a term of 15 years in prison. Illinois Governor Richard J. Oglesby commuted two of the sentences to terms of life in prison; another died by suicide in jail before his scheduled execution. The other four were hanged on November 11, 1887. In 1893, Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned

3081-474: The date by which the eight-hour work day would become standard, declaring that they resolved that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor, from and after May 1, 1886, and that we recommend to labor organizations that they so direct their laws". As the chosen date approached, U.S. labor unions prepared for a general strike in support of the eight-hour day. On Saturday, May 1, thousands of workers who went on strike and attended rallies held throughout

3160-474: The defendants. The prosecution, led by Julius Grinnell, argued that, since the defendants had not actively discouraged the person who had thrown the bomb, they were therefore equally responsible as conspirators. The jury heard the testimony of 118 people, including 54 members of the Chicago Police Department and the defendants Fielden, Schwab, Spies and Parsons. Albert Parsons's brother claimed there

3239-441: The defendants." He further notes that the conspiracy charge was legally unprecedented, the judge was "partisan," and all the jurors admitted prejudice against the defendants. Historian Carl Smith writes, "The visceral feelings of fear and anger surrounding the trial ruled out anything but the pretense of justice right from the outset." Smith notes that scholars have long considered the trial a "notorious" "miscarriage of justice". In

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3318-464: The event, Henry David wrote a history, which preceded another scholarly treatment by Paul Avrich in 1984, and a "social history" of the era by Bruce C. Nelson in 1988. In 2006, labor historian James Green wrote a popular history. Christopher Thale writes in the Encyclopedia of Chicago that lacking credible evidence regarding the bombing, "...the prosecution focused on the writings and speeches of

3397-468: The evidence points to Rudolph Schnaubelt, brother-in-law of Schwab, as the likely perpetrator. An extensive collection of documents relating to the Haymarket Affair and the legal proceedings related to it, The Haymarket Affair Digital Collection, has been created by the Chicago Historical Society . Among supporters of the labor movement in the United States and abroad and others, the trial

3476-411: The evidence supported it, refusing to dismiss for prejudice. Eventually the peremptory challenges of the defense were exhausted. Frustrated by the hundreds of jurors who were being dismissed, a bailiff was appointed who selected jurors rather than calling them at random. The bailiff proved prejudiced himself and selected jurors who seemed likely to convict based on their social position and attitudes toward

3555-667: The first baseball game ever played outside the U.S., at the end of April 1847, a few days after the Battle of Cerro Gordo , "with the wooden leg captured (by the Fourth Illinois regiment) from General Santa Anna ". He was mustered out of the volunteer service in May 1847. He studied at Louisville Law School in 1848, but traveled to California for the gold rush in 1849, where he tried his hand at gold mining. After two years of traveling in Europe , he returned to Illinois in 1851 and joined

3634-430: The first and second floors was partitioned into offices. With diminishing use of the building after World War II , plans were made to demolish it; however, popular sentiment delayed those plans. When a new gym was constructed on the west end of campus in 1963, the building was again slated for demolition, and again received a reprieve. In the 1960s, it once again saw military use as ROTC headquarters. A firebomb aimed at

3713-512: The first time on the political field in the summer following the Haymarket Affair.... [T]he Knights of Labor doubled its membership, reaching 40,000 in the fall of 1886. On Labor Day the number of Chicago workers in parade led the country. On the first anniversary of the event, May 4, 1887, the New-York Tribune published an interview with Senator Leland Stanford , in which he addressed the consensus that "the conflict between capital and labor

3792-529: The gates to confront strikebreakers when the end-of-the-workday bell sounded. Spies called for calm, but the police fired on the crowd. Two McCormick workers were killed; some newspaper accounts said there were six fatalities. Spies later testified, "I was very indignant. I knew from experience of the past that this butchering of people was done for the express purpose of defeating the eight-hour movement." Outraged by this act of police violence , local anarchists quickly printed and distributed fliers calling for

3871-562: The incident as the "bloody fruit" of "the villainous teachings of the Anarchists". ref> The New York Times , May [4] 6, 1886, quoted in Avrich, The Haymarket Tragedy , p. 217.</ref> The Chicago Times described the defendants as "arch counselors of riot, pillage, incendiarism and murder"; other reporters described them as "bloody brutes", "red ruffians", "dynamarchists", "bloody monsters", "cowards", "cutthroats", "thieves", "assassins", and "fiends". The journalist George Frederic Parsons wrote

3950-589: The incident from complications related to injuries received that day. Police captain Michael Schaack later wrote that the number of wounded workers was "largely in excess of that on the side of the police". The Chicago Herald described a scene of "wild carnage" and estimated at least fifty dead or wounded civilians lay in the streets. It is unclear how many civilians were wounded since many were afraid to seek medical attention, fearing arrest. They found aid where they could. A harsh anti-union clampdown followed

4029-583: The labor and immigrant press. During the economic slowdown between 1882 and 1886, socialist and anarchist organizations were active. Membership of the Knights of Labor , which rejected socialism and radicalism but supported the eight-hour work day, grew from 70,000 in 1884 to over 700,000 by 1886. In Chicago, the anarchist movement of several thousand, mostly immigrant, workers centered on the German-language newspaper Arbeiter-Zeitung ("Workers' Newspaper"), edited by August Spies . Other anarchists operated

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4108-741: The last speaker of the evening, the English-born socialist, anarchist, and labor activist Methodist pastor, Rev. Samuel Fielden, who delivered a brief ten-minute address. Many of the crowd had already left as the weather was deteriorating. A New York Times article, with the dateline May 4, and headlined "Rioting and Bloodshed in the Streets of Chicago ... Twelve Policemen Dead or Dying", reported that Fielden spoke for 20 minutes, alleging that his words grew "wilder and more violent as he proceeded". Another New York Times article, headlined "Anarchy's Red Hand" and dated May 6, opens with: "The villainous teachings of

4187-413: The last time, were arrested and searched for bombs (none was found). According to witnesses, in the moments before the men were hanged , Spies shouted, "The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." In their last words, Engel and Fischer called out, "Hurrah for anarchism!" Parsons then requested to speak, but he was cut off when the signal was given to spring

4266-531: The line, he said he would not speak at the rally unless the words were removed from the flier. All but a few hundred fliers were destroyed, and new fliers were printed without the offending words; More than 20,000 copies were distributed. The rally began peacefully under a light rain on the evening of May 4. August Spies , Albert Parsons , and the Rev. Samuel Fielden spoke to a crowd estimated variously at between 600 and 3,000 while standing in an open wagon adjacent to

4345-456: The moniker "Railsplitter" to Lincoln. At the start of the Civil War, Oglesby was appointed colonel of the 8th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment . He was a well-liked commander, receiving the moniker "Uncle Dick" from his troops. He commanded his brigade at the battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson and soon after was promoted to the rank of brigadier general . He commanded troops during

4424-459: The movement's center, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 workers had gone on strike and there were perhaps twice as many people out on the streets participating in various demonstrations and marches, as, for example, a march by 10,000 men employed in the Chicago lumber yards. Though participants in these events added up to 80,000, it is disputed whether there was a march of that number down Michigan Avenue led by anarchist Albert Parsons , founder of

4503-526: The path of the advancing police, where it exploded, killing policeman Mathias J. Degan and severely wounding many of the other policemen. Witnesses maintained that immediately after the bomb blast, there was an exchange of gunshots between police and demonstrators. It is unclear who fired first. Historian Paul Avrich maintains that "nearly all sources agree that it was the police who opened fire", reloaded and then fired again, killing at least four and wounding as many as 70 people. In less than five minutes,

4582-529: The police were wounded by each other's revolvers. ... It was every man for himself, and while some got two or three squares away, the rest emptied their revolvers, mainly into each other." In all, seven policemen and at least four workers were killed. Avrich said that most of the police deaths were from police gunfire. Historian Timothy Messer-Kruse argues that, although it is impossible to rule out lethal friendly fire, several policemen were probably shot by armed protesters. Another policeman died two years after

4661-503: The possessing classes, which followed the throwing of the bomb on May 4, the Chicago wage earners only united their forces and stiffened their resistance. The conservative and radical central bodies – there were two each of the trade unions and two also of the Knights of Labor – the socialists and the anarchists, the single taxers and the reformers, the native born...and the foreign born Germans, Bohemians, and Scandinavians, all got together for

4740-479: The proceedings were fair for their time, a challenge to the historical consensus that the trial was a travesty. Historian Nathan Fine points out that trade-union activities continued to show signs of growth and vitality, culminating later in 1886 with the establishment of the Labor Party of Chicago. Fine observes: [T]he fact is that despite police repression, newspaper incitement to hysteria, and organization of

4819-547: The remaining defendant and criticized the trial. The site of the incident was designated a Chicago landmark in 1992, and a sculpture was dedicated there in 2004. In addition, the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 at the defendants' burial site in Forest Park . The Haymarket affair is generally considered significant as the origin of International Workers' Day held on May 1. It

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4898-565: The room at the Petersen House when President Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865. Oglesby first served as governor of Illinois from 1865 to 1869. During his tenure as governor, he advocated improving the quality of care of the mentally ill and for other groups of disabled citizens. He also signed legislation expanding the State Hospital system from one campus to three. After his term ended, he practiced law until 1872, when he agreed to

4977-465: The same day as the incident, including round ones like the one used in Haymarket Square. Newspaper reports declared that anarchist agitators were to blame for the "riot", a view adopted by an alarmed public. As time passed, press reports and illustrations of the incident became more elaborate. Coverage was national, then international. Among property owners, the press, and other elements of society,

5056-489: The sentences of the convicted. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country petitioned him to do so, though the press at the time largely called for executions. Oglesby was troubled by the case. Parson's attorney had noted in the trial that hanging these men would be the equivalent of hanging abolitionists who had sympathized with John Brown . Oglesby, a former Radical Republican himself, acknowledged that under these laws "all of us abolitionists would have been hanged

5135-405: The square on Des Plaines Street. A large number of on-duty police officers watched from nearby. Paul Avrich , a historian specializing in the study of anarchism, quotes Spies as saying: There seems to prevail the opinion in some quarters that this meeting has been called to inaugurate a riot, hence these warlike preparations on the part of so-called 'law and order.' However, let me tell you at

5214-468: The square was empty except for the casualties. According to the May 4 New York Times , demonstrators began firing at the police, who then returned fire. In his report on the incident, Inspector Bonfield wrote that he "gave the order to cease firing, fearing that some of our men, in the darkness, might fire into each other". An anonymous police official told the Chicago Tribune , "A very large number of

5293-406: The time of the bombing; he was also later pardoned. Not directly tied to the Haymarket rally, but arrested for their militant radicalism were George Engel , who had been at home playing cards on that day, and Louis Lingg , the hot-headed bomb-maker denounced by his associate, Seliger. Another defendant who had not been present that day was Oscar Neebe , an American-born citizen of German descent who

5372-461: The trap door. Witnesses reported that the condemned men did not die immediately when they dropped, but strangled to death slowly, a sight which left the spectators visibly shaken. Notwithstanding the convictions for conspiracy, no actual bomber was ever brought to trial, "and no lawyerly explanation could ever make a conspiracy trial without the main perpetrator seem completely legitimate." Historians such as James Joll and Timothy Messer-Kruse say

5451-504: The trial, anarchist Dyer Lum wrote a history of the trial critical of the prosecution. In 1888, George McLean, and in 1889, police captain Michael Schack, wrote accounts from the opposite perspective. Awaiting sentencing, each of the defendants wrote their own autobiographies (edited and published by Philip Foner in 1969), and later activist Lucy Parsons published a biography of her condemned husband Albert Parsons . Fifty years after

5530-415: The well-known activist Albert Parsons , who had spoken for an hour at the Haymarket rally before going to Zepf's. Parsons, who believed that the evidence against them all was weak, subsequently voluntarily turned himself in, in solidarity with the accused. A third man, Spies's assistant editor Michael Schwab (who was the brother-in-law of Schnaubelt) was arrested, as he had been speaking at another rally at

5609-509: The world, and elevating the defendants to the status of martyrs, especially abroad. Portrayals of the anarchists as bloodthirsty foreign fanatics in the press along with the 1889 publication of Captain Schaack's sensational account, Anarchy and Anarchism, on the other hand, inspired widespread public fear and revulsion against the strikers and general anti-immigrant feeling, polarizing public opinion. In an article datelined May 4, entitled "Anarchy's Red Hand", The New York Times had described

5688-552: Was also the climax of the social unrest among the working class in America, known as the Great Upheaval. Following the Civil War, particularly following the Long Depression , industrial production was rapidly expanded in the United States. Chicago was a major industrial center, and tens of thousands of German and Bohemian immigrants were employed at about $ 1.50 a day. American workers worked, on average, slightly over 60 hours during

5767-433: Was arrested twice early on and released. By May 14, when it became apparent he had played a significant role in the event, he had fled the country. William Seliger, who had turned state's evidence and testified for the prosecution, was freed by the state. On June 4, 1886, eight other suspects were indicted by the grand jury, and stood trial for being accessories to the murder of Degan. Of these, only two had been present when

5846-555: Was associated with the Arbeiter-Zeitung and had attempted to revive it in the aftermath of the Haymarket riot. Of the eight defendants, five – Spies, Fischer, Engel, Lingg and Schwab – were immigrants born in Germany; a sixth, Neebe, was a U.S.-born citizen of German descent. The remaining two, Parsons and Fielden, born in the U.S. and England, respectively, were of British heritage. The trial, Illinois vs. August Spies et al. , began on June 21, 1886, and went on until August 11. The trial

5925-409: Was conducted in an atmosphere of extreme prejudice by both public and media toward the defendants. It was presided over by Judge Joseph Gary , who displayed open hostility to the defendants, consistently ruled for the prosecution, and failed to maintain decorum. A motion to try the defendants separately was denied. The defense counsel included Sigmund Zeisler and William Perkins Black . Selection of

6004-562: Was evidence linking the Pinkertons to the bomb. This reflected a widespread belief among the strikers. Police investigators under Captain Michael Schaack had a lead fragment removed from a policeman's wounds chemically analyzed. They reported that the lead used in the casing matched the casings of bombs found in Lingg's home. A metal nut and fragments of the casing taken from the wound also roughly matched bombs made by Lingg. Schaack concluded, on

6083-400: Was finishing his speech, police arrived en masse, marching in formation towards the speakers' wagon, and ordered the rally to disperse. Fielden insisted that the meeting was peaceful. Police Inspector John Bonfield proclaimed: I command you [addressing the speaker] in the name of the law to desist and you [addressing the crowd] to disperse. A home-made fragmentation bomb was thrown into

6162-469: Was killed and many workers injured. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at the police as they acted to disperse the meeting, and the bomb blast and ensuing retaliatory gunfire by the police caused the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians; dozens of others were wounded. Eight anarchists were charged with the bombing. The eight were convicted of conspiracy in the internationally publicized legal proceedings. The evidence put forward in

6241-407: Was widely believed to have been unfair, and even a serious miscarriage of justice . Prominent people including novelist William Dean Howells , celebrated attorney Clarence Darrow , poet and playwright Oscar Wilde , playwright George Bernard Shaw , and poet William Morris strongly condemned it. On June 26, 1893, Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld , the progressive governor of Illinois, himself

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