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Chicago Haymarket Affair (aka Haymarket Massacre, Haymarket Riot, Haymarket Incident, Haymarket tragedy) is the labour demonstration and the subsequent repressions of anarchists, communists, and other unionists that was sparked by the the bombing during the demonstration.
People involved
Timeline of the events
Prior events
- 1884-Oct - Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions sets 1886-May-01 as the final date, by when 8 hour working day should be implemented
- 1886-May-01 (Saturday) - Country-wide labour demonstrations begin in the USA under the slogan of "Eight-hour day with no cut in pay". Hundreds of thousands of workers participate
- 1886-May-03 (Monday) - Police open fire on the workers, killing several people in Chicago. Rally at the Haymarket Square is called.
Chicago Haymarket Affair
- 1886-May-04 evening - The rally at the Haymarket Square is attended by 600-3000 people with a large contingent of police nearby.
- 1886-May-04 22:30 - Large number of police march at the protesters and order them to disperse. A homemade dynamite bomb was thrown at the police, killing the policeman Mathias J. Degan and injuring 6 others. This led to an exchange of gun fire, when police have killed 4 and wounded up to 70 people who were running away. Some police were wounded, but it is unknown by whom (potentially by their brethren who were firing in the dark). In the end 7 policemen and at least 4 people were killed.
Legal haunting and subsequent pardons
- 1886-May-05 morning - Police have raided "Arbeiter-Zeitung" and arrested August Spies (the editor), his brother, Michael Schwab (editorial assistant) and Adolph Fischer (a typesetter).
- 1886-May-07 - Police searched the premises of Louis Lingg, found bombs and bomb-making materials.
- 1886-May-14 - Rudolf Schnaubelt flees the country when it becomes apparent that he would be implicated.
- 1886-Jun-08 - Seven suspects are indicted as accessories to murder
- 1886-Jun-21 - The trial begins.
- 1886-Aug-11 - The trial ends with guilty verdict for all defendants.
- 1887-Nov-10 - Fielden's and Schwab's sentences commuted to life in prison. Lingg commits suicide in the prison cell.
- 1887-Nov-11 - Engel, Fischer, Parsons, and Spies were executed by hanging.
- 1893-Jun-26 - Fielden, Schwab, and Neebe are pardoned by governor John Peter Altgeld.