Haymarket Riot

The Haymarket Riot on 4 May 1886 in Chicago, Illinois is the origin of international May Day observances and in popular literature inspired the inaccurate caricature of "the bomb-throwing anarchist". The causes of the incident are still controversial, although deeply polarized attitudes separating the business and working communities in late 19th century Chicago are generally acknowledged as having precipitated the tragedy and its aftermath.

Trial, executions and pardons

Eight people connected directly or indirectly with the rally and its anarchist organisers were charged with Degan's murder: August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Louis Lingg, Michael Schwab, Samuel Fielden and Oscar Neebe. Five (Spies, Fischer, Engel, Lingg and Schwab) were German immigrants while a sixth, Neebe, was of German descent. The trial was presided over by Judge Joseph Gary. The prosecution never offered evidence connecting any of the defendants with the bombing but argued that the person who had thrown the bomb had been incited to do so by the defendants, who as a result were equally responsible. The jury returned guilty verdicts for all eight defendants, with death sentences for seven. Neebe (who seemed to have been almost forgotten by the prosecution) received a sentence of 15 years in prison. The sentencing sparked more outrage in labor circles, resulted in protests around the world and made the defendants international political celebrities and heroes.

Related Topics:
August Spies - Albert Parsons - Adolph Fischer - George Engel - Louis Lingg - Michael Schwab - Samuel Fielden - Oscar Neebe - Judge - Joseph Gary - Evidence

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After the appeals had been exhausted Illinois Governor Richard James Oglesby commuted Fielden's and Schwab's sentences to life in prison. On the eve of his scheduled execution Lingg committed suicide in his cell using a smuggled stick of dynamite, which he reportedly held in his mouth like a cigar (the blast blew off half his face and he survived in agony for several hours). The next day, November 11, 1887, Spies, Parsons, Fischer, and Engel were hanged together before a public audience. August Spies was widely quoted as having said, "The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." Witnesses reported that the condemned did not die when they dropped, but strangled to death slowly, a sight which left the audience visibly shaken.

Related Topics:
Richard James Oglesby - November 11 - 1887 - Hanged

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Lingg, Spies, Fischer, Engel and Parsons were buried at German Waldheim Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago (as were Schwab and Neebe when they died). In 1893 the Haymarket Martyrs Monument by sculptor Albert Weinert was raised at Waldheim. It was later named a National Historic Monument by the United States Department of the Interior, the only cemetery memorial to have received that distinction.

Related Topics:
German Waldheim Cemetery - Albert Weinert - National Historic Monument - Department of the Interior - Cemetery - Memorial

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On June 26, 1893 Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld signed pardons for Fielden, Neebe, and Schwab after having concluded all eight defendants were innocent (the pardons signalled his own political end).

Related Topics:
June 26 - 1893 - John Peter Altgeld - Pardon

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The police commander who ordered the dispersal was later convicted of unrelated corruption. The bomb thrower was never identified, although some anarchists privately indicated they had later learned his identity but kept quiet to avoid further violence and death. The trial is often referred to by scholars as one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in United States history.

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