Hanging of the Haymarket Anarchists

By Christopher Zehnder

he winter of 1885-86 was bitterly cold. Thousands were out of work, and soup kitchens did not ha e pro ision enou!h to feed all the hun!ry. "orkers at Cyrus #cCor$ick%s factory in Chica!o had !one on strike, and #cCor$ick had locked the$ out. "ith the protection of police and &inkerton detecti es,

#cCor$ick had hired other workers to replace the strikers. The strikers derisi ely referred to these workers as 'scabs.( )e eral strikes had !one off badly in Chica!o in recent $onths* &olice Chief +ohn Bonfield had not shied fro$ usin! iolence to suppress the$. But in the weeks before #ay 1, 1886, labor leaders had pulled off a series of successful public $eetin!s. &ro$inent a$on! these leaders were two anarchists, ,u!ust )pies, a -er$an i$$i!rant, and ,lbert &arsons. Born into a pro$inent southern fa$ily, &arsons had .oined the Confederate ar$y at the a!e of 1/. ,fter the war he had found his way to Chica!o, where he beca$e in ol ed in union a!itation and socialis$. 0$ployers had blackballed &arsons because of his role in the -reat )trikes of 1811. 2n )unday, #ay 1, 1886, /3,333 !athered in Chica!o for a peaceful labor rally. The ne4t day, another rally was held in front of the #cCor$ick factory to protest the lockout. 5n the $idst of the rally,
,lbert )pies@ '9e en!e( broadside, printed in 0n!lish and -er$an

#cCor$ick%s scabs be!an co$in! out the buildin!, for they had been !i en a halfholiday to celebrate #cCor$ick%s acceptance

of the ei!ht-hour day 6which had been a$on! the strikers% de$ands7. The an!ry strikers turned on the scabs and forced the$ back into the buildin!. )oon o er 833 police arri ed at the scene and attacked the strikers with their billy clubs, killin! one striker and woundin! si4 others. 5t was not lon! before the ru$or spread that the si4 wounded strikers had been killed. 5n response to the ru$or, ,u!ust )pies printed a broadside that read, '90:0;-0< "orkin!$en< to ,r$s<( )pies printed another flyer, callin! for a $ass $eetin!, to be held #ay = at >ay$arket )?uare, to protest police iolence. The first proof of this flyer carried the in.unction, '"orkin!$en ar$ yoursel es and appear in full force<( but )pies ordered that line e4pun!ed. 2f the 83,333 flyers printed, $aybe only 833-/33 contained this line.

,t 8 p.$. on #ay =, )pies addressed a few hundred workers !athered at >ay$arket )?uare. ,s he war$ed to his sub.ect, he be!an denouncin! #cCor$ick and challen!ed the workers. 'The fa$ilies of twentyfi e or thirty thousand $en are star in! because their husbands and fathers are not $en enou!h to withstand and resist the dictation of the thie es on a !rand scale,( he cried. ,lbert &arsons ne4t addressed the slowly !rowin! crowd. '5 a$ not here for the purpose of incitin! anybody,( he declared. '5t behoo es you, as you lo e your wife and children, if you don%t want to see the$ perish with hun!er, killed or cut down like do!s in the street, ,$ericans, in the interest of your liberty and your independence, to ar$, to ar$ yoursel es.( The people applauded and cried, '"e will do it, we are ready now<( , rainstor$ dro e away $any of those !athered, and at 13 p.$., when about 183 police arri ed, only /33 to =33 re$ained. The rally had been peaceful, but the police captain ordered it to disperse. ;o sooner had he spoken than so$eone threw a bo$b into the ranks of police, killin! one officer and in.urin! si4ty others. The police fired into the crowd. 5n the after$ath, one striker lay dead, 18 others were wounded. ;ewspaper accounts of the >ay$arket episode $ade it appear that the bo$b throwin! had been part of a well orchestrated anarchist plot. 5n the weeks that followed, police arrested socialists and anarchists in Chica!o and suppressed their newspapers. ,$on! those arrested were ,u!ust )pies and another anarchist leader, )a$uel Aielden. ,lbert &arsons, who had !one into hidin!, decided to !i e hi$self up. '5 could not bear to be at liberty knowin! $y co$rades were here and were to suffer for so$ethin! of which they were as innocent as 5,( he said. Thirty-one radical leaders were indicted as accessories to the bo$bin!. 0i!ht of these B )pies, &arsons, Aielden, Couis Cin!! 6who $anufactured bo$bs si$ilar to the one thrown in the >ay$arket7, 2scar ;eebe, #ichael )chwab, ,dolph Aisher, and -eor!e 0n!el B were put on trial. Throu!hout the trial, the .ud!e displayed a bias a!ainst the defendants and $ade rulin!s fa orable to the prosecution* and thou!h no e idence linked the ei!ht to the bo$bin!, the .ury found the$ !uilty. ,ll but 2scar ;eebe 6sentenced to 15 years in prison7 were conde$ned to die by han!in!. 5n his address to the court, )pies declared that he had been con icted si$ply because he was an anarchist, because he belie ed the 'state of castes and classes B the state where one class do$inates o er and li es upon the labor of another class D is doo$ed to die, and $ake roo$ for a free society, oluntary association, or uni ersal brotherhood, if you like D 5f death is the penalty for proclai$in! the truth, then 5 will proudly and defiantly pay the costly price< Call in your han!$an< Truth crucified in )ocrates, in Christ, in -iordano Bruno, in >uss, -alileo, still li es B they and others whose nu$ber is le!ion ha e preceded us on this
>ay$arket e4plosion

path. "e are ready to follow<( Cawyers for the ei!ht anarchists appealed their case to the 5llinois state supre$e court, but the .ustices upheld the erdict of the lower court. , !roup of lawyers, a$on! who$ was old Ben.a$in Butler, ne4t appealed the case to the Enited )tates )upre$e irre!ularities Court. of the -i en case, the they

thou!ht it certain that the court would hear the case and !rant a writ of error. They were wron!. The .ustices refused to consider the case. The only hope left for the conde$ned $en was a !o ernor%s pardon. 5llinois -o ernor 9ichard 2!lesby lon! acillated between lettin! the court%s sentence stand and co$$utin! the death sentences to life i$prison$ent. The pli!ht of the se en $en had beco$e of national interest to labor, with )a$uel -o$pers wei!hin! in for
>an!in! of the >ay$arket ,narchists

pardon and Terence &owderly callin! for .ustice to take its course. 6&owderly hi$self it see$s was tryin! to deflect criticis$ that the Fni!hts of Cabor were socialist radicals.7 2!lesby said if enou!h business$en ca$e out for pardon, he would feel assured that he could !rant it. 5ndeed, enou!h business$en would ha e supported a pardon had not the rich and powerful Chica!oan, #arshall Aield, oiced his opposition to cle$ency. ,!ainst the powerful Aield, no business$en spoke in fa or of pardonin! the con icted anarchists. -o ernor 2!lesby finally opted for co$pro$ise* he co$$uted )chwab and Aielden%s sentence to life i$prison$ent. )pies, Aischer, &arsons, and 0n!el were led to the scaffold on ;o e$ber 11, 1881. 6Cin!! had co$$itted suicide in .ail by blowin! off a dyna$ite cap in his $oth.7 'There will co$e a ti$e when our silence will be $ore powerful than the oices you stran!le today<( )pies cried fro$ the !ibbet. >is co$rade, Aisher, shouted, '>urrah for anarchy,( while 0n!el chi$ed, 'This is the happiest day of $y life<( The trap doors then !a e way beneath the conde$ned, but &arsons had .ust ti$e enou!h to raise his oiceG 'Cet $e speak D Cet the oice of the people be heard<(