Haymarket
Why May Day is an international holiday, but not an American one
See it on the timeline →In depth
The eight-hour day was the labour movement's central demand in the 1880s; ten to twelve hours was the norm in American industry. Who threw the bomb has never been established. The trial rested on the defendants' opinions rather than their acts, and the governor of Illinois pardoned the survivors in 1893 in terms that repudiated the whole case. The irony is lasting: the event made the first of May the workers' holiday worldwide, while the United States placed its own Labor Day in September precisely to avoid the association.
For children
Workers in Chicago struck for the eight-hour day. At a meeting someone threw a bomb at the police, and several died on both sides. Four labour leaders were hanged on very thin evidence. May Day later became the international workers' holiday because of it.
Sources
- Avrich, The Haymarket Tragedy (1984)
- Chicago History Museum: Haymarket-samlingen
Connects to
Report a correction
Found something that does not hold? Tell us — sources help, but are not required.
Report a correctionPart of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org ·