Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement and the Bombing that Divided Gilded Age America

A very detailed and clear history of the beginning of the labor movement in America. Unfortunately this often entailed violence, but the violence was far greater and more perfidious on the side of the wealthy trying to maintain their absolute control of the labor force. And as history shows, they have largely prevailed until this day. Perhaps if we take the lessons of the Haymarket massacre to heart, this nation could finally fulfill the dreams of those who died to bring the laborer something as foreign in their time as an eight hour workday.

This is one of the best portrayals of the infamous Haymarket Square bombing. Green provides a thorough analysis of the political activities of all of the major participants in the years leading up to the incident and does it in a very pleasing and engaging style. It is thoroughly footnoted without being dry and academic. You get the sense of the characters involved as real flesh and blood people. Definitely worth the time, energy and money to read.

This book was excellent at bringing to life an incident I knew little about: the Haymarket bombing in 1886. My love of history has centered on wars, diplomacy and technology. This book is about economic growth and social history so it added to my knowledge.The Growth of ChicagoAs the book points out in its early chapters, the setting for the Haymarket incident was the astounding growth of the city of Chicago. Several newly emerging technologies resonated with creating a big city at the south end of Lake Michigan: steel, railroads, lumber and meat packing were the most spectacular.These industries created a lot of new companies, jobs and wealth. The new companies entered all the above listed areas, and the new jobs they created were available to all comers. The new wealth that all this industrializing created was used to create even more new companies, hire more new workers and create one of the first large-scale wealthy classes of Americans. Sadly, many of the workers coming to this booming Chicago felt they weren't getting their fair share of this prosperity, so there was lots of labor unrest mixed in with all the other excitement of this rapidly growing Chicago social scene.The Great Chicago FireChapter Three talks about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The fire was the result of freaky weather conditions mixing with of a lot of hasty building in the city using lots of lumber. Much of the city burned to a crisp.But the foundations for why the city had been growing were not shaken, so the city rebuilt quickly. One surprising fallout of this natural disaster was to bring together various immigrant worker groups into a larger sense of cooperation. As the city rebuilt these groups unified in their efforts to get better working conditions for the workers and in November 1871 the Reform Ticket won the mayoral election. For years thereafter these cooperating workers remained a potent force in Chicago politics and protesting.Things Keep ChangingBut this was a time of change, and the change didn't stop with the Great Fire. The city kept booming and business groups and the new wealthy got back in charge a few years later. The next cycle of worker-inspired uproar was the one in 1886 of which Haymarket was a part.Haymarket: The 9-11 Of Its DayThe final chapters of the book talk about the bombing itself and its aftermath. Haymarket bombing was an act of violence at a public rally. This part was nothing new for the period. What made it distinctive from other acts of that time was it strongly resonated with the emotional social worries of its day. Policemen were killed, foreigners were involved, and new technology was used. (this was the first use of a home-made bomb filled with dynamite, something which had been invented only twenty years previously.) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite) As a result of the deep fearful resonance much that happened in the aftermath was driven by fearful emotions, not facts.o People were arrested, tried and convicted because they fit what people of Chicago feared, not what the facts supported.o The Anarchist and the 8-hour day movements got tarred with an image of being supported by dangerous, sneaky and violent people. The Anarchist movement never recovered, the 8-hour day movement was delayed for decades.The Style of the BookJames Green has a nice narrative style in this book. In the first half he does a nice job of describing the big trends, such as Chicago's growth. In the second half he does a nice job of describing the day-to-day details of how those who would be accused spent their time. I also found his newspaper quotes interesting, mostly because they reveal that freedom of speech in that era seemed to allow a lot more... enthusiasm... in expressing emotions about the current events of the day.

It is nice to see this book will soon be out in paperback making it available to a broader audience, because it is a much needed account of the early days of the labor movement in America. James Green has done a remarkable job of building the events that surrounded the notorious Haymarket bombing of 1886 by exploring the lives of the eight men who stood accused for inspiring the incident. He starts with the explosive incident, and then digs back into the archive of union organization in Chicago and the attempts to form a national labor union. While most of the figures were foreign born, one figure, Albert Parsons, hailed from Texas and became the most charismatic figure of the Chicago Eight.Green shows how the media, police and state militia were predominantly held under the influence of the industrialists, who felt it their god-given right to set the rules for the market economy at the time. While economic giants like McCormick and Pullman attempted to create more ameniable workplaces, even they refused to negotiate with unions, preferring instead to hire scabs and use the Pinkerton Agency to break strikes. The early socialist movement preferred to negotiate with the industrialists, knowing it was a long term process to get better pay and working conditions, but the anarchists felt that stronger resistance was necessary and labor leaders like Parsons and Spies became the spokesmen for the growing anarchist movement in America.The book chronicles the events that led up to the Haymarket bombing, illustrating the many attempts of the industrialists and indeed the city to quash the labor movements. While the mayor of Chicago, Carter Harrison, was sympathetic to the socialists, and relied heavily on their political organization, he was also cognizant of the stronghold the industrialists had on the city. One particular figure, Marshall Field, did more than anyone to harness the forces the city to defeat the unions, but nevertheless the unions flourished thanks in large part to the steady flow of European immigrants.Green connects the labor movement in America to that in Europe and how the two fed off each other, noting the strong influence of Marx and Bakunin on American labor leaders. It was this fear of foreign influence that the media used to help sway public opinion in favor of the industrialists, despite their well noted abuses of power.Whether you agree with the tactics of the anarchists or not, you will be enlightened by the depth of understanding that James Green demonstrates in this book. Most important is how Green links the events of 1886 with the ongoing labor struggle in the new age of globalization as industrialists take advantage of cheap labor much in the way they did 120 years ago, using every hook and crook to break labor organizations. He shows how the Chicago Eight became iconic figures in the international labor movement as a result of a bogus trial. Four were executed and one died in jail, who also faced execution. It is a very sobering account of the labor battles in early industrial America.

I ordered the paperback thinking that it would be the same format as the hardcover. The book is significantly smaller but the number of pages is the same so the size of the print is small and crowded. I reordered it in the hardback version and enjoyed it immensely.

Now this is a book everyone should read. I understand why we have unions and why we celebrate Labour Day. It was very fascinating to read the real players of the true Labour movement, and how they were demonized. It too so long for their ideas to become apart of the American idea - shorter working hours and better pay.