Every day, every month, the workers have a history to tell and write. Though we could go through the month of November and find volumes of working class history worth remembering, I think this one is of special significance. It highlighted the depth of hypocrisy and corruption that the state will go to in an attempt to crush those who stand up to fight for the rights of the ordinary people. This event was not about the deaths of eight police officers, mostly killed by police bullets, it was about trying to crush an idea. An idea that workers could organise together in an attempt to better their conditions. To this day, states all over the world are still trying to put obstacles in the way of workers organisation. Some states more brutally than others but all will go as far as the feel they can get away with in an attempt to keep the workers "in their place".
Perhaps you could let ann arky know what piece of November working class history you think is significant and why. Write it in the comments for others to read. Our history must be written or it never happened. Read some of Glasgow's working class history HERE.
November, 11, 1887, the Haymarket anarchists, Spies, Fischer, Engel and Parsons were executed at Illinois prison. It became know as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American legal history. The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, started in May, 4, 1886 when a mass meeting was held in Chicago at Haymarket Square in support of a strike for an eight hour working day.
The police moved in to disperse the meeting, at that point an unknown person threw a bomb at the police lines, the unsuing confusion of the bomb and gunfire resulted in eight police officers being killed mostly from “friendly fire”. There was also an unkown number of civilians injured and killed.
The legal proceedings that followed saw eight anarchists tried for murder, the trial also received international publicity and the verdict received international condemnation. Although the prosecution conceded that none of the accused had thrown the bomb, four men were convicted and executed and one committed suicide in prison. At the execution, Parsons’ last words are reported to have been, “let the voice of the people be heard.”
The Haymarket affair is usually seen as significant in the origin of the workers International May Day. It was also seen as the event that brought about the caricature of the “bomb throwing anarchist”. Although none of the accused threw the bomb, to this day, that caricature is still used by many, among them the mainstream media.
The site of the incident was designated a Chicago Landmark on March 25, 1992. The Haymarket Martyrs' Monument in nearby Forest Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark on February 18, 1997.
