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Loading... Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement and the Bombing that Divided Gilded Age Americaby James R. Green
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On May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded at a Chicago labor rally, wounding dozens of policemen, seven of whom eventually died. A wave of mass hysteria swept the country, leading to a sensational trial, that culminated in four controversial executions, and dealt a blow to the labor movement from which it would take decades to recover. Historian James Green recounts the rise of the first great labor movement in the wake of the Civil War and brings to life an epic twenty-year struggle for the eight-hour workday. Blending a gripping narrative, outsized characters and a panoramic portrait of a major social movement, Death in the Haymarket is an important addition to the history of American capitalism and a moving story about the class tensions at the heart of Gilded Age America. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)977.3History & geography History of North America North central United States IllinoisLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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The other protagonists in this books are the men who would ultimately be known throughout the world as the 'Martyrs of Haymarket' and serve as the inspiration for the designation of May 1 as international labor day. The defendants of ‘the trial of the [19th] century’ were 8 anarchists whose ‘incendiary’ words were used to convict them of the death of several police officers and civilians when in May of 1886 an unidentified individual threw an explosive device on a workers’ demonstration at Haymarket Square.
Green’s narrative completely immerses you in the lives of the anarchists who played a leading role in the Chicago workers’ fight for a shorter working day. The author’s description of the trial and the attempt to secure an amnesty seems so much like a first-hand account that it almost appears for a while that the lives of the key anarchists - Parsons, Spies, Engel, and Fischer- will be spared but history tells us otherwise. The red scare that ensued after the Haymarket explosion led not only to the suppression of radicals of all shades but also to the defeat of the labor movement and its aftermath continued to affect American workers well into the 20th century. Green’s description of the authorities’ attack on civil liberties in order to stamp out ‘un-American’ beliefs is also eerily reminiscent of recent developments. ( )