With the approach of May 1st, the entire city of Chicago was in a state of nervous excitement. Both sides anticipated an incident. The Anarchists expected it to touch off the long awaited insurrection. The authorities looked to it as a signal to suppress the radical movement once and for all. Police precautions of the most elaborate sort were taken against a popular outbreak. All reserve forces were mobilized. Special deputies were appointed. The state militia prepared for action, and there were rumors that federal troops stood in readiness to march on the city. Encounters between workers and the police grew frequent, heightening the bitterness and tension...
May 1st came and more than 300,000 workers laid down their tools in 13,000 establishments throughout the country. In Chicago, the center of the movement, 40,000 workers went out on strike. An Anarchist named August Spies, penned a rousing editorial for the occasion: "Bravely forward! The conflict has begun. An army of wage laborers are idle. Capitalism conceals it's tiger claws behind the ramparts of order. Workingmen, let your watchword be: No Compromise! Cowards to the rear! Men to the front! The die is cast. The first of May, whose historic signifigance will be understood and appreciated only in later years, has come." May 1st passed without incident. Although large numbers of workers took part in the day's demonstrations, there was no rioting or disorder. Trouble came, however, on Monday May 3rd. At the McCormick Reaper works, a clash had taken place between the strikers and the scabs. From heckling, the pickets had moved to physical attack, driving strikebreakers back into the factory, which the pickets now pelted with stones. Windows were broken. The police showed up and opened fire on the crowd of strikers. Six workers were killed. In response to this incident, Spies penned an inflamatory article for distribution to the workers of the city calling for revenge. That evening a meeting was convened by a group of German Anarchists, and a mass rally was planned for the next day; the flier for the rally read: "Attention Workingmen! Great Mass meeting tonite, at 7:00 o'clock, Haymarket, Randolph St., Bet Desplaines and Halsted. Good speakers will be present to denounce the latest atrocious acts of the police, the shooting of our fellow-workmen yesterday afternoon. Workingmen - Arm yourselves and Appear in Full Force!"
The demonstration at Haymarket Square on May 4th did not pass without incident. Towards the end of the rally the police raided the gathering and tried to disperse the crowd when "something sputtered over the heads of the audience and fell into the midst of the police. A terrific explosion shook the street, shattering windows for blocks around. The Haymarket bomb had been thrown." A number of officers fell wounded and the remaining officers opened fire on the crowd. When it was all over 12 policemen were dead as well as an unknown number of civilians.
Eight prominent Chicago Anarchists were arrested for supposedly being the masterminds behind the bombing: Albert Parsons, August Spies, Samuel Fielden, Michael Schawab, Oscar Neebe, Adolph Fischer, Georgre Engel, and Louis Ling. After trial 5 of them were sentenced to death, the other 3 to long prison terms. Louis Ling took his own life while awaiting his execution. On November 11, 1887, Parsons, Fischer, Spies, and Engel were executed by hanging.
