Death in the Haymarket
Subtitle: a story of Chicago, the first labor movement, and the bombing that divided gilded age America
By: James Green.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Published: 2006
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 383
Subjects: Labor movement -- Illinois -- Chicago -- History -- 19th century; Haymarket Square Riot, Chicago, Ill., 1886; Working class -- Illinois -- Chicago -- History -- 19th century; Social conflict -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Chicago (Ill.) -- Social conditions
Description: On May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded at a Chicago labor rally, wounding dozens of policemen, seven of whom eventually died. Coming in the midst of the largest national strike Americans had ever seen, the bombing created mass hysteria and led to a sensational trial, which culminated in four controversial executions. The trial seized headlines across the country, created the nation's first Red scare and dealt a blow to the labor movement from which it would take decades to recover. Historian Green recounts the rise of the first great labor movement in the wake of the Civil War and brings to life the epic twenty-year battle for the eight-hour workday. He also gives us a portrait of Chicago, the Midwestern powerhouse of the Gilded Age. Throughout, we are reminded of the increasing power of newspapers as they stirred up popular fears of the immigrants and radicals who led the unions.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [321]-361) and index.
Table of contents: title: For once in common front; title: A paradise for workers and speculators; title: We may not always be so secure; title: A liberty-thirsty people; title: The inevitable uprising; title: The flame that makes the kettle boil; title: A brutal and inventive vitality; title: The international; title: The great upheaval; title: A storm of strikes; title: A night of terror; title: The strangest frenzy; title: Every man on the jury was an American; title: You are being weighed in the balance; title: The law is vindicated; title: The judgment of history.