On May 4, 1886, the Washington Critic’s evening edition in Chicago published a fiery release by the Chicago Socialists. It read:
Revenge! Workingmen to arms! Your masters sent out their bloodhounds – the police. They killed six of your brothers at McCormick’s yesterday. They killed the poor wretches because they, like you, had the courage to disobey the supreme will of your bosses. They killed them because they dared ask for the shortening of the hours of toil. They killed them to show you ‘free American citizens’ that you must be satisfied and contented with whatever your bosses condescend to allow you or you will get killed…to arms! We call you to arms!
10,000 copies of this had been circulated across the city. The context was a peaceful protest by workers for an eight-hour workday that had been disrupted by police firing, killing between two and six workers. The next day, anarchists and socialists took advantage of the mood to call for a larger rally. But this event too proceeded peacefully, so much so that the mayor of Chicago attended it in the sidelines and left early.
The peace was shattered by the hurling of a bomb. Near the conclusion of the main speaker’s speech, a dynamite bomb was thrown at the police who had gathered over the event. Seven police officers and eleven civilians were killed, with over 70 hospitalised. The nationwide campaign for an eight-hour week had turned horrifically bloody – and was soon to be followed by riots. But the event was a landmark one in worker’s movements. Over
But the event was a landmark in worker’s movements. Over 200,000 workers went on strike across America, demanding that May 1 be the day when the eight-hour-week would be adopted. To honour this, the Second International conference of socialists at Paris in 1886 declared the day as International Labour Day.
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