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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. 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.
Death in the Haymarket brings these
remarkable events to life, re-creating a tempestuous moment
in American social history. James 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 shows how the movement overcame numerous
setbacks to orchestrate a series of strikes that swept the
country in 1886, positioning the unions for a hard-won victory
on the eve of the Haymarket tragedy.
As he captures the frustrations, tensions
and heady victories, Green also gives us a rich portrait of
Chicago, the Midwestern powerhouse of the Gilded Age. We see
the great factories and their wealthy owners, including men
such as George Pullman, and we get an intimate view of the
communities of immigrant employees who worked for them. Throughout,
we are reminded of the increasing power of newspapers as,
led by the legendary Chicago Tribune editor Joseph
Medill, they stirred up popular fears of the immigrants and
radicals who led the unions.
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.
James Green is a professor of labor
history at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He grew
up outside Chicago and now lives with his family in Somerville,
Massachusetts.
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