Death In The Haymarket: Summary
Following the bloody Civil War and the devastating assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the nation hoped for a period of time that would involve peace and less hostility. However, in an era so charged with differing opinions, that hope for peace would be dashed. Many changes would come to the later half of the nineteenth century, in particular, the Midwest found itself in the middle of an economic revolution with Chicago as its crowning jewel. This electric transformation brought an increase in wealth, immigrants, and innovation, yet it was this same transformation that caused instability and further divided the classes from one another. Death in the Haymarket highlights the decades leading up to the tragic bombing; Green pays particular
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The choice to begin with the procession offers a juxtaposition of ideals, one where the people are standing on common ground and then as the book continues on we are taken on a journey that shows the divide between the people, particularly within their classes. Within the pages, information is drawn about different labor unions and the people who influenced them and this is where its success draws from. Green sets the stage for the bombing at the Haymarket which does not take place until more than halfway through the book. He offers a look into what could have caused such violence. Beginning with the eight-hour workday movement which inspired many to fight harder for their right to work, but also receive an education with the time they had hoped to free up. They were met with opposition at almost every turn, from politicians with empty promises to employers with no problem in lowering wages or laying off workers with better conditions in mind.
One of the main points of Death in the Haymarket is the use of sensational media. Throughout the decades leading up to the Haymarket affair, the media is used to fight for the causes of either side of the labor movement. From Andrew Cameron’s Workingman’s Advocate, which pushed for the eight hour workday to the Chicago Tribune, which offered a harsh critique of the movement and the attacks perpetrated against good policemen. In an era full of people starving for news, Green makes use of these newspapers and pamphlets to further the information he presents about the labor
The choice to begin with the procession offers a juxtaposition of ideals, one where the people are standing on common ground and then as the book continues on we are taken on a journey that shows the divide between the people, particularly within their classes. Within the pages, information is drawn about different labor unions and the people who influenced them and this is where its success draws from. Green sets the stage for the bombing at the Haymarket which does not take place until more than halfway through the book. He offers a look into what could have caused such violence. Beginning with the eight-hour workday movement which inspired many to fight harder for their right to work, but also receive an education with the time they had hoped to free up. They were met with opposition at almost every turn, from politicians with empty promises to employers with no problem in lowering wages or laying off workers with better conditions in mind.
One of the main points of Death in the Haymarket is the use of sensational media. Throughout the decades leading up to the Haymarket affair, the media is used to fight for the causes of either side of the labor movement. From Andrew Cameron’s Workingman’s Advocate, which pushed for the eight hour workday to the Chicago Tribune, which offered a harsh critique of the movement and the attacks perpetrated against good policemen. In an era full of people starving for news, Green makes use of these newspapers and pamphlets to further the information he presents about the labor