Problems in Shy Town
What happens when you have an organization that is peacefully protesting and doing nothing wrong at all, and then you have a small banned of anarchist's who believe it is there right to take actions into their own hands?
Easy you have the biggest massacre in Chicago even before Al Capone is even around. The massacre that happened in the Haymarket square on May 4th was anything but pretty. What provoked a small banned of so called anarchist's to do such an extreme act of violence? Where does one get off and take extreme and brutal actions into there own hands. Well for eight men it was determined there fate for their actions in which they committed. But what about the third party individual who helped make the equipment that was going to be used for this action against the Chicago police department.
In the bombing a police officer by the name of Mathis Degan was killed by a bomb thrown by an anarchist, this would later turn into a court case against August pies, Albert R. Parsons, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, louis Lingg, Samuel Fielden, Michael Schwab, and Oscar W. Neebe. What these men did was develop and carry out a plan that would change history for many people. These eight men alone, single handedly destroyed the Knights of Labor, which was a great weapon in fighting for the eight a day work schedule.
Prior to the bombing the eight people listed above constructed and manufactured pipe bombs for the up coming strike. They knew from previous scenarios like theirs that was coming up that the police would come in, and try to put an end to the demonstration. On the 4th of May the union leader talked about what was on the agenda for the current meeting and that one of the head administrators for the company that they were striking wanted to make a deal with them.
Before that even happened the police arrived in their buggies and on foot and the police chief was quoted as saying, "this meeting immediately and peacefully disperse." A cry came from a striker in the crowd; "we are peaceable." That was the end to the demonstration because that next moment a loud thunderous boom engulfed the crowd and after that terrorist attack the police officers opened up fire against the crowd killing many men, women, and children.
On July 13, 1900 Joseph Aschs’ new building plans in New York City are approved and by January 5, 1901 the building is complete. In 1906, the eighth floor of the Asch building is bought by the Triangle Shirtwaist Company who opens a factory there. Three years later, a letter is sent to the management of the Triangle Shirtwaist building from a fire prevention expert. He suggests they that a discussion about evaluating and enhancing safety measures. Unfortunately, management does not take the letter seriously and “the letter is ignored.” (Linder, “Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial”) The inhumane work conditions in the factory led to the decision of twenty-five ILGWU workers to declare strike against th...
This strike was a battle over several issues. One factor that escalated the strike intensity was the pensions battle. Billons of dollars in pensions were on the line. The Teamste...
This caused more anger among the students, and added more people to the rebellion that would otherwise not have become involved. On May 4th 1970, when rallies surfaced again in the commons area, tear gas was used to disperse the crowd. The conflict between students and the National Guard had begun to expand, and the cursing and rock throwing were increasing the tension in the air. The Guard ordered the students to retreat and as the crowds began to break up, it appeared the Guard was also retreating. Then the shots were heard.
whose meddling lit the fuse to the bomb that blew up the town? Much of
that was effecting there very lives. It rallied the people to make the government find a
caused Union officials to call it an outright massacre. Was it a massacre or a result of
For instance, in 1892, Carnegie was trying to tear down unions and in Homestead, Pennsylvania decided to fire everyone. However, if they signed a contract stating that they would not join a union, they could get their job back. In response to this, the workers struck back and started shooting the Pinkerton's and it got to the point where the company called in the state militia who defeated the strikers. This was known as the Homestead Strike and the surviving strikers were arrested and convicted of murder. Furthermore, in 1894, the Pullman Strike occurred where a nationwide railroad strike occurred. George Pullman basically owned the town and controlled the cost of rent and food, so when he lowered wages and raised prices, the workers called for a strike. Eugene Debbs was asked to lead the strike leading to the formation of the American Railroad Workers Union (ARWU). Debbs told the workers to not work any of Pullman cars on the railroad. Since the railroads had a huge impact on the national economy, President Cleveland intervened and got the National Guard to run the trains and ordered them to crush the strike. Debbs was arrested for breaking the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, but formed the Industrial Workers of the World union (IWW) in jail. Some members of the ARWU were killed or wounded
The unions resorted to many forms of tactics such as boycotts, picketing, and the less prominent “closed shop”. The most prevalent of these methods, however, was the formation of riots. During the late 19th century riots included: the Haymarket Square Riots (1886), the Homestead Lockout, and the Pullman Car Company strike. The Haymarket Square Riots of 1886 took place at the McCormick plant in Chicago, Illinois in response to the worker’s need for an eight hour workday. The first two days were innate, but the third day was where the the situation actually instigated the cause. The owner of the plant, McCormick, attempted to bring strikebreakers (scabs), and a battle had begun between the scabs and the strikers. The riot, wistfully, ended the lives of four men when the police began to attempt to impede and halter the situation. These four deaths initiated a chain reaction resulting in the calling for the revenge of the four men by German radical Johann Most. Despite Johann’s reaction, 200 more Chicago policemen ordered the remaining strikers to leave the area. In the crowd, in the moment, a homemade bomb was hurled leading in the death of one policeman; acting as a predecessor of events, this event lead to a shooting between the policemen and the strikers concluding with the death of four workers and seven more policemen; entirely approximately one hundred people were injured. The Haymarket Riots caused public opinion to turn against labor. The Homestead Lockout took place in Homestead, Pennsylvania at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant and was instigated by Henry Clay Frick’s wage cut. In this riot workers walked out of the company and then Frick ordered company doors to be locked and trapped the workers inside. Employees rebelled and caused about 200 Pinkerton detectives to come up the river to protect company property and created a battle.
Even though many of the protesters were severely beaten, they still stood their stance and got the message out. What is a Riot? According to Encyclopedia.gov a riot “is a social occasion involving relatively spontaneous collective violence directed at property, persons, or authority.” There are five main
...s. Was Capone fully to blame for the violence that plagued his life? Or was he adapting to the times in which he lived? Maybe he was a man who believed in self-defense in a cruel time where he was just as likely to be killed by an opposing bootlegger. In several interviews, he spoke of peace. He asked for peace from other men that challenged him. Some might even call him generous. Whatever Al Capone was, there was one type of person that he believed to be truely evil. In the words of Capone, "There's one thing worse than a crook, I think...and that's a crooked man in a big political job. A man who pretends he is enforcing the law and is really making dough by breaking it. Even a self-respecting hoodlum hasn't any use for that kind of fella..he buys them like he'd buy any other article necessary to his trade. But he hates them in his heart," (Blumenthal 102).
The media takes this news focuses on the protestor’s violence and showcases them as the ones creating a scene. The media then showcases police as the ones that have to deal with the situation by detaining citizens, thus making them look like the good guys. The mayor and chief police also take away from the citizen’s freedom by allocating a 7pm curfew and a 25 block ‘no protest zone’. So if individuals were to not follow the set curfew they can be detained even if they had nothing to do with the protest. Police started attacking citizens even before curfew, which stripped citizens more of their freedom and liberty to protest. Individuals who were leaving their office, and who were not apart of the protest were also taken to prison, even when they followed procedure. This proves that the actions taken were not a part of the due process system where we protect individuals but rather part of the crime control module where we screen out innocent people and get them into the
Al Capone will be remembered not just as ‘’Scarface,’’but as one of the greatest gang leader of Chicago. Still 67 years later he is remembered by movies, cars, and the famous Tommy gun. Al Capone is most famous for his cruel moments and our most famous loving, warm hearted holiday but cold hearted. ‘’St.Valentine Day Massacre!.’’One of his famous quotes were,
On August 23, 1927, Nicola Sacco and Barolomeo Vanzetti were executed in one of the most controversial legal cases in American history. Two men were shot and robbed in Braintree, MA, and two poor Italian immigrants were arrested for the crime. Although neither Sacco nor Vanzetti had criminal records, they both had pistols on them at the time, and followed a violent anarchist leader. Following their arrest, the seven-year case on the crime would drive national and international protests demanding their exoneration. There were numerous elements in the trial that influenced the guilty verdicts for the men including, but not limited to, weak evidence. The Sacco Vanzetti trial displays the social injustices and prejudice in American society during the time. It is evident that even though they are innocent, the court used Sacco and Vanzetti as scapegoats in this crime because of their beliefs and background.
The first event was with the Industrial Workers of World (IWW), where they were blamed by Tulsan’s in bombing the house of a wealthy oilman. It began on “October 29, 1917”, when the home of a wealthy oilman was bombed in Tulsa. There were little clues to be found but as Scott Ellsworth reports in his book Death in a Promised Land, “The newspapers were pointing the blame to the IWW”(25). The secretary of the IWW was going to be the spokes person for the twelve members of the IWW in court, with the accusation of bombing the house of a wealthy oilman. Ellsworth reports:
There were several causes which led to this riot and the immediate cause was racial tension. Racism tends to persist most readily when there are obvious physical differences among groups e.g. “Black” and “white” differences. This no doubt results in attempts to limit economic opportunities, to preserve status, to deny equal protection under law and to maintain cheap labor. Discrimination was represented ...