Knights Of Labor Case Study

May 4, 1886, Haymarket, a busy open air market in Chicago, during the day. At night would become the scene of a tumultuous workers protest against the killing of two of their own at the hands of the cops. At this moment in America’s history there was a large divide between the working class and the business elite, this led to the creation of labor unions, which sought to come to the aid of workers. One of such group was the Knights of Labor or (KOL) for short. Founded by Uriah Stephens. The (KOL) had a policy of “One Big Union” in which the organization took in everyone regardless of gender, race, or trade. In 1879, Terence V. Powderly, joined the organization, and became the new leader, which bought in thousands of new members thanks to his

While Rudolph Schnaubelt threw the bomb, and August Spies and Adolph Fischer were accomplices to the act. The Haymarket debate, springs from well entrenched political views. Everyone agrees that a bomb went off in the middle of the police assembly. However, the disagreement stems from whether the anarchists were guilty or innocent. To the political left the Haymarket incident demonstrates the cruel ruling of the business elite and one the worst “miscarriages” of American law. The general public at the time believed the anarchists were criminals who were rightfully executed. After 130 years the Haymarket incident is still important, for many reasons. It is a symbol of the clash between working class and business elite and the justice system of the late 19th century. Some historians remain convinced that the men convicted were innocent, largely because of their indoctrinated education and their political agenda. At their universities, the future historians were taught that the men at Haymarket were innocent, until it became well entrenched into their viewpoint. It’s important to realize that our own bias can distort the facts of history. When we allow our emotional bias to cloud our thinking, our information becomes tainted with