Misled into laboring for anarchy: the Haymarket Affair is a classic example of how well-organized agitators cleverly manipulated many well-intentioned laborers into committing acts of social demolition.(HISTORY--PAST AND PERSPECTIVE)

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On a rain-soaked night on May 4, 1886, a crowd of about 1,000 laborers gathered near Haymarket Square in Chicago, to rail against the action of police at the McCormick labor strike a few days earlier. Among them were anarchists and socialists, who struck a chord with laborers by calling for an eight-hour work day and better working conditions, but whose agenda included the elimination of capitalist society through violent means. Unfortunately, the subversive elements were in control.

City authorities, fearing another McCormick incident which resulted in the death of one striker, decided not to interfere in the meeting. But as a ...