August Spies’s Courtroom Call for Justice

Background: August Spies had immigrated from Germany to the United States in 1872, where he joined the Socialist Labor Party. In 1886, he took part in protests that led to the bombing at Chicago’s Haymarket Square that caused the death of a police officer. Along with seven other protestors, Spies was arrested and tried for inciting the violence. During his trial, Spies defended his actions to the jury.  Addressing the courtroom, Spies argued that he and his fellow defendants were innocent, and that the trial was politically motivated and designed to silence the worker’s movement. The following excerpt is a small selection of Spies’s much longer speech.

The contemplated murder of eight men, whose only crime is that they have DARED TO SPEAK THE TRUTH, may open the eyes of these suffering millions; may wake them up. Indeed, I have noticed that our conviction has worked miracles in this direction already. The class that clamors for our lives, the good, devout Christians, have attempted in every way, through their newspapers and otherwise, to conceal the true and only issue in this case. By simply designating the defendants as “Anarchists,” and picturing them as a newly discovered tribe or species of cannibals, and by inventing shocking and horrifying stories of dark conspiracies said to be planned by them—these good Christians zealously sought to keep the naked fact from the working people and other righteous parties, namely: That on the evening of May 4, 200 armed men, under the command of a notorious ruffian, ATTACKED A MEETING OF PEACEABLE CITIZENS. With what intention? With the intention of murdering them, or as many of them as they could. I refer to the testimony given by two of our witnesses. The wage-workers of this city began to object to being fleeced too much—they began to say some very true things, but they were highly disagreeable to their patrician class; they put forth—well, some very modest demands. They thought eight hours hard toil a day for scarcely two hours’ pay was enough. THIS LAWLESS RABBLE HAD TO BE SILENCED! The only way to silence them was to frighten them, and murder those whom they looked up to as their “leaders.” Yes, these foreign dogs had to be taught a lesson, so that they might never again interfere with the high-handed exploitation of their benevolent and Christian masters. . . .

Source: The Accused the Accusers. The Famous Speeches of the Eight Chicago Anarchists in Court. (Chicago: Socialistic Publishing Society, n.d.); “Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600–1926,” Indiana University Bloomington, Libraries, accessed October 12, 2023.  https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/august-spies-address-of-august-spies