August Spies

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Image:August Spies portrait.jpg August Vincent Theodore Spies (December 10, 1855 – November 11, 1887) was an anarchist labor activist hanged under doubtful circumstances following a bomb attack on police at the Haymarket Riot.

1 Birth
2 Chicago
3 Anarchist
4 Haymarket Square
5 Trial
6 Marriage
7 See also
8 References

[edit] Birth

Spies was born in Germany in 1855 and emigrated to America in 1872 with his mother and siblings. His mother was Christine, and his father had died in 1871. He had the following siblings: Henry Spies; Kenny Spies; Maggie Spies; Willy Spies; Adolph Spies.

[edit] Chicago

He settled in Chicago where he became an upholsterer. Becoming involved in trade union activities due to the injustices he perceived, Spies joined the Socialist Labour Party in 1877, where he began his deep involvement with labor causes and ultimately became editor of the anarchist journal, Arbeiter Zeitung, in 1880.

[edit] Anarchist

Known for his aggressive rhetoric, an enraged Spies published a leaflet on May 4th entitled "Revenge! Workingmen to Arms!" It included the passage: "They killed the poor wretches because they, like you, had the courage to disobey the supreme will of your bosses. They killed them to show you 'Free American Citizens' that you must be satisfied with whatever your bosses condescend to allow you, or you will get killed. If you are men, if you are the sons of your grand sires, who have shed their blood to free you, then you will rise in your might, Hercules, and destroy the hideous monster that seeks to destroy you. To arms we call you, to arms."

[edit] Haymarket Square

Later on May 4, 1886, Spies spoke during a rally at Haymarket Square. Police were there and, contrary to the mayor's explicit instructions intervened, sending units into the crowd in an attempt to disperse it. Violence erupted and a pipe-bomb was thrown killing four policemen. Seven men were arrested including Spies. (Albert Parsons turned himself in.)

There were witnesses to testify that none of the eight charged threw the bomb. Indeed, Spies had been on stage delivering his speech at the time when the bomb was thrown. However, all eight were found guilty, and seven were sentenced to death. One was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

(According to The Press on Trial, Spies was finished with his speech but still on stage when the bomb went off.)

[edit] Trial

The trial of Spies and his associates was highly controversial. The jury was selected specifically by a special bailiff; one of the jury members was a relative of one of the slain policemen. Julius Grinnell, the State's Attorney, told the jury: "Convict these men, make examples of them, hang them, and you save our institutions." During the trial the jury was allowed by the judge to read articles in support of political violence written previously by the defendants as evidence. While in prison Spies wrote an autobiography.

Spies and his co-defendants appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court (122 Ill. 1), then to the Supreme Court of the United States. At the Supreme Court they were represented by John Randolph Tucker, Roger Atkinson Pryor, General Benjamin F. Butler and William P. Black. Their petition for certiorari was denied (123 U.S. 131).

Three of the defendants asked for clemency and were pardoned by John Peter Altgeld, the governor of Illinois. Of the remaining five, Louis Lingg killed himself in his cell with a Cigar bomb but Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer, and George Engel were hanged on November 11, 1887. As he faced his demise on the gallows, Spies shouted out: "There will be a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today!"

[edit] Marriage

While in jail, in January of 1887, Spies married Nina van Zandt (1862-1936). She was a graduate of Vassar college and the only child of a wealthy Chicago chemist. She published an article on the trial for the Chicago Knights of Labor. After Spies's death she married Stephen A. Malato, an attorney, in 1895. They divorced in 1902, and she reverted to the surname Spies.