United States 1874

Synopsis

On the morning of 13 January 1874, some 7,000 unemployed New Yorkers gathered in Tompkins Square in New York City to demand public aid and employment during a time of economic depression. The Committee of Safety, a group of socialists, trade union leaders, and labor reformers, called the meeting after one with city leaders in late December failed. The press and the police were on high alert and denounced the committee as a body of vagabonds and communists. The police force was set on swiftly dispersing the meeting. Men, women, and children scattered when the police suddenly charged into the crowd and started indiscriminately clubbing people. Several German socialists decided to resist the police action and engaged in fights. When the square had been cleared, Police Commissioner Abram Duryee ordered mounted police to forcefully disperse all people from the side streets. By dusk, Tompkins...