What the A.F.L. called for were things workers wanted immediately. Higher wages. A shorter work day. Better working conditions. One of its first demands was an eight-hour work day. This demand led to a number of strikes and protests throughout the country.
KAY GALLANT: The most serious incident took place in Chicago's Haymarket Square.
More than one thousand union supporters went to a meeting there organized by an extremist. They stood calmly and listened to speeches. Just before the meeting ended, someone threw a bomb into a group of policemen. The bomb exploded with a blinding flash. Seven policemen were killed.
The other policemen began shooting at the crowd. Some people in the crowd fired back. When it was all over, ten persons had been shot to death. Fifty others were hurt.
The incident set off a wave of fear and anger across the country. The public demanded action against union extremists. The Haymarket Square violence slowed the growth of organized labor in the United States for many years. It would be some time before labor became a powerful force in national events.
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HARRY MONROE: In the spring of eighteen eighty-six, President Cleveland announced that he was to be married. The ceremony took place in the White House.
A few months later, President Cleveland and the First Lady went to New York City for the official ceremony welcoming the Statue of Liberty.
The statue was a gift to the people of the United States from the people of France. It represented the alliance between their two countries during America's war for independence from Britain.
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