"The last day of our journey comes vividly to mind. Helena and I stood pressed to each other, enraptured by the sight of the harbour and the Statue of Liberty suddenly emerging from the mist. Ah, there she was, the symbol of hope, of freedom, of opportunity! . We, too, Helena and I, would find a place in the generous heart of America. Our spirits were high, our eyes filled with tears" (3).
Unfortunately, working-class life in America was not like she or many other immigrants had hoped for. The reality of work in the factory in which she first worked quickly disillusioned her about the American political system. The realization that the American society tended to be a closed community of Protestant, Anglo-Saxon origin and that the economic paths were littered with obstacles for new immigrants, nourished her antipathy towards the capitalistic system.
A major turning point in her life and crucial to the development of her anarchist beliefs was definitely the Haymarket strike. Consequently, knowledge of these events is crucial in understanding Emma Goldman's career as an anarchist.
The Haymarket Bombing.
The Haymarket Riot of 1886 was one of the most violent incidents of labor unrest in the late nineteenth century. On May 1, 1886, mass strikes and the largest spontaneous labor demonstration in the country's history took place in Chicago near the McCormick reaper factory. Radical anarchists as well as various craft unions agitated for an eigth-hour workday, partly as a means of creating more jobs so as to reduce unemployment.
On 4 May 1886, labor groups reallied at Haymarket Square, near downtown Chicago to protest against police brutality, after two unionists were killed when policemen broke up a battle between striking unionists and nonunion strikebreakers. As a company of police officers approached, a bomb exploded near their front ranks, killing several policemen.
Eventually eight anarchists were tried and convicted of the bombing, though the evidence of their guilt was questionable.