.
But the roots of this incident go much deeper, the 1880's were an exceptionally tumultous period for the labor movement in the United States. Working conditions were often grim and workers had to endure poverty due to low wages and miserable living conditions. Also Emma Goldman's first experiences with employers attitudes in the factory in Rochester showed the abuses which many workers confronted.
Her request for a modest raise of her wage was met with remarks about her "extravagant tastes", because she complained about her miserable wage which did not only cover her expenses but also did not leave enough for a book or an occasional ticket to the theater.
So at this point she became an implacable foe of the economic system which created such a discrepancy between individual worth and social rewards. .
Her goal became a new society in which the coherence between effort and reward is fair met. Anarchism promised just such a society for her.
So due to the denial of protection under the law, more and more workers turned to unions and strikes to intersperse their demands. Chicago and New York, especially the lower East Side became centers of the more radical groups, like socialists and anarchists. One reason for the prominence of such groups in these cities was that European immigrants were much more receptive to radical doctrines than native-born workers.
So the Haymarket Affair was actually only the culmination of the emerging discontent among the working class.
First Anarchist Sympathies.
By 1882 when Johann Most arrived in New York the radical labor movement lacked purpose and homogeneousness. Most was already a well-known orator for the anarchist cause in Europe, editor of "Die Freiheit" and later became Goldman`s mentor.
He went on a national lecture tour, and under his influence the anarchist movement gained new momentum. In his speeches he did not only attack the oppressive capitalist system but also urged for violent action against it.