Immigrant of the Day: Gov. John Peter Altgeld (Germany)

We have found a most appropriate Immigrant of the Day for Labor Day 2008.  John Peter Altgeld (1847-1902) (bio) was born in Germany and came with his family to the United States when he was three. Altgeld read the law and was admitted to the bar in 1872. He had moved to Chicago, where he established himself as a lawyer. Altgeld ran for a Cook County Superior Court judgeship in 1886 and won with the backing of both the Democratic and Labor Parties. His election was held in the wake of the hanging of four of the defandants convicted in the Haymarket Square bombings (a bomb had been thrown at police as they marched to disperse a public meeting in support of striking workers) at a time when anti-labor sentiment ran very high. He resigned his judgeship in 1891.

Altgeld was elected Governor of Illinois in 1893. It was the first time a Democrat had been elected governor since 1856, the first time a foreign-born citizen had been elected, and the first time a Chicago resident had been elected in Illinois.

In June 1893, Altgeld pardoned the three living Haymarket bombers. Altgeld concluded that the accused had not been granted their constitutional right to a fair and impartial trial and that the evidence presented in the case was not sufficient to convict them. Altgeld was overwhelmingly condemned in the press for his action.   Even his citizenship was challenged.

Nearly one year later, another incident involving labor brought Altgeld into the national limelight. On May, 11, 1894, workers of the Pullman Corporation, the manufacturer of railroad cars, went on strike in protest of wage cuts. Gov. Altgeld refused to allow the Illinois militia to be used as strike breakers or to visit violence upon the strikers.  U.S. Army troops went sent to Illinois. Gov. Altgeld demanded the withdrawal of Federal troops on the grounds that their presence was unconstitutional. On July 6, violence broke out in Chicago. The strike collapsed the next day as its leaders were arrested under the terms of the injunction. Once again, Altgeld was slammed in the press.

Altgeld believed that fellow Democrat, Grover Cleveland, whom he had supported in 1884, was anti-labor. Altgeld was determined to run Cleveland and his ilk out of the Democratic Party.

Governor Altgeld’s views could be found in the 1896 Democratic platform. The platform included a pro-labor plank, an anti-injunction plank, a plank on personal and civil liberties, and a plank reaffirming the principles of federalism, a direct reference to the Pullman strike. This made Altgeld a prime target for Republicans nationwide during the campaign. He was denounced as an anarchist, socialist, foreigner, and murderer.  Altgeld himself was running for reelection and lost.

KJ