Global InformationHistory of the socialist movement in the United States information
| This article is part of a series on |
| Socialism in the United States |
|---|
|
| Part of a series on |
| Socialism |
|---|
 |
|
|
The history of the socialist movement in the United States spans a variety of tendencies, including anarchists, communists, democratic socialists, social democrats, Marxists, Marxist–Leninists, Trotskyists and utopian socialists. It began with utopian communities in the early 19th century such as the Shakers, the activist visionary Josiah Warren and intentional communities inspired by Charles Fourier. Labor activists, usually Jewish, German, or Finnish immigrants, founded the Socialist Labor Party of America in 1877. The Socialist Party of America was established in 1901. By that time, anarchism also rose to prominence around the country. Socialists of different tendencies were involved in early American labor organizations and struggles. These reached a high point in the Haymarket massacre in Chicago, which founded the International Workers' Day as the main labour holiday around the world, Labor Day and making the eight-hour day a worldwide objective by workers organizations and socialist parties worldwide.[1]
Under Socialist Party of America presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs, socialist opposition to World War I was widespread, leading to the governmental repression collectively known as the First Red Scare. The Socialist Party declined in the 1920s, but the party nonetheless often ran Norman Thomas for president. In the 1930s, the Communist Party USA took importance in labor and racial struggles while it suffered a split which converged in the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party. In the 1950s, socialism was affected by McCarthyism and in the 1960s it was revived by the general radicalization brought by the New Left and other social struggles and revolts. In the 1960s, Michael Harrington and other socialists were called to assist the Kennedy administration and then the Johnson administration's War on Poverty and Great Society[2] while socialists also played important roles in the civil rights movement.[3][4][5][6] Unlike in Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, a major socialist party has never materialized in the United States[7] and the socialist movement in the United States was relatively weak in comparison.[8] In the United States, socialism can be stigmatized because it is commonly associated with authoritarian socialism, the Soviet Union and other authoritarian Marxist–Leninist regimes.[9] Writing for The Economist, Samuel Jackson argued that socialism has been used as a pejorative term, without any clear definition, by conservatives and right-libertarians to taint liberal and progressive policies, proposals and public figures.[10] The term socialization has been mistakenly used to refer to any state or government-operated industry or service (the proper term for such being either municipalization or nationalization). The term has also been used to mean any tax-funded programs, whether privately run or government run. The term socialism has been used to argue against economic interventionism, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Medicare, the New Deal, Social Security and universal single-payer health care, among others.[11][12]
Milwaukee has had several socialist mayors such as Emil Seidel, Daniel Hoan and Frank Zeidler whilst Socialist Party presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs won nearly one million votes in the 1920 presidential election.[13][14] Self-declared democratic socialist Bernie Sanders won 13 million votes in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primary, gaining considerable popular support, particularly among the younger generation and the working class.[15][16][17] A September 2022 poll reported 36% of American adults had a positive view of socialism and 57% had a positive view of capitalism.[18]
- ^ Remes, Jacob (April 30, 2012). "May Day's radical history". Salon. Retrieved July 19, 2019. "In 1889, French syndicalist Raymond Lavigne proposed to the Second International—the international and internationalist coalition of socialist parties—that May 1 be celebrated internationally the next year to honor the Haymarket Martyrs and demand the eight-hour day, and the year after that the International adopted the day as an international workers' holiday. In countries with strong socialist and communist traditions, May 1 became the primary day to celebrate work, workers and their organizations, often with direct and explicit reference to the martyrs of the Haymarket Massacre. May Day remains an official holiday in countries ranging from Argentina to India to Malaysia to Croatia—and dozens of countries in between."
- ^ Isserman, Maurice (June 19, 2009). "Michael Harrington: Warrior on poverty". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
- ^ Anderson, Jervis (1973) [1986]. A. Philip Randolph: A Biographical Portrait. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05505-6.
- ^
- Anderson, Jervis (1997). Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
- Branch, Taylor (1989). Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63. New York: Touchstone.
- D'Emilio, John (2003). Lost Prophet: Bayard Rustin and the Quest for Peace and Justice in America. New York: The Free Press.
- D'Emilio, John (2004). Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- ^ Horowitz (2007, pp. 220–222)
- ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (April 1, 1992). "Tom Kahn, leader in labor and rights movements, was 53". The New York Times.
- ^ Foner, Eric (1984). "Why is there no socialism in the United States". History Workshop (17).
- ^ Oshinsky, David (July 24, 1988). "It Wasn't Easy Being a Leftist". The New York Times.
- ^ Leibovich, Mark (January 21, 2007). "The Socialist Senator". The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
And he has clung to a mantle — socialism — that brings considerable stigma, in large part for its association with authoritarian communist regimes (which Sanders is quick to disavow).
- ^ Jackson, Samuel (January 6, 2012). "The failure of American political speech". The Economist. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
Socialism is not 'the government should provide healthcare' or 'the rich should be taxed more' nor any of the other watery social-democratic positions that the American right likes to demonise by calling them 'socialist'—and granted, it is chiefly the right that does so, but the fact that rightists are so rarely confronted and ridiculed for it means that they have successfully muddied the political discourse to the point where an awful lot of Americans have only the flimsiest grasp of what socialism is.
- ^ Truman, Harry S. (October 10, 1952). "Rear Platform and Other Informal Remarks in New York". Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. "The directive was drafted by Senator Taft at that famous breakfast in New York City a few weeks ago. Senator Taft left that meeting and told the press what the General stands for. Taft explained that the great issue in this campaign is "creeping socialism." Now that is the patented trademark of the special interest lobbies. Socialism is a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years. Socialism is what they called public power. Socialism is what they called social security. Socialism is what they called farm price supports. Socialism is what they called bank deposit insurance. Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations. Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people. When the Republican candidate inscribes the slogan "Down With Socialism" on the banner of his "great crusade," that is really not what he means at all. What he really means is, "Down with Progress--down with Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal," and "down with Harry Truman's fair Deal." That is what he means." Retrieved February 14, 2020.
- ^ Reinhardt, Uwe E. (8 May 2009). "What Is 'Socialized Medicine'?: A Taxonomy of Health Care Systems". Economix. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ Paul, Ari (November 19, 2013). "Seattle's election of Kshama Sawant shows socialism can play in America". The Guardian. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
- ^ Brockell, Gillian (February 13, 2020). "Socialists were winning U.S. elections long before Bernie Sanders and AOC". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
- ^ Cassidy, John (February 2, 2016). "Bernie Sanders Just Changed the Democratic Party". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
- ^ Spross, Jeff (April 24, 2018). "Bernie Sanders has Conquered the Democratic Party". The Week. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
- ^ Zurcher, Anthony (June 20, 2019). "Bernie Sanders: What's different this time around?". BBC News. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
- ^ "Modest Declines in Positive Views of 'Socialism' and 'Capitalism' in U.S." Pew Research Center. September 19, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2023.