Editing History of the socialist movement in the United States

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The '''history of the socialist movement in the United States''' spans a variety of ideological tendencies, including anarchism, communism, democratic socialism, Marxism, Marxism-Leninism, social democracy, Trotskyism, and utopian socialism. One 2021 poll reported 41% of American adults had a positive view of socialism and 57% had a positive view of capitalism.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Chantal Da Silva|date=June 28, 2021|title=Support for socialism gaining traction in US, poll suggests|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/americans-socialism-positive-axios-poll-b1874049.html|newspaper=[[Independent]]}}</ref>
The '''history of the socialist movement in the United States''' spans a variety of ideological tendencies, including anarchism, communism, democratic socialism, Marxism, Marxism-Leninism, social democracy, Trotskyism, and utopian socialism. One 2021 poll reported 41% of American adults had a positive view of socialism and 57% had a positive view of capitalism.<ref>{{cite news|last=Da Silva|first=Chantal|date=June 28, 2021|title=Support for socialism gaining traction in US, poll suggests|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/americans-socialism-positive-axios-poll-b1874049.html|work=[[The Independent]]|location=|access-date=September 7, 2021}}</ref>


It began with utopian communities in the early 1800s such as the Shakers.  
It began with utopian communities in the early 1800s such as the Shakers.  


Labor activists (mostly comprising of European settler-colonists) 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 affair]] in Chicago which started [[International Workers' Day]] as the main workers holiday around the world, [[Labor Day]] and making the [[eight-hour day]] a worldwide objective by workers organizations and socialist parties worldwide.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Jacob Remes|date-2012-04-30|url=https://www.salon.com/2012/04/30/may_days_radical_history/|title=May Day's radical history|newspaper=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|retrieved=2019-07-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103175454/https://www.salon.com/2012/04/30/may_days_radical_history/|archive-date=2021-11-03|quote=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 Haymarket Martyrs. May Day remains an official holiday in countries ranging from Argentina to India to Malaysia to Croatia—and dozens of countries in between.}}</ref>
Labor activists (mostly comprising of European settler-colonists) 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 affair]] in Chicago which started [[International Workers' Day]] as the main workers holiday around the world, [[Labor Day]] and making the [[eight-hour day]] a worldwide objective by workers organizations and socialist parties worldwide.<ref>Remes, Jacob (April 30, 2012). [http://www.salon.com/2012/04/30/may_days_radical_history/ "May Day's radical history"]. ''[[Salon (website)|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 Haymarket Martyrs. May Day remains an official holiday in countries ranging from Argentina to India to Malaysia to Croatia—and dozens of countries in between."</ref>


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 United States presidential election|1920 presidential election]].<ref name="Ari Paul">{{Web citation|author=Ari Paul|date=2013-11-19|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/19/seattle-socialist-city-council-kshama-sawant|title=Seattle's election of Kshama Sawant shows socialism can play in America|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|retrieved=2014-02-09}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|author=Gillian Brockwell|date=2020-02-13|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/02/12/socialists-were-winning-elections-america-long-before-bernie-sanders-aoc/|title=Socialists were winning U.S. elections long before Bernie Sanders and AOC|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|retrieved=2020-02-14}}</ref>  
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 United States presidential election|1920 presidential election]].<ref name="Ari Paul">Paul, Ari (November 19, 2013). [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/19/seattle-socialist-city-council-kshama-sawant "Seattle's election of Kshama Sawant shows socialism can play in America"]. ''[[The Guardian]]''. Retrieved February 9, 2014.</ref><ref>Brockell, Gillian (February 13, 2020). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/02/12/socialists-were-winning-elections-america-long-before-bernie-sanders-aoc/ "Socialists were winning U.S. elections long before Bernie Sanders and AOC"]. ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved February 14, 2020.</ref>  


Self-described "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.<ref>{{Web citation|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/bernie-sanders-just-changed-the-democratic-party|title=Bernie Sanders Just Changed the Democratic Party|author=John Cassidy|newspaper=[[The New Yorker]]|date=2016-02-02|retrieved=2019-11-25}}</ref><ref name="BernieCon">{{Web citation|url=https://theweek.com/articles/769073/bernie-sanders-conquered-democratic-party|title=Bernie Sanders has Conquered the Democratic Party|author=Jeff Spross|newspaper=The Week|date=2018-04-24|retrieved=2019-11-25}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48640268|title=Bernie Sanders: What's different this time around?|author=Anthony Zurcher|newspaper=BBC News|date=2019-06-20|retrieved=2019-11-25}}</ref>  
Self-described "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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/bernie-sanders-just-changed-the-democratic-party|title=Bernie Sanders Just Changed the Democratic Party|first=John|last=Cassidy|work=The New Yorker|date=February 2, 2016|access-date=November 25, 2019}}</ref><ref name="BernieCon">{{cite news|url=https://theweek.com/articles/769073/bernie-sanders-conquered-democratic-party|title=Bernie Sanders has Conquered the Democratic Party|first=Jeff|last=Spross|work=The Week|date=April 24, 2018|access-date=November 25, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48640268|title=Bernie Sanders: What's different this time around?|first=Anthony|last=Zurcher|publisher=BBC News|date=June 20, 2019|access-date=November 25, 2019}}</ref>  


== 19th century ==
== 19th century ==
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=== 1960-70s: New Left & Intelligence Agency Misdirection ===
=== 1960-70s: New Left & Intelligence Agency Misdirection ===
The New Left was a political movement in the Western world which was socially progressive but was carefully manipulated by intelligence agencies to ensure that it would avoid the class analysis found in Marxism-Leninism. The so-called "Father of the New Left", Herbert Marcuse, was actually an agent for the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the [[Central Intelligence Agency]].<ref>https://www.marcuse.org/herbert/booksabout/70s/Bourne1979MarcuseGrandfatherNewLeft.pdf</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=The End of the Experiment: The Rise of Cultural Elites and the Decline of America's Civic Culture|year=2017|author=Stanley Rothman|isbn=9781351295628}}</ref><ref>''Secret Reports on Nazi Germany. The Frankfurt School Contribution to the War Effort'' by [[Franz Neumann (political scientist)|Franz Neumann]], Herbert Marcuse & [[Otto Kirchheimer]], Edited by Raffaele Laudani, (Princeton University Press, 2013) p. 2</ref> The CIA later built the [[Congress for Cultural Freedom]] which helped to facilitate the growth of the "[[Non-Communist Left|Non-communist left]]"
The New Left was a political movement in the Western world which was socially progressive but was carefully manipulated by intelligence agencies to ensure that it would avoid the class analysis found in Marxism-Leninism. The so-called "Father of the New Left", Herbert Marcuse, was actually an agent for the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the [[Central Intelligence Agency]].<ref>https://www.marcuse.org/herbert/booksabout/70s/Bourne1979MarcuseGrandfatherNewLeft.pdf</ref><ref>Rothman, Stanley (2017). ''The End of the Experiment: The Rise of Cultural Elites and the Decline of America's Civic Culture''. Routledge. p. 177. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/9781351295628|<bdi>9781351295628</bdi>]]. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2017-10-31</ref><ref>''Secret Reports on Nazi Germany. The Frankfurt School Contribution to the War Effort'' by [[Franz Neumann (political scientist)|Franz Neumann]], Herbert Marcuse & [[Otto Kirchheimer]], Edited by Raffaele Laudani, (Princeton University Press, 2013) p. 2</ref> The CIA later built the [[Congress for Cultural Freedom]] which helped to facilitate the growth of the "[[Non-Communist Left|Non-communist left]]"


In the 1960s, [[Michael Harrington]] and other socialists were called to assist the [[Presidency of John F. Kennedy|Kennedy administration]] and then the [[Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson administration]]'s [[War on Poverty]] and [[Great Society]]<ref name="WoPMH">{{Web citation|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/books/review/Isserman-t.html?_r=1|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Maurice Isserman|title=Michael Harrington: Warrior on poverty|date=2009-06-19|retrieved=2019-07-19}}</ref> while socialists also played important roles in the [[civil rights movement]].<ref name="Randolph">{{Citation|author=Jervis Anderson|year=1973|title=A. Philip Randolph: A Biographical Portrait|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-05505-6}}</ref><ref name="Rustin">* {{Citation|author=Jervis Anderson|year=1997|title=Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|city=New York}}
In the 1960s, [[Michael Harrington]] and other socialists were called to assist the [[Presidency of John F. Kennedy|Kennedy administration]] and then the [[Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson administration]]'s [[War on Poverty]] and [[Great Society]]<ref name="WoPMH">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/books/review/Isserman-t.html?_r=1|work=The New York Times|first=Maurice|last=Isserman|author-link=Maurice Isserman|title=Michael Harrington: Warrior on poverty|date=June 19, 2009|access-date=July 19, 2019}}</ref> while socialists also played important roles in the [[civil rights movement]].<ref name="Randolph">Anderson, Jervis (1973) [1986]. ''A. Philip Randolph: A Biographical Portrait''. University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-05505-6}}.</ref><ref name="Rustin">* Anderson, Jervis (1997). ''Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen''. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
* {{Citation|author=Taylor Branch|year=1989|title=Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63|publisher=Touchstone|city=New York}}
* Branch, Taylor (1989). ''Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63''. New York: Touchstone.
* {{Citation|author=John D'Emilio|year=2003|title=Lost Prophet: Bayard Rustin and the Quest for Peace and Justice in America|city=New York|publisher=The Free Press}}
* D'Emilio, John (2003). ''Lost Prophet: Bayard Rustin and the Quest for Peace and Justice in America''. New York: The Free Press.
* {{Citation|author=John D'Emilio|year=2004|title=Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin|city=Chicago|publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref><ref name="RHKahn"><!-- This template doesn't exist. {{Harvtxt|Horowitz|2007|pp=220–222}}:
* D'Emilio, John (2004). ''Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.</ref><ref name="RHKahn">{{harvtxt|Horowitz|2007|pp=220–222}}:


-->{{Citation|title=Tom Kahn and the fight for democracy: A political portrait and personal recollection|author=Rachelle Horowitz|title-url=http://www.dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d11Horowitz.pdf<!-- http://www.socialdemocratsusa.org/oldsite/Kahn.html -->|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012183407/http://dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d11Horowitz.pdf|archive-date=2009-10-12|journal=Democratiya (Merged with Dissent in 2009)|issue=Winter|volume=11|year=2007|pages=204–251}}</ref><ref name="NYTKahn">{{Web citation|title=Tom Kahn, leader in labor and rights movements, was 53|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1992-04-1|author=Wolfgang Saxon|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/01/nyregion/tom-kahn-leader-in-labor-and-rights-movements-was-53.html}}</ref> Unlike in Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, a major social-democratic party has never materialized in the United States<ref>{{Citation|author=Eric Foner|year=1984|title-url=https://www.nyu.edu/steinhardt/e/pdf/humsocsci/mias/readings07/21.pdf|title=Why is there no socialism in the United States|series=History Workshop|volume=17}}</ref> and the socialist movement in the United States was relatively weak in comparison.<ref>{{Web citation|author=David Oshinsky|title=It Wasn't Easy Being a Leftist|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/24/books/it-wasn-t-easy-being-a-leftist.html?pagewanted=all|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1988-07-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525091610/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/24/books/it-wasn-t-easy-being-a-leftist.html|archive-date=2015-05-25}}</ref>  
{{cite journal|title=Tom Kahn and the fight for democracy: A political portrait and personal recollection|first=Rachelle|last=Horowitz|author-link=Rachelle Horowitz|url=http://www.dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d11Horowitz.pdf<!-- http://www.socialdemocratsusa.org/oldsite/Kahn.html -->|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012183407/http://dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d11Horowitz.pdf|archive-date=October 12, 2009|journal=Democratiya (Merged with Dissent in 2009)|issue=Winter|volume=11|year=2007|pages=204–251}}</ref><ref name="NYTKahn">{{cite news|title=Tom Kahn, leader in labor and rights movements, was 53|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 1, 1992|first=Wolfgang|last=Saxon|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/01/nyregion/tom-kahn-leader-in-labor-and-rights-movements-was-53.html}}</ref> Unlike in Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, a major social-democratic party has never materialized in the United States<ref>Foner, Eric (1984). [http://www.nyu.edu/steinhardt/e/pdf/humsocsci/mias/readings07/21.pdf "Why is there no socialism in the United States"]. ''History Workshop'' (17).</ref> and the socialist movement in the United States was relatively weak in comparison.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Oshinsky|first1=David|author-link1=David Oshinsky|title=It Wasn't Easy Being a Leftist|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/24/books/it-wasn-t-easy-being-a-leftist.html?pagewanted=all|work=The New York Times|date=24 July 1988}}</ref>  


=== 1980-90s: New Communist Movement & anti-WTO protests ===
=== 1980-90s: New Communist Movement & anti-WTO protests ===
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== References ==
== References ==
[[Category:Socialism by country]]
[[Category:United States of America]]
[[Category:United States of America]]
[[Category:Outline needs additional content]]
[[Category:Outline needs additional content]]
<references />
[[Category:Socialism in the United States]]
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