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Socialist Labor Party of America | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | SLP |
| Founded | July 1876 |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California |
| Membership (1879) | 10,000 |
| Political orientation | Left-communism Syndicalism Class reductionism |
| Website | |
| www.slp.org | |
The Socialist Labor Party of America, founded in 1876 as the Workingmen's Party of America, is the oldest socialist party in the United States. Since the 1880s, it has been under left-communist influence.[1][2] It has refused to work with other groups or to support any progressive cause besides the immediate establishment of socialism.[3]
History[edit | edit source]
Foundation[edit | edit source]
The Socialist Labor Party was founded in July 1876 in Philadelphia, shortly after the dissolution of the First International. It contained Marxist factions of the First International and Lassalleans from the Illinois Labor Party. About 3,000 members participated in the founding congress. The Lassalleans won a majority in the congress and elected Philip Van Patten as national secretary.
The Socialist Labor Party supported the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, which was put down by 100,000 federal troops.[4]
Growth[edit | edit source]
By 1879, the Socialist Labor Party had 10,000 members from 24 out of 38 states. The SLP endorsed the Greenback Labor Party, which won 300,000 votes, in the 1880 presidential election.[4]
Revisionism and decline[edit | edit source]
The SLP, controlled by Van Patten, abandoned trade unions and devoted itself only to electoralism. It was also racist against Chinese immigrants and called for a gradual abolition of capitalism instead of a revolution. By 1883, the party's membership had decreased to 1,500 and Van Patten disappeared after six years as national secretary.[4]
De Leonism[edit | edit source]
In 1891, Daniel De Leon became leader of the party. He was a revisionist and rejected the dictatorship of the proletariat in favor of syndicalism. His policies and political line are now known as De Leonism.[5]
Split[edit | edit source]
In 1900, a section of the SLP opposed to De Leon's ultra-leftist policies split and founded the Socialist Party of America.[3]
Political positions[edit | edit source]
The Socialist Labor Party called for nationalization of railroads and telegraphs. It supported state-owned industry operated by trade unions.[4]
Starting in the 1880s, the SLP took ultra-leftist and sectarian positions and isolated itself from other progressive movements such as the Populists, AFL, and civil rights movement.[3]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ “Socialism has never existed. It did not exist in the old U.S.S.R., and it does not exist in China.”
"What Is Socialism?". Socialist Labor Party of America. Retrieved 2022-6-28. - ↑ “In this connection, there is one essential fact that must be made crystal clear to U.S. workers: China is not, and never has been, a socialist country.”
"A Marxist Repudiation of the Massacre at Tiananmen Square" (1989-6-17). Socialist Labor Party of America. Retrieved 2022-6-28. - ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 3.2 Albert Szymanski (1977). Critique of Ultra-Leftism, Dogmatism and Sectarianism. https://archive.org/details/critiqueszymanski/mode/1up.
- ↑ Jump up to: 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 William Z. Foster (1952). History of the Communist Party of the United States: 'The Socialist Labor Party (1876-1890)'.
- ↑ William Z. Foster (1952). History of the Communist Party of the United States: 'The S.L.P: De Leonism and Decline (1890-1900)'.