Communist Labor Party
Encyclopedia
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
. The group was established at the end of August 1919 following a three-way split of the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
. Although a legal political party at the time of its formation, the group was forced underground by the Palmer Raids
Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer...
of January 1920 and thereafter was forced to conduct its activities in secret. The CLP merged with a dissident faction of the Communist Party of America in May 1920 to form the United Communist Party of America.
Background
The Communist Labor Party (CLP) traces its roots to the organized Left Wing Section of the Socialist PartyLeft Wing Section of the Socialist Party
The Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party was an organized faction within the Socialist Party of America in 1919 which served as the core of the dual communist parties which emerged in the fall of that year — the Communist Party of America and the Communist Labor Party of America.-Precusors:A...
, which emerged early in 1919. Through organized bloc voting in branches affiliated with the party's Foreign Language Federations
Language federation
Language Federations were formed in the late 19th and early 20th century by immigrants to the United States, primarily from Eastern and Southern Europe, who shared a commitment to some form of socialist politics...
, the favored candidates of the Left Wing Section won a majority of the 15 seats on the party's governing National Executive Committee in the election of 1919.
Facing domination by an aggressive Communist NEC, the outgoing NEC (dominated by the "Regular" faction of the party and guided by James Oneal
James Oneal
James "Jim" Oneal , a founding member of the Socialist Party of America , was a prominent socialist journalist, historian, and party activist who played a decisive role in the bitter party splits of 1919-21 and 1934-36.-Early years:...
and Executive Secretary Adolph Germer
Adolph Germer
Adoph Germer was an American socialist political functionary and union organizer. He is best remembered as National Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party of America from 1916 to 1919. It was during this period that the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party emerged as an organized faction...
) cited voting irregularities by branches of the party's Foreign Language Federations
Language federation
Language Federations were formed in the late 19th and early 20th century by immigrants to the United States, primarily from Eastern and Southern Europe, who shared a commitment to some form of socialist politics...
and invalidated the result. Suspensions and expulsions of a major part of the SPA's membership immediately followed, including suspensions of the Russian Socialist Federation
Russian Socialist Federation
The Russian Socialist Federation was a semi-autonomous American political organization which was part of the Socialist Party of America from 1915 until the split of the national organization into rival socialist and communist organizations in the summer of 1919...
, Lithuanian Socialist Federation, Polish Federation, Lettish (Latvian) Federation, South Slavic Socialist Federation, and Ukrainian Federation of the Socialist Party in addition to the entire state socialist parties of Michigan, Massachusetts, and Ohio. In New York state the State Executive Committee suspended and "reorganized" Left Wing locals and branches representing nearly half the state's membership.
In the interim, the suspended Foreign Language Federations and idiosyncratic Socialist Party of Michigan
Socialist Party of Michigan
The Socialist Party of Michigan is the state chapter of the Socialist Party USA in the U.S. state of Michigan.-Formation:The Socialist Party of Michigan was the state affiliate of the Socialist Party of America , established in the summer of 1901...
determined to move immediately to the formation of a Communist Party of America and issued a call for a founding convention to be held in Chicago on September 1, 1919.
Establishment
Alfred Wagenknecht
Alfred Wagenknecht was an American Marxist activist and political functionary. He is best remembered for having played a critical role in the establishment of the American Communist Party in 1919 as a leader of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party...
and L.E. Katterfeld
L.E. Katterfeld
Ludwig Erwin Alfred "Dutch" Katterfeld , most commonly known as L.E. Katterfeld, was an American socialist politician, a founding member of the Communist Labor Party of America, a Comintern functionary, and a magazine editor.-Early life:L.E...
and including prominent New York journalist John "Jack" Reed determined to fight on in an attempt to win control of the Socialist Party for the Left Wing. However, with many Left Wingers already abandoning this approach and the "Regular" faction firmly in control of a majority of the states electing delegates to the Emergency National Convention in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
scheduled for Aug. 30, 1919, the fight was essentially over before it began.
The Credentials Committee of this convention was easily won by adherents of the Oneal-Germer "Regulars," who froze out Left Wing-oriented delegations from California, Oregon, and Minnesota. Roughly two dozen delegates pledging allegiance to the Left Wing Section bolted the convention to meet downstairs in a previously rented room, along with about 50 other Left Wingers from around the country. These latter delegates constituted themselves as the Communist Labor Party of America on August 31, 1919.
Executive Secretary of the CLP was Alfred Wagenknecht of Ohio. The five member National Executive Committee consisted of Max Bedacht
Max Bedacht
Max Bedacht Sr. was a German-born American revolutionary socialist political activist, journalist, and functionary who helped establish the Communist Party of America. Bedacht is best remembered as the long-time head of the International Workers Order, a Communist Party-sponsored fraternal benefit...
, Alexander Bilan, L.E. Katterfeld
L.E. Katterfeld
Ludwig Erwin Alfred "Dutch" Katterfeld , most commonly known as L.E. Katterfeld, was an American socialist politician, a founding member of the Communist Labor Party of America, a Comintern functionary, and a magazine editor.-Early life:L.E...
, Jack Carney
Jack Carney
Jack Carney was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong and Carlton in the VFL during the 1930s....
, and Edward Lindgren. Initial headquarters were maintained in Cleveland, before being moved to New York City in December of 1919.
Underground period
The party moved to the underground in response to mass arrests and deportations conducted by the US Justice Department and its Bureau of Investigation, guided by Special Assistant to the Attorney General J. Edgar HooverJ. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
. These raids and the move to the underground virtually destroyed the organization, which only existed in skeletal form in the first half of 1920, although publication of its legal newspaper, The Toiler, was maintained. The CLP also published an "illegal" underground monthly paper called Communist Labor Party News and issued the final issue of Ludwig Lore's
Ludwig Lore
Ludwig Lore was an American socialist newspaper editor and politician, best remembered for his tenure as editor of the New Yorker Volkszeitung and role as a factional leader in the early American communist movement...
theoretical magazine, The Class Struggle under its auspices.
Dissolution through merger
On April 18, 1920, Executive Secretary C.E. RuthenbergCharles Ruthenberg
Charles Emil Ruthenberg was an American Marxist politician and a founder and long-time head of the Communist Party USA .-Biography:Charles Emil Ruthenberg was born July 9, 1882 in Cleveland, Ohio...
exited the Communist Party of America and along with his factional supporters (such as Jay Lovestone
Jay Lovestone
Jay Lovestone was at various times a member of the Socialist Party of America, a leader of the Communist Party USA, leader of a small oppositionist party, an anti-Communist and Central Intelligence Agency helper, and foreign policy advisor to the leadership of the AFL-CIO and various unions...
and Isaac Edward Ferguson) constituted themselves as the "real" CPA with a view to merger with the CLP. This organizational marriage took place at a secret "Joint Unity Convention" held at Bridgman, Michigan
Bridgman, Michigan
Bridgman is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,428 at the 2000 census. The Bridgman post office, with ZIP code 49106 opened with the name "Laketon" on November 11, 1862. The name changed to Bridgman on April 9, 1874...
from May 26-31. The resulting organization, also organized along underground lines to avoid arrest, was known as the United Communist Party of America (UCP).
The Communist International to which the UCP and CPA both pledged their allegiance sought to end duplication, competition, and hostility between the two communist parties and insisted on a merger into a single organization. This was eventually effected in May 1921 at a secret gathering held at the Overlook Mountain House hotel near Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...
. The resulting unified group was also known as the Communist Party of America, which morphed into the Workers Party of America
Workers Party of America
The Workers Party of America was the name of the legal party organization used by the Communist Party USA from the last days of 1921 until the middle of 1929. As a legal political party the Workers Party accepted affiliation from independent socialist groups such as the African Blood Brotherhood,...
(December 1921), which changed its name in 1925 to Workers (Communist) Party and to Communist Party USA
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
in 1929.
Party press
During the CLPs brief life five English-language periodicals were affiliated with it, some inherited from organizations that had merged into the party, and some new.- The Toiler (Cleveland) - This paper was formerly the official publication of the Socialist Party of OhioSocialist Party of OhioThe Socialist Party of Ohio is the state chapter of the Socialist Party USA in the U.S. state of Ohio. It has a chartered local in the Cleveland area, and members in Columbus and Cincinnati. The SPOH was last structurally reorganized in 2011....
under the name The Ohio Socialist. The paper changed its name to The Toiler upon establishment of the CLP as the official party paper. Due to police pressure the official publisher was changed to the "Toiler Publishing Association" late in 1919, thereby allowing the paper to continue as a "legal" publication under the pretext of independence. - Voice of Labor (Chicago) this was the serial began by John Reed and Ben Gitlow after they became disaffected with the majority of the National Left Wing Council. It continued as the labor organ of the CLP until it merged into the UCP. It remained as a UCP paper until it folded in July. It ran from Vol. I #1 August 15, 1919 to Vol. II #2 July 10, 1920.
- Communist Labor News (Cleveland) One or two issues of a four page broadsheetBroadsheetBroadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
bearing this name were produced immediately after the party's formation, with content substantially similar to material also printed in the Ohio Socialist. - Communist Labor (New York) - Six issues of this irregularly-issued tabloid newspaper were produced between December 6, 1919 and May 15, 1920 This was the "illegal" underground organ of the CLP.
- The Class StruggleThe Class Struggle (magazine)The Class Struggle was a bi-monthly Marxist theoretical magazine published in New York City by the Socialist Publication Society. The SPS also published a series of pamphlets, mostly reprints from the magazine during the short period of its existence. Among the initial editors of the publication...
(New York) - The final issue of this theoretical journal, dated November 1919, bore the imprint of the Communist Labor Party on the cover. It was terminated for financial reasons.
Other sources consulted
- Tim Davenport, "The Communist Party of the United States (1919 - 1946): Organizational History.". Early American Marxism website Retrieved September 7, 2006.
- Theodore DraperTheodore DraperTheodore H. "Ted" Draper was an American historian and political writer. Draper is best known for the 14 books which he completed during his life, including work regarded as seminal on the formative period of the American Communist Party, the Cuban Revolution, and the Iran-Contra Affair...
, The Roots of American Communism. New York: The Viking Press, 1957. - James OnealJames OnealJames "Jim" Oneal , a founding member of the Socialist Party of America , was a prominent socialist journalist, historian, and party activist who played a decisive role in the bitter party splits of 1919-21 and 1934-36.-Early years:...
, American Communism: A Critical Analysis of its Origins, Development and Programs. New York: Rand Book Store, 1927. - Bryan D. Palmer, James P. Cannon and the Origins of the American Revolutionary Left, 1890-1928. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2007.
CLP publications
- Program and constitution of the United Communist Party of America.
- Communist Labor, no. 5 (May 1, 1920). —Full issue of this May Day 1920 issue of the CLP's official organ.
- James H. Dolsen, The Defense of a Revolutionist by Himself: Story of the Trial of James H. Dolsen, Who Defended Himself on the Charge of Criminal Syndicalism, Superior Court, Oakland, California, March 23-April 23, 1920. Oakland, CA: James H. Dolsen, 1920.
- Benjamin Gitlow, The "Red Ruby" Address to the Jury: Also, Darrow; the Judge Giovanitti. n.c. (New York): Communist Labor Party, n.d. (1920).