Farmer-Labor Party
Encyclopedia
The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. Economic dislocation caused by American entry into World War I
put agricultural prices and workers' wages into imbalance with rapidly escalating retail prices during the war years, and farmers and workers sought to make common cause in the political sphere to redress their grievances.
The other primary contributing stream to the Farmer–Labor movement was the Labor Party movement. An International Association of Machinists strike in Bridgeport developed into a Labor Party in five Connecticut towns in the summer of 1918 and the powerful Chicago Federation of Labor
(led by President John Fitzpatrick
and Secretary-Treasurer Edward Nockles) adopted the cause of a Labor Party in the fall of that same year. Similar independent Labor Party movements emerged in New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Ohio, and North Dakota. These state and local organizations joined together in November 1919 in Chicago to form the Labor Party of the United States.
One important gathering that was a precursor to the establishment of a national Farmer–Labor Party was the Cooperative Congress, held in Chicago on February 12, 1920. The gathering included participants from the cooperative movement, farmers organizations
, trade unions, and the Plumb Plan League. The congress elected a 12 person All-American Farmer–Labor Cooperative Commission. The event was closely reported in the pages of The Liberator
by Robert Minor
.
for President of the United States. Christensen finished particularly strongly in Washington, netting over 77,000 votes in that state alone. In total, Christensen received over 265,000 votes
from voters of the 19 states in which the Farmer–Labor Party was on the ballot.
Also during the 1920 election, the Farmer-Labor Party candidate for the United States Senate in Washington state, C. L. France received 25% of the vote, coming in second place. This was the best performance by the Farmer-Labor Party in a state election outside Minnesota
, which would soon become its main stronghold. The party's candidate for Governor of New York
was Dudley Field Malone
, a former Democratic Collector of the Port of New York
, who achieved 69,908 votes in the state election, versus 159,804 for the Socialist candidate Joseph D. Cannon
. However Rose Schneiderman
, the party's candidate
for U.S. Senator from New York only received 15,086 votes versus 151,246 for Socialist Jacob Panken
.
In November 1921, as part of a lengthy world tour, Parley Parker Christensen obtained two interviews with Lenin in Moscow. The official organ of the Farmer–Labor Party was a newspaper published in Chicago called The New Majority. Editor of this paper was Robert Buck, a Fitzpatrick-Nockles loyalist.
The 1922 Convention of the Farmer–Labor Party was attended by 72 delegates, representing organizations in 17 states. Victor Berger, Seymour Stedman
, and Otto Branstetter attended the proceedings as fraternal delegates of the Socialist Party of America
. The convention decided to transform the FLP organization into a federated body of labor organizations on the model of the British Labour Party.
The Farmer–Labor Party sent delegates to the second conference of the Conference for Progressive Political Action
, which met December 11–12, 1922, in Cleveland. The conference defeated a motion to establish an independent political party by a vote of 52–64, with the Socialist and Farmer–Labor Party delegations on the short side. At the close of the conference, the Farmer–Labor Party delegation announced that they would no longer affiliate with the CPPA.
In March 1923, the Farmer–Labor Party of Chicago broke away from the CPPA and decided to proceed to the immediate formation of a national Farmer–Labor political organization. Circa May, over the signature of J.G. Brown of the Farmer–Labor Party of the United States there was issued a call for a "Monster Political Convention of the Workers of America" to meet in Chicago on July 3. The convention call was issued to trade unions, state Farmer–Labor Parties, the Non-Partisan League
, the Socialist Party, and the Workers Party
, The FLP was frustrated with the timidity of the CPPA and the refusal of that organization to enter into independent electoral politics and sought to establish a national organization through other means. The Workers Party was anxious to participate in the FLP Convention as part of their United Front
strategy. The Socialist Party on the other hand, was extremely hesitant. The SPA carefully considered this matter at its May 19–23, 1923, New York Convention before declining to participate in the FLP Convention, instead seeing the CPPA as the vehicle for a new Labor Party.
In the middle of June 1923, a subcommittee of the Central Executive Committee of the Workers Party of America
met with a sub-committee of the Farmer–Labor Party. These two small groups agreed that if sufficient workers should be represented by delegates to the July 3 Conference, the Farmer–Labor Party should be supplanted by a Federated Farmer–Labor Party, and the National Committee of the Farmer–Labor Party replaced by a new National Executive Committee. The number of organizational members sending delegates necessary for the critical mass necessary to trigger this transformation was agreed by the two subcommittees to be 500,000. It was also agreed that the July 3 Conference should pass a general statement of principles and a resolution calling for the recognition of Soviet Union
. If the 500,000 threshold was not achieved, an Organization Committee for the new federated FLP would instead be established.
made a speech in which he asked the Farmer–Labor Party delegates what they wanted, stating that any concessions would be agreed to save the sacrifice of a federated Farmer–Labor Party itself. Five out of seven seats on the National Executive Committee of the new organization were offered to the Farmer–Labor Party. In response, the convention was adjourned and the Farmer–Labor Party delegates went into a closed caucus. This caucus returned with a resolution proposing to exclude the Workers Party from the conference and to ask the conference to accept the 1921 program and constitution of the Farmer–Labor Party without changes. This proposal was made on the floor of the conference by John Fitzpatrick
of the Chicago Federation of Labor
, who stated that "it would be suicide" to unite "with any organization which advocated other than lawful means to bring about a political change." This resolution was tabled by a vote of approximately 500–40, prompting a walkout by John Fitzpatrick and a group of delegates sharing his views.
The Workers Party gained a majority for its program and established a "Federated Farmer–Labor Party" at this convention. Structural iron worker Joseph Manley, a son-in-law of William Z. Foster
although a factional loyalist to John Pepper
, was elected as National Secretary of the organization. The WPA's Chicago labor paper, The Voice of Labor, was turned over to the FFLP and became its official organ, The Farmer–Labor Voice.
The notion of a "Federated Farmer–Labor Party" closely paralleled the organizational ideal for a third party then currently being advanced, the Socialist Party—an organization modelled upon the British Labour Party to which political organizations (like the WPA and the SPA) might affiliate without losing their independent organizational identity. The Socialist Party sought the establishment of an American "Labor Party" via the CPPA—and failed. The Workers Party successfully "captured" the Farmer–Labor Party organization, only to lose the allegiance of the mass organizations that they with which they so eagerly desired to unite.
An effort was made by some members of the Farmer–Labor Party of the United States to merge the convention of the FLP with that of the Conference for Progressive Political Action, an attempt which was unsuccessful. This group also attempted to remove all national political parties from the convention call—the intended effect being to exclude the Workers (Communist) Party from participation. This effort failed as well.
There was pressure placed on the Farmer–Labor Party to purge itself of Communists and to postpone its next convention until July 4, 1924, so that it might meet jointly with that of the Conference for Progressive Political Action. On March 18, 1924, National Secretary Jay G. Brown wrote to the National Committee asking for a vote on the question of holding a convention on July 4 at Cleveland. This convention was not called. Brown resigned as National Secretary, to be replaced on a temporary basis by Robert M. Buck, who soon resigned as well. National Chairman W.M. Piggott then appointed Bert Martin as National Secretary and headquarters were moved from Chicago to Denver.
The June 1924 Convention of the Farmer–Labor Party (in which the Federated Farmer–Labor Party participated as a member organization) was attended by over 500 delegates representing 26 states. The convention discussed the upcoming run of Sen. Robert LaFollette, Sr. for President. LaFollette, a bitter opponent of the Workers Party of America, did not seek the endorsement of the convention, which proceeded to nominate its own candidates for President and Vice President of the United States—Duncan McDonald and William Bouck, respectively. The National Committee of the FLP met in Cleveland on July 4 and elected delegates to the Conference for Progressive Political Action. W.M. Piggott of Utah was re-elected as National Chairman and Bert Martin of Denver as National Secretary. On July 10, 1924, after the endorsement of LaFollette by the CPPA at Cleveland, a majority of the National Executive Committee withdrew the nominations of MacDonald and Bouck and pledged support to an independent campaign of the Workers Party. By the end of 1924, the Federated FLP had ceased to exist.
, Jacob Coxey
campaigned as the Farmer–Labor Party candidate in a few states. In neither election did the party receive more than 8,000 votes. The Farmer–Labor Party continued to exist as a successful state party in Minnesota until 1944, when it merged with the Democratic Party of that state to form the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL).
wrote the song "I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister," in which he sings, "Take the two old parties, mister,/No difference in them I can see./But with a Farmer-Labor party,/We will set the workers free."
Woody Guthrie wrote the song Farmer-Labor Train
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
put agricultural prices and workers' wages into imbalance with rapidly escalating retail prices during the war years, and farmers and workers sought to make common cause in the political sphere to redress their grievances.
Labor Party of the United States
Chicago Federation of Labor
The Chicago Federation of Labor is an umbrella organization for unions in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is a subordinate body of the AFL-CIO, and as of 2011 has about 320 affiliated member unions representing half a million union members in Cook County....
(led by President John Fitzpatrick
John Fitzpatrick (unionist)
John Fitzpatrick was an Irish-born American trade union leader. He is best remembered as the longtime head of the powerful Chicago Federation of Labor from 1906 until his death in 1946.-Early years:...
and Secretary-Treasurer Edward Nockles) adopted the cause of a Labor Party in the fall of that same year. Similar independent Labor Party movements emerged in New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Ohio, and North Dakota. These state and local organizations joined together in November 1919 in Chicago to form the Labor Party of the United States.
One important gathering that was a precursor to the establishment of a national Farmer–Labor Party was the Cooperative Congress, held in Chicago on February 12, 1920. The gathering included participants from the cooperative movement, farmers organizations
Farmers' movement
The Farmers Movement was, in American political history, the general name for a movement between 1867 and 1896 remarkable for a radical socio-economic propaganda that came from what was considered the most conservative class of American society...
, trade unions, and the Plumb Plan League. The congress elected a 12 person All-American Farmer–Labor Cooperative Commission. The event was closely reported in the pages of The Liberator
The Liberator (magazine)
The Liberator was a monthly socialist magazine established by Max Eastman and his sister Crystal Eastman in 1918 to continue the work of The Masses, which was shut down by the wartime mailing regulations of the U.S. government. Intensely political, the magazine included copious quantities of art,...
by Robert Minor
Robert Minor
Robert Berkeley "Bob" Minor was political cartoonist, a radical journalist, and a leading member of the American Communist Party.-Early life:...
.
Farmer–Labor Party of the United States
In July 1920, the Labor Party of the United States changed its name to the Farmer–Labor Party. It nominated Utah lawyer Parley P. ChristensenParley P. Christensen
Parley Parker Christensen was an American politician and nominee of the Farmer-Labor Party for President of the United States in 1920. He was member of the Utah House of Representatives and of the Los Angeles, California, City Council...
for President of the United States. Christensen finished particularly strongly in Washington, netting over 77,000 votes in that state alone. In total, Christensen received over 265,000 votes
United States presidential election, 1920
The United States presidential election of 1920 was dominated by the aftermath of World War I and a hostile response to certain policies of Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic president. The wartime economic boom had collapsed. Politicians were arguing over peace treaties and the question of America's...
from voters of the 19 states in which the Farmer–Labor Party was on the ballot.
Also during the 1920 election, the Farmer-Labor Party candidate for the United States Senate in Washington state, C. L. France received 25% of the vote, coming in second place. This was the best performance by the Farmer-Labor Party in a state election outside Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, which would soon become its main stronghold. The party's candidate for Governor of New York
Governor of New York
The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...
was Dudley Field Malone
Dudley Field Malone
Dudley Field Malone was an attorney, politician, liberal activist and actor.-Biography:The son of Tammany Democratic official William C...
, a former Democratic Collector of the Port of New York
Collector of the Port of New York
The Collector of Customs at the Port of New York, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of New York, sometimes also as Collector of Customs for the Port of New York or Collector of Customs for the District of New York, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import...
, who achieved 69,908 votes in the state election, versus 159,804 for the Socialist candidate Joseph D. Cannon
Joseph Cannon (socialist)
-Life:Cannon was an organizer for the Metal Workers' Union in New York.He ran on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America for U.S. Senator from New York in 1916; for the Board of Aldermen from the 22nd Ward in 1919; for Governor of New York in 1920; for the New York State Senate in 1922; and...
. However Rose Schneiderman
Rose Schneiderman
Rose Schneiderman was a prominent United States labor union leader, socialist, and feminist of the first part of the twentieth century...
, the party's candidate
United States Senate election, 1920
The United States Senate elections of 1920 were elections for the United States Senate which coincided with the election of Warren G. Harding as President. Democrat Woodrow Wilson's unpopularity allowed Republicans to win races across the country, winning ten seats from the Democrats and cementing...
for U.S. Senator from New York only received 15,086 votes versus 151,246 for Socialist Jacob Panken
Jacob Panken
Jacob Panken was an American socialist politician, best remembered for his tenure as a New York municipal judge and frequent candidacies for high elected office on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
.
In November 1921, as part of a lengthy world tour, Parley Parker Christensen obtained two interviews with Lenin in Moscow. The official organ of the Farmer–Labor Party was a newspaper published in Chicago called The New Majority. Editor of this paper was Robert Buck, a Fitzpatrick-Nockles loyalist.
The 1922 Convention of the Farmer–Labor Party was attended by 72 delegates, representing organizations in 17 states. Victor Berger, Seymour Stedman
Seymour Stedman
Seymour Stedman was a prominent civil liberties lawyer and a leader of the Socialist Party of America. He is best remembered as the 1920 Vice Presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America, when he ran for office on a ticket headed by Eugene V...
, and Otto Branstetter attended the proceedings as fraternal delegates 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...
. The convention decided to transform the FLP organization into a federated body of labor organizations on the model of the British Labour Party.
The Farmer–Labor Party sent delegates to the second conference of the Conference for Progressive Political Action
Conference for Progressive Political Action
The Conference for Progressive Political Action was officially established by the convention call of the 16 major railway labor unions in the United States, represented by a committee of six: William H. Johnston of the Machinists' Union, Martin F. Ryan of the Railway Carmen, Warren S. Stone of the...
, which met December 11–12, 1922, in Cleveland. The conference defeated a motion to establish an independent political party by a vote of 52–64, with the Socialist and Farmer–Labor Party delegations on the short side. At the close of the conference, the Farmer–Labor Party delegation announced that they would no longer affiliate with the CPPA.
In March 1923, the Farmer–Labor Party of Chicago broke away from the CPPA and decided to proceed to the immediate formation of a national Farmer–Labor political organization. Circa May, over the signature of J.G. Brown of the Farmer–Labor Party of the United States there was issued a call for a "Monster Political Convention of the Workers of America" to meet in Chicago on July 3. The convention call was issued to trade unions, state Farmer–Labor Parties, the Non-Partisan League
Non-Partisan League
The Nonpartisan League was a political organization founded in 1915 in the United States by former Socialist Party organizer A. C. Townley. The Nonpartisan League advocated state control of mills, grain elevators, banks and other farm-related industries in order to reduce the power of corporate...
, the Socialist Party, and the Workers Party
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,...
, The FLP was frustrated with the timidity of the CPPA and the refusal of that organization to enter into independent electoral politics and sought to establish a national organization through other means. The Workers Party was anxious to participate in the FLP Convention as part of their United Front
United front
The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...
strategy. The Socialist Party on the other hand, was extremely hesitant. The SPA carefully considered this matter at its May 19–23, 1923, New York Convention before declining to participate in the FLP Convention, instead seeing the CPPA as the vehicle for a new Labor Party.
In the middle of June 1923, a subcommittee of the Central Executive Committee of 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,...
met with a sub-committee of the Farmer–Labor Party. These two small groups agreed that if sufficient workers should be represented by delegates to the July 3 Conference, the Farmer–Labor Party should be supplanted by a Federated Farmer–Labor Party, and the National Committee of the Farmer–Labor Party replaced by a new National Executive Committee. The number of organizational members sending delegates necessary for the critical mass necessary to trigger this transformation was agreed by the two subcommittees to be 500,000. It was also agreed that the July 3 Conference should pass a general statement of principles and a resolution calling for the recognition of Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. If the 500,000 threshold was not achieved, an Organization Committee for the new federated FLP would instead be established.
Federated Farmer–Labor Party
The July 1923 Conference of the FLP was attended by approximately 540 delegates. The Workers Party seems to have made every effort to capture a majority at the gathering. At the convention itself, it used a disciplined caucus system, with groups of ten on the floor led by a group captain. The Workers Party delegates to the July 3 Conference were guided by a steering committee of the Central Executive Committee. During debate on the organization plan at the conference, 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...
made a speech in which he asked the Farmer–Labor Party delegates what they wanted, stating that any concessions would be agreed to save the sacrifice of a federated Farmer–Labor Party itself. Five out of seven seats on the National Executive Committee of the new organization were offered to the Farmer–Labor Party. In response, the convention was adjourned and the Farmer–Labor Party delegates went into a closed caucus. This caucus returned with a resolution proposing to exclude the Workers Party from the conference and to ask the conference to accept the 1921 program and constitution of the Farmer–Labor Party without changes. This proposal was made on the floor of the conference by John Fitzpatrick
John Fitzpatrick (unionist)
John Fitzpatrick was an Irish-born American trade union leader. He is best remembered as the longtime head of the powerful Chicago Federation of Labor from 1906 until his death in 1946.-Early years:...
of the Chicago Federation of Labor
Chicago Federation of Labor
The Chicago Federation of Labor is an umbrella organization for unions in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is a subordinate body of the AFL-CIO, and as of 2011 has about 320 affiliated member unions representing half a million union members in Cook County....
, who stated that "it would be suicide" to unite "with any organization which advocated other than lawful means to bring about a political change." This resolution was tabled by a vote of approximately 500–40, prompting a walkout by John Fitzpatrick and a group of delegates sharing his views.
The Workers Party gained a majority for its program and established a "Federated Farmer–Labor Party" at this convention. Structural iron worker Joseph Manley, a son-in-law of William Z. Foster
William Z. Foster
William Foster was a radical American labor organizer and Marxist politician, whose career included a lengthy stint as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA...
although a factional loyalist to John Pepper
John Pepper
John Pepper, also known as József Pogány, born József Schwartz was a Hungarian-Jewish Communist politician, active in the radical movements of both Hungary and the United States. He later served as a functionary in the Communist International in Moscow, before being cashiered in 1929...
, was elected as National Secretary of the organization. The WPA's Chicago labor paper, The Voice of Labor, was turned over to the FFLP and became its official organ, The Farmer–Labor Voice.
The notion of a "Federated Farmer–Labor Party" closely paralleled the organizational ideal for a third party then currently being advanced, the Socialist Party—an organization modelled upon the British Labour Party to which political organizations (like the WPA and the SPA) might affiliate without losing their independent organizational identity. The Socialist Party sought the establishment of an American "Labor Party" via the CPPA—and failed. The Workers Party successfully "captured" the Farmer–Labor Party organization, only to lose the allegiance of the mass organizations that they with which they so eagerly desired to unite.
1924 conferences
A Conference of the Farmer–Labor Party was held in St. Paul on March 11–12, 1924, at which it was decided to hold its next National Convention on June 17 in that same city. A convention call was issued for that gathering, which called for farmer, labor, and political organizations to send delegates provided that they subscribed to a five point "tentative program" that called for public ownership, government banking, public control of all natural resources, restoration of civil liberties, and the abolition of the use of the injunction in labor disputes.An effort was made by some members of the Farmer–Labor Party of the United States to merge the convention of the FLP with that of the Conference for Progressive Political Action, an attempt which was unsuccessful. This group also attempted to remove all national political parties from the convention call—the intended effect being to exclude the Workers (Communist) Party from participation. This effort failed as well.
There was pressure placed on the Farmer–Labor Party to purge itself of Communists and to postpone its next convention until July 4, 1924, so that it might meet jointly with that of the Conference for Progressive Political Action. On March 18, 1924, National Secretary Jay G. Brown wrote to the National Committee asking for a vote on the question of holding a convention on July 4 at Cleveland. This convention was not called. Brown resigned as National Secretary, to be replaced on a temporary basis by Robert M. Buck, who soon resigned as well. National Chairman W.M. Piggott then appointed Bert Martin as National Secretary and headquarters were moved from Chicago to Denver.
The June 1924 Convention of the Farmer–Labor Party (in which the Federated Farmer–Labor Party participated as a member organization) was attended by over 500 delegates representing 26 states. The convention discussed the upcoming run of Sen. Robert LaFollette, Sr. for President. LaFollette, a bitter opponent of the Workers Party of America, did not seek the endorsement of the convention, which proceeded to nominate its own candidates for President and Vice President of the United States—Duncan McDonald and William Bouck, respectively. The National Committee of the FLP met in Cleveland on July 4 and elected delegates to the Conference for Progressive Political Action. W.M. Piggott of Utah was re-elected as National Chairman and Bert Martin of Denver as National Secretary. On July 10, 1924, after the endorsement of LaFollette by the CPPA at Cleveland, a majority of the National Executive Committee withdrew the nominations of MacDonald and Bouck and pledged support to an independent campaign of the Workers Party. By the end of 1924, the Federated FLP had ceased to exist.
National Farmer–Labor Party
The demise of the Federated Farmer–Labor Party did not mean an end to the Farmer–Labor Party movement, however. The regular Farmer–Labor Party continued to exist at the state level, with state and local organizations in Minnesota, Colorado, Utah, Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Missouri, Washington, the Dakotas, and elsewhere. The national organization continued under the leadership of National Chairman W.M. Piggott and National Secretary Bert Miller. The group's 1920 Presidential candidate, Parley Parker Christensen, attended the Dec. 12, 1924, meeting of the National Committee of the Conference for Progressive Political Action and was made a member of the committee of arrangements for the CPPA's forthcoming February 21–22, 1925, conference. A Convention of the loyal members of the Farmer–Labor Party was called for that same time and place, where it aimed to cooperate with the CPPA in the formation of a labor party.Subsequent history
There were subsequent attempts to reconstitute a Farmer–Labor Party into the 1930s, without the participation of either the CPUSA or the Socialist Party. Frank Webb was the remnant party's candidate in 1928. For the 1932 Presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 1932
The United States presidential election of 1932 took place as the effects of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, the Revenue Act of 1932, and the Great Depression were being felt intensely across the country. President Herbert Hoover's popularity was falling as...
, Jacob Coxey
Jacob S. Coxey Sr.
Jacob Sechler Coxey, Sr. sometimes known as General Coxey of Massillon, Ohio, was an American politician, who ran for elective office several times in Ohio. He twice led Coxey's Army in 1894 and 1914, consisting of a group of unemployed men that he led on marches from Massillon, Ohio to...
campaigned as the Farmer–Labor Party candidate in a few states. In neither election did the party receive more than 8,000 votes. The Farmer–Labor Party continued to exist as a successful state party in Minnesota until 1944, when it merged with the Democratic Party of that state to form the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL).
In Song
Folksinger and Farmer-Labor supporter Jim GarlandJim Garland
Jim Garland was a songwriter from the coal mining country of eastern Kentucky, where he was involved with the National Miners Union during the violent conflicts of the early 1930s. He came to New York City in 1931 with his older half-sister Aunt Molly Jackson where he participated in the...
wrote the song "I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister," in which he sings, "Take the two old parties, mister,/No difference in them I can see./But with a Farmer-Labor party,/We will set the workers free."
Woody Guthrie wrote the song Farmer-Labor Train
Notable members
- Konrad K. SolbergKonrad K. SolbergKonrad Knute Solberg was a Minnesota legislator and the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota.-Background:...
– Minnesota legislator and the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, 1933–1935. - Elmer Austin BensonElmer Austin BensonElmer Austin Benson was an American lawyer and politician from Minnesota.-Biography:Born in 1895 in Appleton, Minnesota, he studied law at William Mitchell College of Law and served for a year in the U.S. Army during World War I...
– U.S. Senator from Minnesota, 1935–1936; Governor of Minnesota, 1937–1939 - Magnus JohnsonMagnus JohnsonMagnus Johnson was an American farmer and politician. He served in the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives from Minnesota as a member of the Farmer–Labor Party....
– U.S. Senator from Minnesota, 1923–1925; U.S. Representative from Minnesota, 1933–1935 - Ernest LundeenErnest LundeenErnest Lundeen was an American lawyer and politician.Lundeen was born and raised on his father's homestead in Brooklyn Township of Lincoln County near Beresford, South Dakota. His father, C. H...
– U.S. Representative from Minnesota, 1917–1919 and 1933–1937, U.S. Senator from Minnesota, 1937–1940 - Floyd B. OlsonFloyd B. OlsonFloyd Bjørnstjerne Olson was an American politician. He served as the 22nd Governor of Minnesota from January 6, 1931 to August 22, 1936. He died in office from stomach cancer. He was a member of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party, and was the first member of the Farmer-Labor Party to win the...
– Governor of Minnesota, 1931–1936 - Hjalmar PetersenHjalmar PetersenHjalmar Petersen was an American politician who served as the 23rd Governor of Minnesota.-Background:Hjalmar Petersen was born in Eskildstrup, Denmark...
– Governor of Minnesota, 1936–1937 - Henrik ShipsteadHenrik ShipsteadHenrik Shipstead was an American politician. He served in the United States Senate from March 4, 1923, to January 3, 1947, from the state of Minnesota in the 68th, 69th, 70th, 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, 75th, 76th, 77th, 78th, and 79th Congresses...
– U.S. Senator from Minnesota, 1923–1941 (switched to the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
during the 1940 election and served another term as a Republican)
Further reading
- Luoma, Everett E.: Farmer Takes A Holiday. Exposition Press, 1967.
- Mollie Ray Carroll. Labor and Politics. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1923.
- Hamilton Cravens, "The Emergence of the Farmer–Labor Party in Washington Politics, 1919-1920," Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Volume 57, October 1966; pp. 148–157.
- Farrell Dobbs, Revolutionary Continuity — Volume 1: Birth of Communist Movement, 1918-1922. New York: Monad Press, 1983.
- Nathan Fine, Labor and Farmer Parties in the United States, 1828 - 1928. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1928.
- Millard L. Gieske, Minnesota Farmer-Laborism: The Third Party Alternative. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1979.
- Harry W. LaidlerHarry W. LaidlerHarry Wellington Laidler was an American socialist functionary, writer, magazine editor, and politician. He is best remembered as Executive Director of the League for Industrial Democracy, successor to the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, and for his close political association with perennial...
, Toward a Farmer–Labor Party. League for Industrial DemocracyLeague for Industrial DemocracyThe League for Industrial Democracy , from 1960-1965 known as the Students for a Democratic Society , was founded in 1905 by a group of notable socialists including Harry W. Laidler, Jack London, Norman Thomas, Upton Sinclair, and J.G. Phelps Stokes...
, New York. 1938. - David Montgomery, The Farmer–Labor Party,in Paul Buhle and Alan Dawley, editors, American Workers from the Revolution to the Present. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985.
- Robert Murray, Red Scare: A Study in National Hysteria, 1919-1920. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1955.
- C.E. RuthenbergCharles RuthenbergCharles 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...
, The Farmer-Labor United Front. Chicago: Literature Department, Workers Party of America, 1924. - Carl SandburgCarl SandburgCarl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
, "The Farmer-Labor Conference," Survey, vol. 48 (February 21, 1920), pp. 604-606. - Stanley Shapiro, "Hand and Brain: The Farmer–Labor Party of 1920," Labor History,Vol. 26, No. 3, Summer 1985; pp. 405–422.
- Richard M. Valelly, Radicalism in the States: The Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party and the American Political Economy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.
- James Mickel Williams, The Foundations of Social Science, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1920; pg. 494.
- Robert H. Zieger, Republicans and Labor: 1919-1929. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1969.
External links
- Tim Davenport, Farmer–Labor Party (1918–1924): Organizational History," Early American Marxist History] website, Corvallis, OR. Retrieved August 26, 2006.
- The Grassroots Labor Parties of 1919-1920: A Missed Opportunity for Labor, Socialist Organizer.
- "Profile of the Farmer Labor Party," Buttons and Ballots, Issue 10, July 1997. Retrieved August 27, 2006.