Social Democracy of America
Encyclopedia
The Social Democracy of America (SDA), later known as the Co-operative Brotherhood, was a short lived party in the United States that sought to combine the planting of an intentional community with political action in order to create a socialist society. It was an organizational forerunner of both the Socialist Party of America
and the Burley, Washington
cooperative socialist colony.
in the 1896 presidential race, Debs announced his conversion to socialism in January 1897. In June of that year he held a convention of his American Railway Union
in Chicago. There it was decided to merge the ARU with a faction of the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth and other elements to create a new organization, the Social Democracy of America. The magazine of the ARU, Railway Times, became the new organization's official organ, The Social Democrat.
Among the elements that joined the ARU and BCC in forming the new party was a faction of independent Midwestern socialists centered around Victor Berger. This mainly German-American group kept up a loosely organized Social Democratisher Verein and published the oldest socialist daily in the country, the Milwaukee Vorwarts. This tendency emphasized electoral socialism, especially in local politics, in order to appeal to workers on issues of immediate, day-to-day importance. Prominent "American" adherents to this faction included Seymour Stedman
and Frederic Heath
.
While the SDA was being organized, there was some factional trouble within the older Socialist Labor Party. Some elements within the SLPs Jewish membership, concentrated in Manhattans Lower East Side
, had objected to the parties dual unionism
policy. As a consequence the Party's Yiddish language papers, the Dos Abend Blatt
and Arbeter-Zeitung were put under direct party control. When the dissidents responded by launching the Jewish Daily Forward and forming "Press Clubs" to influence party activity among Jewish members, the Party leadership expelled the fourth, fifth and twelfth assembly district branches on July 4. The expelled branches held a convention July 31 to August 2, at which they decided to affiliate with the Social Democracy of America. Among the prominent members of this faction were Abraham Cahan
, Meyer London
, Isaac Hourwich, Morris Winchevsky
, Michael Zametkin, Max Pine and Louis F. Miller.
In St. Louis, the local SLP branch had published its own paper Labor in the early to mid-nineties, edited by Albert Sanderson and Gustav Hoehn, which showed independence from the SLP leadership and also opposed the dual union policy. This papers editorial policy was condemned and the paper disaffiliated with the Party at its 1896 convention, but ill feeling toward the Party leadership continued. In January 1897 the St. Louis local readmitted a member named Priestbach into the party, after he had left in 1896 to work for William Jennings Bryan
's campaign. The vote for readmittance was 28 to 24 in Priesterbachs favor, which was less than the two thirds prescribed by the SLP constitution. On petition of "loyal" members the St. Louis local was reorganized and the dissident members went into the new Social Democracy of America. This contingent was bolstered in August 1897 when the SDA was joined by the remnants of the Social Democratic Federation
, a predominantly German-language group headed by Wilhelm Rosenberg
which had split off the SLP in 1889.
From the very beginning there were divisions in the group between those who saw its main purpose as winning office and introducing socialistic legislation and those influenced by the BCC idea of trying to "socialize" a western state by planting socialist colonies there and eventually taking over its government. Nevertheless, a three man colonization commission criss crossed the country visiting possible sites, especially in Colorado and Tennessee.
At the opening of the SDAs convention on June 7, 1898, there was already a great deal of tension between the colonizationists and political actionists, the latter group accusing the former of trying to "pack" the convention with delegates from recently formed "paper branches" in the Chicago area. The divisions came to a head on June 10, when the convention heard the reports of its platform committee. The majority report, presented by Victor Berger and Margaret Haile
, recommended the abandonment of the colonization scheme. The minority report written by John F. Lloyd, but read to the convention by J.S. Ingalls, favored the two pronged approach adopted a year earlier. The platform question caused long and bitter debate, lasting until 2 AM the next morning when a roll call vote showed 53 for the colonization platform and 37 against. With the defeat of the political action platform, Isaac Hourwich led a walk out of the minority to Revere House across the street. There the dissidents founded the Social Democratic Party of America, which in 1901 would merge with other groups to become the Socialist Party of America.
. Here they found Henry W. Stein, who was sympathetic to them politically and had just become the executor of some land in rural Kitsap County
that was open for sale. In September 1898 the SDA re-incorporated in Seattle as the Co-Operative Brotherhood and on October 18 they purchased 260 acres (1.1 km²) for $6,000. The first colonists arrived on October 20, 1898.
While never reaching more than about 120 inhabitants, the colony thrived for a few years. Originally named "Brotherhood", the inhabitants gradually began to refer to it as "Burley" after the nearby Burley creek. A colony scrip was created that included a $1 denomination for an eight hour work day and smaller units, called minims, for minutes worker over or less than six hours. "Circle City" was the informal name of a group of buildings near the water. The colony subsisted on agriculture, fishing and logging. They also made income selling cigars, jam, subscriptions of its magazines and membership in the B.C. It also rented out use of its mill, and rooms in its "Commonwealth Hotel" for visitors.
Initially led by Willard, he left in 1899 to join a Theosophist colony in Point Loma, California
. Later the Brotherhood was governed by a twelve man board of trustees who were elected by mail vote each December for four year staggered terms. A board of directors managed the affairs of the colony itself, and was elected every January. Members of the Co-operative Brotherhood who were not residents of the colony organized in local chapters called Temples of the Knights of the Brotherhood, in places like Chicago..
Its newspaper, the Co-operater stayed in publication from December 1898 to June 1906. Originally an 8 page weekly, it changed to a 32 page monthly in 1902 and to a 16 page magazine in October 1903.
The colony went into decline in the late 1900s. In December 1904 some members re-incorporated into the Burley Rochdale
Mercantile Association, and three months later the Co-operative Brotherhood itself re-organized into a joint stock company. By 1908 there were 150 members of the Brotherhood, only 17 resident of the colony. The trustees called a meeting of stockholders to dissolve the Brotherhood in late 1912, but it lacked the two-third majority, whereupon those who were in favor of disbanding took the company to court. On January 10, 1913 Judge John P. Young ordered the Co-operative Brotherhood dissolved and put its assets into receivership. The last of its properties were sold off in 1924.
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...
and the Burley, Washington
Burley, Washington
Burley is an Census Designated Community in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The community is located just north of the boundary with Pierce County, and about half way between Gig Harbor to the south and Port Orchard to the north. It is located at the head of the Burley Lagoon in...
cooperative socialist colony.
Formation
After being jailed in the aftermath of the 1894 Pullman strike, Eugene Victor Debs became interested in socialist ideas. Despite supporting William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
in the 1896 presidential race, Debs announced his conversion to socialism in January 1897. In June of that year he held a convention of his American Railway Union
American Railway Union
The American Railway Union , was the largest labor union of its time, and one of the first industrial unions in the United States. It was founded on June 20, 1893, by railway workers gathered in Chicago, Illinois, and under the leadership of Eugene V...
in Chicago. There it was decided to merge the ARU with a faction of the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth and other elements to create a new organization, the Social Democracy of America. The magazine of the ARU, Railway Times, became the new organization's official organ, The Social Democrat.
Among the elements that joined the ARU and BCC in forming the new party was a faction of independent Midwestern socialists centered around Victor Berger. This mainly German-American group kept up a loosely organized Social Democratisher Verein and published the oldest socialist daily in the country, the Milwaukee Vorwarts. This tendency emphasized electoral socialism, especially in local politics, in order to appeal to workers on issues of immediate, day-to-day importance. Prominent "American" adherents to this faction included 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 Frederic Heath
Frederic Heath
Frederic Faries "Fred" Heath was an American socialist politician and journalist who was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party of America in 1897 and the Socialist Party of America in 1901. He was an elected official in Wisconsin for nearly half a century.-Early years:Frederic F. Heath...
.
While the SDA was being organized, there was some factional trouble within the older Socialist Labor Party. Some elements within the SLPs Jewish membership, concentrated in Manhattans Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, had objected to the parties dual unionism
Dual unionism
Dual unionism is the development of a union or political organization parallel to and within an existing labor union. In some cases, the term may refer to the situation where two unions claim the right to organize the same workers....
policy. As a consequence the Party's Yiddish language papers, the Dos Abend Blatt
Dos Abend Blatt
Dos Abend Blatt was a Yiddish language daily newspaper published in New York City, United States. Dos Abend Blatt was launched as an outgrowth of the weekly Di Arbeter Tsaytung...
and Arbeter-Zeitung were put under direct party control. When the dissidents responded by launching the Jewish Daily Forward and forming "Press Clubs" to influence party activity among Jewish members, the Party leadership expelled the fourth, fifth and twelfth assembly district branches on July 4. The expelled branches held a convention July 31 to August 2, at which they decided to affiliate with the Social Democracy of America. Among the prominent members of this faction were Abraham Cahan
Abraham Cahan
Abraham "Abe" Cahan was a Lithuanian-born American socialist newspaper editor, novelist, and politician.-Early years:...
, Meyer London
Meyer London
Meyer London was an American politician from New York City. He was one of only two members of the Socialist Party of America elected to the United States Congress.-Early years:...
, Isaac Hourwich, Morris Winchevsky
Morris Winchevsky
Morris Winchevsky Morris Winchevsky Morris Winchevsky (Leopold Benzion Novokhovitch; Pseudonym: Ben Netz (Hebrew: 'Son of Hawk'; 1856–1932) was a prominent Jewish socialist leader in London and the United States in the late 19th century....
, Michael Zametkin, Max Pine and Louis F. Miller.
In St. Louis, the local SLP branch had published its own paper Labor in the early to mid-nineties, edited by Albert Sanderson and Gustav Hoehn, which showed independence from the SLP leadership and also opposed the dual union policy. This papers editorial policy was condemned and the paper disaffiliated with the Party at its 1896 convention, but ill feeling toward the Party leadership continued. In January 1897 the St. Louis local readmitted a member named Priestbach into the party, after he had left in 1896 to work for William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
's campaign. The vote for readmittance was 28 to 24 in Priesterbachs favor, which was less than the two thirds prescribed by the SLP constitution. On petition of "loyal" members the St. Louis local was reorganized and the dissident members went into the new Social Democracy of America. This contingent was bolstered in August 1897 when the SDA was joined by the remnants of the Social Democratic Federation
Social Democratic Federation (U.S., 1889)
The Social Democratic Federation was an American political party established as a result of a factional split in the Socialist Labor Party in 1889...
, a predominantly German-language group headed by Wilhelm Rosenberg
Wilhelm Rosenberg
Wilhelm Ludwig "William" Rosenberg was a German-American teacher, poet, playwright, journalist, and socialist political activist. He is best remembered as the head of the Socialist Labor Party of America from 1884 to 1889.-Early years:...
which had split off the SLP in 1889.
From the very beginning there were divisions in the group between those who saw its main purpose as winning office and introducing socialistic legislation and those influenced by the BCC idea of trying to "socialize" a western state by planting socialist colonies there and eventually taking over its government. Nevertheless, a three man colonization commission criss crossed the country visiting possible sites, especially in Colorado and Tennessee.
At the opening of the SDAs convention on June 7, 1898, there was already a great deal of tension between the colonizationists and political actionists, the latter group accusing the former of trying to "pack" the convention with delegates from recently formed "paper branches" in the Chicago area. The divisions came to a head on June 10, when the convention heard the reports of its platform committee. The majority report, presented by Victor Berger and Margaret Haile
Margaret Haile
Margaret Haile was a Canadian socialist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a teacher and journalist by profession. She was active in the socialist movements in both Canada and the United States. Frederic Heath's "Socialism in America," published in January 1900 in the Social...
, recommended the abandonment of the colonization scheme. The minority report written by John F. Lloyd, but read to the convention by J.S. Ingalls, favored the two pronged approach adopted a year earlier. The platform question caused long and bitter debate, lasting until 2 AM the next morning when a roll call vote showed 53 for the colonization platform and 37 against. With the defeat of the political action platform, Isaac Hourwich led a walk out of the minority to Revere House across the street. There the dissidents founded the Social Democratic Party of America, which in 1901 would merge with other groups to become the Socialist Party of America.
Burley colony
The majority, however, attempted to carry out their colonization scheme. They published three more issues of the Social Democrat, but financial difficulties made them halt the fourth issue while in type. Fearing that the organization might go under if a colony was not established immediately, they authorized Cyrus Field Willard to locate a colony and "do what in his judgment appeared the right thing to do". Willard went to Seattle to consult with SDA member J.B. Fowler, who pointed out the good harbors on southern Puget SoundPuget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
. Here they found Henry W. Stein, who was sympathetic to them politically and had just become the executor of some land in rural Kitsap County
Kitsap County, Washington
Kitsap County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington, named after Chief Kitsap of the Suquamish tribe. As of 2011 state estimate, its population was 253,900. Its county seat is at Port Orchard, and its largest city is Bremerton....
that was open for sale. In September 1898 the SDA re-incorporated in Seattle as the Co-Operative Brotherhood and on October 18 they purchased 260 acres (1.1 km²) for $6,000. The first colonists arrived on October 20, 1898.
While never reaching more than about 120 inhabitants, the colony thrived for a few years. Originally named "Brotherhood", the inhabitants gradually began to refer to it as "Burley" after the nearby Burley creek. A colony scrip was created that included a $1 denomination for an eight hour work day and smaller units, called minims, for minutes worker over or less than six hours. "Circle City" was the informal name of a group of buildings near the water. The colony subsisted on agriculture, fishing and logging. They also made income selling cigars, jam, subscriptions of its magazines and membership in the B.C. It also rented out use of its mill, and rooms in its "Commonwealth Hotel" for visitors.
Initially led by Willard, he left in 1899 to join a Theosophist colony in Point Loma, California
Lomaland
Lomaland was a Theosophical commune located in Point Loma in San Diego), California from 1900 to 1942. Theosophical Society leader Katherine Tingley founded it in 1900 as a school, cultural center, and residential facility for her followers. The American headquarters of the Theosophical Society...
. Later the Brotherhood was governed by a twelve man board of trustees who were elected by mail vote each December for four year staggered terms. A board of directors managed the affairs of the colony itself, and was elected every January. Members of the Co-operative Brotherhood who were not residents of the colony organized in local chapters called Temples of the Knights of the Brotherhood, in places like Chicago..
Its newspaper, the Co-operater stayed in publication from December 1898 to June 1906. Originally an 8 page weekly, it changed to a 32 page monthly in 1902 and to a 16 page magazine in October 1903.
The colony went into decline in the late 1900s. In December 1904 some members re-incorporated into the Burley Rochdale
Rochdale Principles
The Rochdale Principles are a set of ideals for the operation of cooperatives. They were first set out by the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in Rochdale, England, in 1844, and have formed the basis for the principles on which co-operatives around the world operate to this day. The...
Mercantile Association, and three months later the Co-operative Brotherhood itself re-organized into a joint stock company. By 1908 there were 150 members of the Brotherhood, only 17 resident of the colony. The trustees called a meeting of stockholders to dissolve the Brotherhood in late 1912, but it lacked the two-third majority, whereupon those who were in favor of disbanding took the company to court. On January 10, 1913 Judge John P. Young ordered the Co-operative Brotherhood dissolved and put its assets into receivership. The last of its properties were sold off in 1924.
Publications
- Merrie England. Social Democracy Library, No. 1. Chicago: Social Democracy of America, 1897.
- Three in One: A Trinity of Arguments on Socialism. Social Democracy Library No. 2. Chicago: The Social Democracy, 1898.