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The Workingmen's Party of the United States (WPUS), established in 1876, was one of the first
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
-influenced political parties in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It is remembered as the forerunner of the
Socialist Labor Party of America The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 192 ...
.


History

On July 15, 1876, ten Americans and one German convened in Philadelphia to announce the abolition of the General Council of the International Workingmen's Association. The Workingmen Party of the United States was formed on July 19, with the involvement of Friedrich Sorge. The foundation of the party was pushed by the
Social-Democratic Workingmen's Party of North America The Social-Democratic Workingmen's Party of North America (SDWP or SDWPNA) was a Lassallist socialist party. History In 1868, German-speaking members of the International Workingmen's Association in America (IWA) in New York City create the ...
, which broke away from the
International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist g ...
in 1874. The WPUS was unable to field its own ticket in the 1876 presidential election and its members supported
Peter Cooper Peter Cooper (February 12, 1791April 4, 1883) was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and politician. He designed and built the first American steam locomotive, the ''Tom Thumb (locomotive), Tom Thumb'', founded the Cooper Union ...
and the
Greenback Party The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an Political parties in the United States, American political party with an Competition law, anti-monopoly ideolog ...
instead. The party, composed mostly of foreign-born laborers, represented a collection of socialist ideas from different groups, most notably followers of
Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
and
Ferdinand Lassalle Ferdinand Johann Gottlieb Lassalle (born Lassal; 11 April 1825 – 31 August 1864) was a German jurist, philosopher, socialist, and political activist. Remembered as an initiator of the German labour movement, he developed the theory of state s ...
. The Lassallean faction believed in forming a socialist political party to advance their agenda incrementally through the electoral process. Marxian socialists, however, opposed to reformism believed in forming a socialist party as an instrument of organization of the proletariat to propagate consciousness leading to an ultimate revolutionary seizing of state power. They championed strong trade unions, strikes, and boycotts to develop class consciousness through class conflict. The party at first had little influence over any politics in the United States on a national or local level. Much like the
International Workingmen's Association in America The International Workingmen's Association (IWA) in the United States of America took the form of a loose network of about 35 frequently discordant local "sections," each professing allegiance to the London-based IWA, commonly known as the "First ...
before it, the WPUS was widely viewed as socialistic. However, during the railroad strikes during the summer of 1877, the party, led by the charismatic and well-spoken American
Albert Parsons Albert Richard Parsons (June 20, 1848 – November 11, 1887) was a pioneering American socialist and later Anarchism in the United States, anarchist newspaper editor, orator, and labor activist. As a teenager, he served in the military force of ...
, showed some of its power by rallying support for the striking railroad workers. As the WPUS formed, co-founder Joseph Patrick McDonnell stated, "The Trades Unions should be guided to renounce political action until a powerful labor party can resolve upon beginning it." Although the WPUS was largely unsuccessful in the strikes it helped lead, on August 6, 1878 the party had managed to gain enough support to capture 5 out of 7
Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
seats in the Kentucky state legislature. As news spread around the country of the success of the WPUS, more "Workingmen's Parties" formed in cities around the country, some chartered by the WPUS and some not. The WPUS held its first national convention in December 1877, and was attended by 38 delegates. The Lassallean-led organization reorganized the party into the
Socialist Labor Party of America The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 192 ...
.


References


Works cited

*


Further reading

* Philip S. Foner, ''The Great Labor Uprising of 1877.'' New York: Monad Press, 1977. * Robert V. Bruce, ''1877: Year of Violence.'' Indianapolis: The Bobbs Merrill Company, 1959.


External links

* Philip S. Foner
''The Workingmen's Party of the United States: A History of the First Marxist Party in the Americas''
* Philip S. Foner (ed.)
''The Formation of the Workingmen's Party of the United States: Proceedings of the Union Congress, held at Philadelphia, July 19-22, 1876.''
New York: AIMS, 1976. * Workingmens Party of the United States
''Proceedings of the Union Congress, held at Philadelphia on the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd Day of July 1876. Declaration of Principles, Constitution, Resolutions, etc ...''
—Original 1876 edition of the proceedings. {{Authority control Defunct socialist parties in the United States Defunct Marxist parties in the United States Political parties established in 1876 1876 establishments in Pennsylvania 1878 disestablishments in the United States Political parties disestablished in 1878 Great Railroad Strike of 1877 Socialist Labor Party of America