Socialist Origins of the Republican Party

[Woodsman]

I have heard that the early Republican party of the US (circa mid-1800s) had strong socialist leanings and some substantial left wing support. Anyone know more about this?

[Brosa Luxemburg]

I don't know about socialism but Jefferson (who is seen as the founder of the republican party) supported what he saw as agrarian republicanism in which the people had more control the rich and property owners, compared to Madison wanting the rich to only have the right to vote, the president chosen for life, etc.

[Prometeo liberado]

I heard my ex-wife was nice at some point in the past as well. So what are you saying?

[Ostrinski]

In no way was the republican party socialist. They were however, the more progressive bourgeois party.

[Anarcho-Brocialist]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xit9uHGmnQQ&feature=plcp&context=C45131a3VDvjVQa1PpcFPssriyN4UKK35eQfqmZnzd fLnbjHyopVI%3D

[Martin Blank]

I have heard that the early Republican party of the US (circa mid-1800s) had strong socialist leanings and some substantial left wing support. Anyone know more about this?

I'm actually in the middle of writing a book that includes information on this.

Yes, when the Republican Party was founded, it had a strong leftwing influence. You had the "Free Soilers", who were both anti-slavery and pro-labor, whose slogan was, "Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men!" (My great-great-great grandfather had been a "Free Soiler" since the 1840s and was a founding member of the Republican Party in Michigan.) You also had the "Red '48ers" -- European, mostly German, immigrants who had fled after the failures of the democratic revolutions of 1848.

Within the German communities that flocked to the Republican Party, you also had former members of the Communist League. One the one hand, you had the surviving members of the American Communities (akin to Locals) of the League, and on the other hand, you had the post-1848 exiles, such as Weydemeyer, Willich, Sorge, Schurz and Sigel (all of whom played key roles during the American Civil War).

Within the Republican Party, two self-described communist organizations operated. The first, the American Workers League, was formed in 1852 by Weydemeyer and Sorge, and pre-dated the Republican Party. It maintained an "inside-outside" approach to the Party. In 1858, the Club of Communists was formed by "Red Republicans", including the remaining members of the AWL inside the party, to further the influence of revolutionary ideas among Republicans. The CofC went on to include in its ranks a number of well-known people of their time: Wendell Phillips, Horace Greeley, U.S. Senators Charles Sumner and Benjamin Wade, etc. After the Civil War, the CofC became the first U.S. affiliate of the International Working Men's Association.

It wasn't until the early 1870s that the last of the communists and socialists withdrew from the Republican Party, working mostly in the American Labor Union and localized pro-labor parties. It was not until 1876 that the first independent workers' political party appeared on the scene: the Workingmen's Party of the U.S. A year (and a Great Strike and short-lived workers' government) later, the WPUS changed its name to the Socialistic Labor Party (shortened a couple years after that to just "Socialist Labor Party").

Hope this answers your question.

[Anarcho-Brocialist]

I'm actually in the middle of writing a book that includes information on this.

Yes, when the Republican Party was founded, it had a strong leftwing influence. You had the "Free Soilers", who were both anti-slavery and pro-labor, whose slogan was, "Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men!" (My great-great-great grandfather had been a "Free Soiler" since the 1840s and was a founding member of the Republican Party in Michigan.) You also had the "Red '48ers" -- European, mostly German, immigrants who had fled after the failures of the democratic revolutions of 1848.

Within the German communities that flocked to the Republican Party, you also had former members of the Communist League. One the one hand, you had the surviving members of the American Communities (akin to Locals) of the League, and on the other hand, you had the post-1848 exiles, such as Weydemeyer, Willich, Sorge, Schurz and Sigel (all of whom played key roles during the American Civil War).

Within the Republican Party, two self-described communist organizations operated. The first, the American Workers League, was formed in 1852 by Weydemeyer and Sorge, and pre-dated the Republican Party. It maintained an "inside-outside" approach to the Party. In 1858, the Club of Communists was formed by "Red Republicans", including the remaining members of the AWL inside the party, to further the influence of revolutionary ideas among Republicans. The CofC went on to include in its ranks a number of well-known people of their time: Wendell Phillips, Horace Greeley, U.S. Senators Charles Sumner and Benjamin Wade, etc. After the Civil War, the CofC became the first U.S. affiliate of the International Working Men's Association.

It wasn't until the early 1870s that the last of the communists and socialists withdrew from the Republican Party, working mostly in the American Labor Union and localized pro-labor parties. It was not until 1876 that the first independent workers' political party appeared on the scene: the Workingmen's Party of the U.S. A year (and a Great Strike and short-lived workers' government) later, the WPUS changed its name to the Socialistic Labor Party (shortened a couple years after that to just "Socialist Labor Party").

Hope this answers your question.

The video I posted also has an in-depth look. Also, when will this book be ready for viewer consumption?

[Brosa Luxemburg]

What is the book about and what is it called?

[Martin Blank]

The video was really good. I think the person who made used some of the past essays I've written on the role of communists in the Civil War.


Also, when will this book be ready for viewer consumption?

It's probably going to be another 18 months. The publisher and I have agreed to release it on the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

[Martin Blank]

What is the book about and what is it called?

It's called More than Visionaries, and it's about the role of communists during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

[Brosa Luxemburg]

It's called More than Visionaries, and it's about the role of communists during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Yeah, I will defiantly look into this. What publishing company is putting this out, Monthly Review or someone? Also, what is the name you used to put this out? If you can't post it here, can you PM it to me (if you are comfortable with that).

[Anarcho-Brocialist]

Keep us updated, interested in reading it.

[Rafiq]

I don't know about socialism but Jefferson (who is seen as the founder of the republican party) supported what he saw as agrarian republicanism in which the people had more control the rich and property owners, compared to Madison wanting the rich to only have the right to vote, the president chosen for life, etc.

Jefferson was a petty bourgeois reactionary. The likes of Madison are a thousand times more "progressive" than he.

[Brosa Luxemburg]

Jefferson was a petty bourgeois reactionary. The likes of Madison are a thousand times more "progressive" than he.

Wow, I am so sorry. I meant Alexander Hamilton, not Madison. :blushing:
Funny thing is, Madison was apart of the Democratic-Republican party that Jefferson belonged too.......now I am embarrassed!