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History of the socialist movement in the United States

The history of the socialist movement in the United States spans a variety of tendencies, including anarchists, communists, democratic socialists, social democrats, Marxists, Marxist–Leninists, Trotskyists and utopian socialists. It began with utopian communities in the early 19th century such as the Shakers, the activist visionary Josiah Warren and intentional communities inspired by Charles Fourier. Labor activists, usually Jewish, German, or Finnish immigrants, founded the Socialist Labor Party of America in 1877. The Socialist Party of America was established in 1901. By that time, anarchism also rose to prominence around the country. Socialists of different tendencies were involved in early American labor organizations and struggles. These reached a high point in the Haymarket massacre in Chicago, which founded the International Workers' Day as the main labour holiday around the world, Labor Day and making the eight-hour day a worldwide objective by workers organizations and socialist parties worldwide.[1]

Under Socialist Party of America presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs, socialist opposition to World War I was widespread, leading to the governmental repression collectively known as the First Red Scare. The Socialist Party declined in the 1920s, but the party nonetheless often ran Norman Thomas for president. In the 1930s, the Communist Party USA took importance in labor and racial struggles while it suffered a split which converged in the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party. In the 1950s, socialism was affected by McCarthyism and in the 1960s it was revived by the general radicalization brought by the New Left and other social struggles and revolts. In the 1960s, Michael Harrington and other socialists were called to assist the Kennedy administration and then the Johnson administration's War on Poverty and Great Society[2] while socialists also played important roles in the civil rights movement.[3][4][5][6] Unlike in Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, a major socialist party has never materialized in the United States[7] and the socialist movement in the United States was relatively weak in comparison.[8] In the United States, socialism can be stigmatized because it is commonly associated with authoritarian socialism, the Soviet Union and other authoritarian Marxist–Leninist regimes.[9] Writing for The Economist, Samuel Jackson argued that socialism has been used as a pejorative term, without any clear definition, by conservatives and right-libertarians to taint liberal and progressive policies, proposals and public figures.[10] The term socialization has been mistakenly used to refer to any state or government-operated industry or service (the proper term for such being either municipalization or nationalization). The term has also been used to mean any tax-funded programs, whether privately run or government run. The term socialism has been used to argue against economic interventionism, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Medicare, the New Deal, Social Security and universal single-payer health care, among others.[11][12]


Milwaukee has had several socialist mayors such as Emil Seidel, Daniel Hoan and Frank Zeidler whilst Socialist Party presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs won nearly one million votes in the 1920 presidential election.[13][14] Self-declared democratic socialist Bernie Sanders won 13 million votes in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primary, gaining considerable popular support, particularly among the younger generation and the working class.[15][16][17] A September 2022 poll reported 36% of American adults had a positive view of socialism and 57% had a positive view of capitalism.[18]

1912 United States presidential election

American Left

Anarchism in the United States

History of left-wing politics in the United States

History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom

History of the socialist movement in Canada

by Upton Sinclair (socialist writer)

The Jungle

List of political parties in the United States

List of socialist members of the United States Congress

Third parties in the United States

by Albert Einstein

Why Socialism?

Camille Paglia

Pink tide

Paul Buhle. Marxism in the United States. A History of the American Left. Verso. 2013.

; Puryear, Eugene; et al. (2022). Socialist Reconstruction: A Better Future for the United States. Liberation Media. ISBN 978-0991030392.

Dean, Jodi

Egbert, Donald Drew & Persons, Stow, Socialism and American Life, Princeton University Press; Oxford University Press, 1952.

Frances Goldin, Debby Smith, Michael Smith. . Harper Perennial, 2014. ISBN 0062305573.

Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA

. Socialism: Past and Future. Arcade Publishing, 2011. ISBN 1611453356.

Harrington, Michael

Hillquit, Morris. (1906).

History of Socialism in the United States

Noyes, John Humphrey. (1870).

History of American Socialisms

Zinn, Howard. . Harper Perennial (1980; updated version, 2010).

A People's History of the United States

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Early Marxists in North America (Marxist Internet Archive)

Archived June 29, 2016, at the Wayback Machine by Bernard Sanders (19co79).

Eugene V. Debs: Trade Unionist, Socialist, Revolutionary 1855-1926

The Christian Science Monitor, July 1, 2010.

"Is Obama a socialist? What does the evidence say?"

by Betsy Reed, The Nation, June 12, 2009.

The "O" in Socialism

by Chris Hedges, Truthdig, December 29, 2008.

"Why I Am a Socialist"

. The Guardian, November 19, 2013.

Ari Paul, "Seattle's election of Kshama Sawant shows socialism can play in America"

. Andrew Wilkes, The Huffington Post, September 29, 2014.

Towards a Socialist America

. Kshama Sawant for The Nation. March 23, 2015.

Want to Rebuild the Left? Take Socialism Seriously

. Peter Dreier for The American Prospect. May 2015.

Bernie Sanders's Presidential Bid Represents a Long Tradition of American Socialism

. WNPR. November 18, 2015.

The Re-Emergence of Socialism in America

. The Nation. February 21, 2017.

Socialism's Return

. CNBC. July 31, 2019.

Here's how socialism went mainstream in American politics

. Associated Press. August 25, 2019.

Some young Americans warm to socialism, even Miami Cubans

. Jacobin. February 4, 2023

Democratic Leaders Join House Republican Attack on "Socialism"