Socialist Party of America

The Socialist Party of America was a socialist political party in the United States. It was formed in 1901 by a merger between the Social Democratic Party of Eugene V. Debs, formed three years earlier by veterans of the Pullman Strike of the American Railway Union, and a wing of the older Socialist Labor Party of America.

A turn to the left

During the 1930s the party experienced growth, particularly among youth, and turned leftwards politically. A left wing caucus, called the Clarity caucus, was formed to argue for more left wing policies. This led to the formation of the Social Democratic Federation by some of the Old Guard, as they were described, who later left the party. This deepened the turn to the left.

Related Topics:
1930s - Youth - Caucus - Social Democratic Federation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The youth were organised in the Young People's Socialist League. Also in the 1930s, as a result of the left turn taken by the party, the small Trotskyist movement then in existence in the U.S. dissolved its organisation, at that point named the Workers Party of America, and joined the Socialists. In a short time they won a great deal of support particularly amongst the youth of the YPSL. At the end of 1938 the Trotskyists left the SP to form their own Socialist Workers Party and Young People's Socialist League (Fourth Internationalist).

Related Topics:
Young People's Socialist League - Trotskyist - 1938 - Socialist Workers Party - Fourth Internationalist

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~