The American Workers League (German: Amerikanische Arbeiterbund) was an American nineteenth century workers political organization.
American Workers League | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1853 |
| Dissolved | 1855 |
| Succeeded by | New York Communist Club Free Soil Party |
| Ideology | Marxism Socialism Abolitionism |
| Political position | Left |
In 1852, Joseph Weydemeyer, a longtime friend of Karl Marx, created the Proletarierbund (Proletarian League).[1]
In 1853, the Proletarian League was expanded into the American Workers League, with Weydemeyer among their leaders,[2][3] by 800 German American delegates who attended the inaugural meeting in the Mechanics Hall in New York City.[1]
The organization adopted an egalitarian membership policy holding that all workers who live in the United States without distinction of occupation, language, color, or sex can become members.[2] They opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act because it had the effect of allowing slavery in the lands opening up in the American West.[3]
In 1855, Weydemeyer left the leadership of the organization, which had been fading away. He would later join the New York Communist Club.[1]
References edit
- ^ a b c Obermann, Karl (1947). Joseph Weydemeyer: Pioneer of American Socialism. New York: International Publishers. pp. 55–57.
- ^ a b Blackburn, Robin (2011). An Unfinished Revolution: Karl Marx and Abraham Lincoln. London: Verso. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-84467-722-1.
- ^ a b Alison Clark Efford (20 May 2013). German Immigrants, Race, and Citizenship in the Civil War Era. Cambridge University Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-107-03193-7.
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