American Workers League

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American Workers League
Founded1853;172 years ago (1853)
Dissolved1855;170 years ago (1855)
Succeeded by New York Communist Club
Free Soil Party
Ideology Marxism
Socialism
Abolitionism
Political position Left

The American Workers League (German : Amerikanische Arbeiterbund) was an American nineteenth century workers political organization.

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

  1. 1 2 3 Obermann, Karl (1947). Joseph Weydemeyer: Pioneer of American Socialism. New York: International Publishers. pp. 55–57.
  2. 1 2 Blackburn, Robin (2011). An Unfinished Revolution: Karl Marx and Abraham Lincoln. London: Verso. p.  22. ISBN   978-1-84467-722-1.
  3. 1 2 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.