Christian Party (United States, 1930s)

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Christian Party
Leader William Dudley Pelley
FounderWilliam Dudley Pelley
FoundedAugust 16, 1935 (1935-08-16)
Dissolvedcirca 1939
Headquarters Asheville, North Carolina, U.S
Paramilitary wing Silver Legion of America
Ideology American fascism
Christian fascism
Occult fascism [1]
Colors  Silver

The Christian Party was an American fascist political party which was founded by William Dudley Pelley in 1935. [2] He chose 16 August 1935 as the Christian Party's founding date, because it was a so-called "pyramid date". [3] The party can be considered the political wing of Pelley's paramilitary organization, the Silver Legion of America. It ran with Pelley as its candidate for the 1936 presidential campaign [4] (Willard Kemp, commander of the Silver Legion in Southern California, [5] was the vice presidential candidate). Pelley gained just 1,600 votes in the election. [6] The party quickly vanished after the United States entered World War II. The party's ideology was blended with a variety of occult beliefs held by Pelley. [7]

References

  1. ↑ Toy, Eckard V. (September 2006). "William Dudley Pelley: A Life in Right-Wing Extremism and the Occult" . Journal of American History. 93 (2): 572–573. doi:10.2307/4486338. JSTOR   4486338.
  2. ↑ Barkun, Michael (1997). Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement. UNC Press Books. p. 91. ISBN   9780807846384.
  3. ↑ Scott Beekman: William Dudley Pelley – A Life in Right-Wing Extremism and the Occult, Syracuse (NY): Syracuse University Press 2005, p. 113.
  4. ↑ Schultz, Will. "William Dudley Pelley (1885–1965)". North Carolina History Project. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  5. ↑ Monteagudo, Merrie (2020-10-12). "In 1934 a right-wing militia allegedly plotted to capture City Hall". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  6. ↑ Beekman, Scott (October 31, 2006). "Pelley, William Dudley". American National Biography (online ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1501310.(subscription required)
  7. ↑ Toy, Eckard V. Jr. (2006-09-01). "William Dudley Pelley: A Life in Right-Wing Extremism and the Occult" . Journal of American History. 93 (2): 572–573. doi:10.2307/4486338. ISSN   0021-8723. JSTOR   4486338.
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