Daniel de Leon

Daniel De Leon (December 14, 1852 – May 11, 1914) was a Curaçao-born American socialist and Syndicalism-influenced trade unionist of Jewish origin. He was educated in Germany and the Netherlands and arrived in the United States in 1874. DanielDeLeon This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... DanielDeLeon This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (132nd in leap years). ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Anthem: Himno di Kòrsou Capital Willemstad Area  - Total  - % water (Not ranked) 450 km² Negligible Population  - Total  - Density 173,400 (2006) 391/km² For other uses, see Curaçao (disambiguation). ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ... Syndicalism refers to a set of ideas, movements and tendencies which share the avowed aim of transforming capitalist society through action by the working class on the industrial front. ... A Trade Union (Labour union) ... is a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

De Leon settled in New York City, studying at Columbia University. He became a committed socialist during the 1886 Mayoral campaign of Henry George and in 1890 joined the Socialist Labor Party (SLP), becoming the editor of its newspaper, The People. He quickly grew in stature inside the party and in 1891 he ran for the governorship of the state of New York, winning 13,000 votes in the process. Nickname: Big Apple, City that never Sleeps, Gotham Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Manhattan Queens Brooklyn Staten Island Settled 1613 Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ... Columbia University is a private university whose main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... The Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP) is the oldest socialist political party in the United States and the second oldest socialist party in the world. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ...

De Leon was a Marxist, and argued for the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism, trying to divert the SLP away from its Lassallian outlook. However, his famous polemic with James Connolly shows him to have been an advocate of Lassalle's Iron Law of Wages. Marxism refers to the philosophy and social theory based on Karl Marxs work on one hand, and to the political practice based on Marxist theory on the other hand (namely, parts of the First International during Marxs time, communist parties and later states). ... This box:      Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately or corporately owned and operated for profit, in which investment is determined by private decision, and in which distribution, production and pricing of goods and services are determined in a largely free... Ferdinand Lassalle Ferdinand Lassalle (born April 11, 1825 in WrocÅ‚aw, died August 31, 1864), was a German socialist politician. ... For the Olympic athlete, see James Connolly (athlete) James Connolly James Connolly (June 5, 1868 - May 12, 1916) was an Irish nationalist and socialist leader. ...

De Leon was highly critical of the trade union movement in America and described the craft-oriented American Federation of Labor as the American Separation of Labor. At this early stage in De Leon's development there was still a considerable remnant of the general unionist Knights of Labor in existence, and the SLP worked within it until driven out. This resulted in the formation of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance (STLA) in 1895, which was dominated by the SLP. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance - often abbreviated STLA or ST&LA - was a revolutionary socialist labor union in the United States closely linked to the Socialist Labor Party (SLP), which existed from 1895 until becoming a part of the Industrial Workers of the World at its founding in 1905. ...

By the early 20th century the SLP was declining in influence, with first the Social Democratic Party and then the Socialist Party of America becoming the leading leftist political force in America. However, De Leon remained an important figure in the US labor movement, and in 1905 he helped found the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The Social Democratic Party (SDP) is a former political party operating in the United States. ... The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States. ... The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. ...

De Leon lost control and the ability to influence the organization to what he called disparagingly 'the bummery'. De Leon was engaged in a policy dispute with the leaders of the IWW. His argument was in support of political action via the Socialist Labor Party while other leaders, including founder Big Bill Haywood, argued instead for Direct Action. Haywood's faction prevailed and De Leon left the IWW to form a rival Detroit-based IWW, which was soon renamed as the Workers' International Industrial Union. He died in New York in 1914.

Daniel De Leon proved hugely influential to other socialists, also outside the USA. For example, in the UK, a Socialist Labour Party was formed. The Socialist Labour Party was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. ...

De Leon's brand of Marxism is known as Marxism-Deleonism or simply as De Leonism. Developed by Daniel De Leon, Marxism_Deleonism is a form of Marxism. ...

References

• Frank Girard and Ben Perry, Socialist Labor Party, 1876-1991: A Short History, 108 pages (1 May 1991, Livra Books) ISBN 0-9629315-0-0.
• L. Glen Seratan, Daniel Deleon: The Odyssey of an American Marxist, (1979,Harvard University Press) ISBN 0-674-19121-8.
• from bound volume #8 of Workers Vanguard,(Spartacist Publishing, Box 1377 GPO, New York, NY 10116):
  • "Was De Leon a DeLeonist?" and "SWP Invites SLP to Build Party of the Whole Swamp," 10 February 1978 Workers Vanguard #192
  • "The SLP and the Russian Question" and letter from former SLPer 24 February 1978 Workers Vanguard #194
  • "The Dictatorship of the Proletariat," 10 March 1978 Workers Vanguard #196

May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... The Harvard University Press is a publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in academic publishing. ... The International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist), popularly referred to as the Spartacist League and by its critics as The Sparts, is a Trotskyist international organisation based primarily in the United States. ... February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in leap years). ...

External links

• socialistlaborparty.org
• Daniel De Leon Internet Archive at Marxists.org
• deleonism.org

The Marxists Internet Archive (also known as MIA or Marxists. ...

Key Works

• Reform or Revolution?
• What Means This Strike?
• Two Pages from Roman History (.pdf format)
• The Burning Question of Trade Unionism
• Preamble of the IWW (later renamed Socialist Reconstruction of Society)