In 1919, a significant event took place in the life of American political activists who shared the ideology of Marxism-Leninism: two of their main groups, one of which was led by Charles Rutenberg, and the second by John Reed, managed to unite, and as a result the Communist Party of the United States of America .
The beginning of the formation of the party
From the beginning of its existence, it came under the harsh press of American justice, becoming the object of a series of military actions aimed at combating the so-called “red threat”. We should recall at least the famous "Palmer raids" directed against left radicals and all kinds of anarchists, as well as a number of similar actions.
The US Communist Party received its present name only in 1929, in the previous period it was called the Workers' Party of America. It should be recognized that in the first half of the 20th century it was the most influential party of the Marxist persuasion.
Rise and fall periods
Among the many political movements that attempted in one way or another to influence the American proletarians, it was the US Communist Party that played the most prominent role in the labor movement of those years. TSB - The Great Soviet Encyclopedia - cites data according to which more than one hundred thousand people were its members during this period. According to researchers, the peak of party activity falls on 1939.
However, in the fifties there was a significant decline in the popularity of the Communists. This is due to the fact that for many it became apparent their close and, as it turned out, disinterested cooperation with the government of the USSR, as well as support for all kinds of “new leftists” and “pacifists”.
Dirty money
This was not a fiction, since it was documented that as far back as 1987, the Soviet Communists transferred almost three million dollars to the accounts of their overseas colleagues. True, then perestroika came, and M. S. Gorbachev blocked their financial income.
As it became known in recent years, the US Communist Party was not a useless parasite of the CPSU, but faithfully worked out the money received. Many of its structures were under the direct control of the GRU and the NKVD. By the way, according to the Americans themselves, the overwhelming majority of those found to have collaborated with Soviet intelligence were members of the Communist Party.
In July 1948, a public hearing was held in the US Congress on this case. The main witnesses were Whittaker Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley, former Soviet agents, as well as many members of the Communist Party convicted of espionage. Their testimony was irrefutably proved by deciphering radiograms sent from the United States. The Communist Party, which had already lost popularity by that time, acquired the image of the “fifth column” as a result of these revelations.
Hard times
At the turn of the forties and fifties, about one hundred and forty communists, including rank-and-file members of the party and its functionaries, were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment by a court decision. The reason for this was the law, called the "Smith Act", which provides for punishment for persons who in one way or another contribute to the overthrow of the legitimate government.
Due to the fact that the range of actions falling under the articles of this law was very vague, it could be used to send any objectionable to jail, which was often used by American authorities. In the same period, a nationwide trade union congress was held, at which a decision was made to exclude eleven trade union organizations supported by the US Communist Party. Thus, the labor movement showed its desire to distance itself from a political organization that had compromised itself.
The period of "McCarthyism"
Since the beginning of the fifties, the country began the movement of the so-called McCarthyists - supporters of US Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy, who advocated the active suppression of communist and anti-American sentiments in society. His position found wide support among the population, which exacerbated the already difficult situation in which the US Communist Party found itself. A ban on its activities was not imposed, but, nevertheless, the stability and internal structure of the organization were greatly shaken.
To top it off, the activities of the Communists became the object of persecution by the FBI as part of a program launched in those years to curb anti-government activities and espionage. This was the reason that many ordinary members of the party, not wanting to have troubles, left its composition, and those functionaries who were still at large hurried to publicly declare their loyalty to the authorities.
Party membership in the sixties
In the sixties, the US Communist Party stepped up its activities due to the entry into it of pacifists - members of a social movement that advocated peace and a refusal to solve international problems by military means. At the same time, new leftists joined the ranks of the Communists.
These were representatives of Marxist organizations, but in their ideology they occupied extreme leftist positions. They opposed the lack of spirituality of the Western world, the widespread desire for enrichment and violation of moral values. Communist leaders in those years actively supported the Civil Rights Movement, which was led by Martin Luther King, who was later killed.
Party split of the late eighties
The gap between the Communists of America and the CPSU occurred in the late eighties, when they criticized the ongoing perestroika in Russia. Such liberties cost them dearly, and in the literal sense of the word. Since 1989, the Kremlin has stopped providing them with financial support.
The lack of money shook the ideological intransigence of some American comrades, and at an extraordinary session held in 1991, some of them advocated the rejection of Leninism and a reorientation towards democratic socialism.
These “refuseniks”, admittedly, were in the minority and subsequently, having left the party, founded an independent political organization. However, with their departure, they split the ranks of the Communists, thereby significantly weakening their former party members.
Anti-Violence Party
Among the world political movements, declaring their ultimate goal the socialist revolution, is the Communist Party of the United States. The ideology of the party, however, is fully oriented toward a peaceful transition to the forms of socialist management and the nationalization of the basic means of production.
The American Communists, according to their statements, do not accept any form of violence aimed at changing the existing system. Thanks to this, throughout its history the US Communist Party was not banned, although it was repeatedly subjected to pressure from the authorities.
Joint criticism of bourgeois society
If we compare the program of the Communist Party of America with a similar document of their Soviet colleagues, then, along with many common features, significant differences attract attention. They are united primarily by criticism of a society built on the basis of private property.
In the American program, for example, much attention is paid to the fact that modern capitalism, using the potential of the media under its control, widely uses such unseemly methods as the propaganda of anti-communism, national chauvinism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and sexism to separate the working class and its allies .
Differences in approaches to a number of pressing issues
However, a number of points in the American program go beyond the ideology adopted in the Soviet Union. For example, their attitude to issues related to the problems of sexual and gender minorities is in no way consistent with Soviet concepts of morality. Unlike Soviet thinking standards, overseas communists see LGBT communities as progressive forces, whose role in society is growing steadily, and which could become a reliable support in the struggle to achieve their goals.
In their opinion, homophobia and attacks on members of sexual minorities are weapons in the hands of ultra-right elements, aimed primarily at splitting the opposition. The program says that by speculating on distorted concepts of morality and family values, the rightists are trying to capitalize on homophobic sentiments among the working class and thus attract them to their side.
Key Points of the American Communist Program
One of the points of their program, the American Communists declare the struggle for the rights of sexual minorities. Of course, their Soviet colleagues never stuttered about anything like that. There are many other fundamental differences in the programs of the Communists, divided by the ocean.
Today, the main provisions of the program of the Communist Party of America are the struggle for the unity of the working class, resistance to all forms of discrimination based on ethnicity, homophobia and racism. One of the requirements is the establishment of a minimum wage in the country of twelve dollars per hour and an end to the prosecution of illegal emigrants. In addition, the Communists insist on the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and a reduction in the military budget.
Party Surviving Its Enemies
Today, the US Communist Party, the number of which, according to some sources, does not exceed fifteen thousand people, consists of small cells created on the basis of clubs, shops, enterprises and all kinds of other institutions. Activists of such cells are always encouraged to bring strangers to their meetings. This makes it possible to introduce a new stream into the discussions held there.
Despite the fact that the US Communist Party is based on the same ideological principles as all other Marxist-Leninist parties and has common goals with them, the Americans, as mentioned above, never called for open violence to achieve their goals.
It is difficult to say what is more there - humanism, cold calculation or an elementary sense of self-preservation, but this allowed the American Communists to safely survive many of their enemies, which today have become only a legacy of history.