Gourt > Society > Politics > Socialism > History
, Socialism in the United States The word socialism came into English from French in the 1820s, but the idea that goods should be held in common and that all men should be equal is much older. Quasi-socialist elements can be identified in Plato's Republic, the Sermon on the Mount, the millenarian movements of the Middle Ages and Thomas More's Utopia. Socialist ideas were certainly current among the Levellers and other sects of the English Civil War of the 1640s and the more radical sans-culottes of the French revolution of the 1790s, though they never achieved real influence. As a coherent body of ideas, socialism dates from the early 19th century.
The early socialists were utopians: they developed visions of ideal societies based on material equality, in which humans co-operated in production for the benefit of all without the need for material incentives, and in which the state was abolished in favour of a system of self-government, or anarchy.
Early socialists
Early utopian socialist thinkers included:
- Robert Owen (1771-1858), who published A New View of Society in 1813 and who organised the first attempt at a socialist community, New Lanark in Scotland. Owen was the first person to be described as a socialist, although the term was derogatory at first.
- Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), founder of sociology, who published Social Organisation in 1825, and whose version of utopian socialism, Saint-simonism, remained influential in France for many years.
- Charles Fourier (1772-1837), a prominent socialist agitator in France during and after the French Revolution of 1830.
- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-65), whose book What is Property? founded a long tradition of French anarcho-syndicalist thought. The answer to Proudhon's question, "What is property?" was that "Property is theft," and this became a slogan of the socialist movement throughout the 19th century.
- Alexander Herzen (1812-1870), Russian political publicist supporting a utopian populist communal society.
- Ferdinand Lassalle (1825-1864), German politician.
The emergence of socialist ideas in Britain and France, and later in Germany and Italy, was a consequence of the industrial revolution. In these countries, the development of manufacturing industry, and related industries such as coal-mining and the railways, produced an industrial working class, referred to by socialists as the proletariat: workers who had nothing to sell but their labour. The misery of the industrial workers in the unregulated economies of the early 19th century provoked anger among many observers, and the formulation of socialist principles was an attempt to devise a way of producing wealth without such crude exploitation. Socialism gained popularity among the working class itself, and, from the mid-19th century onwards, workers formed the backbone of the socialist movement.
More on [ History of socialism ]
Socialism and the Labour Movement :: Spartacus Educational
Labor :: Social History
Revolutions and Social Movements :: Social History
Theory :: Socialism
RT @BadExec: Kobe Bryant just became the youngest player in NBA history to score 24,000 points #lakers
GregorioLoco (GregorioLocoâ¢) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:39:38 -0000
RT @BadExec: Kobe Bryant just became the youngest player in NBA history to score 24,000 points #lakers
rt @LakersReporter Kobe Bryant just became the youngest player in NBA history to score 24,000 points. {very impressive!}
msjoibella (M$ Joi Bella ) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:39:36 -0000
rt @LakersReporter Kobe Bryant just became the youngest player in NBA history to score 24,000 points. {very impressive!}
RT @HockeyBob07 Most boring night in the history of millersville.
Frank611 (Jesse Everhart) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:39:28 -0000
RT @HockeyBob07 Most boring night in the history of millersville.
self write what you know. leave the history to the more able history geeks. (but I wanna do something WWII *wahcry moar* )
writeforwhiskey (Pamela) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:39:24 -0000
self write what you know. leave the history to the more able history geeks. (but I wanna do something WWII *wahcry moar* )
Watching Pompei on the History channel... and the 'sex' they dug up there. Can't wait for future generations to find OUR 'box of porn.'
desertnurse (Mike) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:39:21 -0000
Watching Pompei on the History channel... and the 'sex' they dug up there. Can't wait for future generations to find OUR 'box of porn.'
I'm still laughing at myself. ..I blogged about the history of tuna today. . .just a random thought about my lunch
coraleeharris (Coralee Harris) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:39:10 -0000
I'm still laughing at myself. ..I blogged about the history of tuna today. . .just a random thought about my lunch
A Brief History of the American Left - Online essay by Maurice Isserman.
404
Before Braverman: Harry Frankel and the American workers' movement.(Harry Braverman) - Article by Bryan Palmer on Marxist Harry Braverman. Published in Monthly Review.
Meta Description: [ Before Braverman: Harry Frankel and the American workers' movement - Harry Braverman' from Monthly Review in News & Society provided free by LookSmart FindArticles. ]
Center for Socialist History - Non-profit corporation founded to promote research and publication in the field of the history of socialism. Includes publications, archives and other resources.
Comintern Electronic Archives - Documents from the Communist International (1919 to 1943).
404
Farmer Labor Movement History - Toward the Cooperative Commonwealth: An introductory history of the Farmer-Labor movement in Minnesota (1917-1948). PhD thesis by Thomas Gerald O'Connell.
History of Socialism - Wikipedia - Encyclopedia article tracing the history and development of socialist thought and practice.
History of the Communist International - Text of key documents from the Comintern 1919 - 1943.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Socialism - Documents from the history of various varieties of socialism.
Introduction to 19th Century Socialism - Examines the emergence of socialist ideas in the wake of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.
London Socialist Historians Group - Organises conferences and publishes a newsletter three times a year. Activities, seminars, conferences, newsletter, bibliography and message board.
Meta Description: [ The London Socialist Historians Group organises regular seminars and conferences, and publishes a free newsletter three times a year. ]
Marxist History - Online library of historical data on Marxism and the revolutionary working class.
Meta Description: [ The most complete library of historical data on Marxism and the revolutionary working class. ]
Militant 1964 - 1997 - Official Militant Tendency website. Thirty two years of Militant, now The Socialist, paper of the Socialist Party, with links to the Socialist Party.
Meta Description: [ Official Militant Tendency website. Thirty two years of Militant, now The Socialist, paper of the Socialist Party, with links to the Socialist Party, details of campaigns and much more. Also links to Young Socialist Action, Socialist Women, Socialist Alliances, Socialist Party general election ca... ]
NOW with Bill Moyers. Society and Community. History of the Social Gospel | PBS - Information about the Social Gospel tradition of Christian socialism.
Meta Description: [ Timeline of conflicts between civil liberties and national security in times of war in the United States. ]
Radical History Review - Analyzes and challenges hierarchies of class, race, gender, sexuality, and empire from a variety of oppositional perspectives.
Meta Description: [ Official Web Site of the Radical History Review (RHR) ]
Reader's Companion to American History - -Socialism - Article by Paul M. Buhle on the history of the movement in the United States.
Revolutionary History - Non-sectarian journal documenting and discussing the history of the revolutionary socialist movement, from a mainly Trotskyist viewpoint. It neither belongs to, nor supports any trend within the Trotskyist movement.
Socialism and the Labour Movement - An examination of British socialist history.
Meta Description: [ Socialism ]
Socialist History Project - Essays about and documents from the history of the Marxist movement in Canada.
Socialist History Society - Information about the British group, online bulletins, papers and Socialist History Journal.
The Free Speech Movement Archives - Documents, speeches, articles and recollections from and about the FSM at Berkeley which was a key event in the formation of the New Left and the 60s radicalization.
Meta Description: [ FSM-A the Free Speech Movement Archives Home Page - events from 1964 and following ]
What Next? - Online Marxist discussion journal that carries a number of historical articles.
Meta Description: [ WhatNext? Marxist Discussion Journal ]
| A People's History of American Empire by Howard Zinn | |
| Next Video | |
