Misplaced Pages

#902097

58-579: Harold Ware founded this group under the auspices of J. Peters by Summer 1933. Ware was a Communist Party (CP) official working for the federal government in Washington, D.C. The first known meeting of the Ware Group occurred in late 1933 with eight members: John Abt , Henry Collins , Alger Hiss , Victor Perlo , Lee Pressman , Nathaniel Weyl , and Nathan Witt . Initially, Peters instructed that members make "exceptional money sacrifices" to

116-611: A Women's Equality Commission, which recognizes the role of women as an asset in moving towards building socialism. Historically significant in American history as an early fighter for African Americans' rights and playing a leading role in protesting the lynchings of African Americans in the South, the Communist Party in its national program today calls racism the "classic divide-and-conquer tactic". From its New York City base,

174-642: A covert apparatus to assist the Soviets with their intelligence activities in the United States and utilized a network of front organizations to shape public opinion. The CPUSA opposed glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union. As a result, major funding from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ended in 1991. During the first half of the 20th century, the Communist Party

232-653: A daily newspaper written in Yiddish . For decades, its West Coast newspaper was the People's World and its East Coast newspaper was The Daily World . The two newspapers merged in 1986 into the People's Weekly World . The People's Weekly World has since become an online only publication called People's World . It has since ceased being an official Communist Party publication as the party does not fund its publication. The party's former theoretical journal Political Affairs

290-517: A minority faction which urged social democrats to exit the now reduced party. The party has since adopted Marxism–Leninism within its program. In 2014, the new draft of the party constitution declared: "We apply the scientific outlook developed by Marx, Engels, Lenin and others in the context of our American history, culture, and traditions." The Communist Party is based in New York City. From 1922 to 1988, it published Morgen Freiheit ,

348-553: A prominent role in the history of the labor movement from the 1920s through the 1940s, playing a key role in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations . The party was unique among labor activist groups of the time in being outspokenly anti-racist and opposed to racial segregation after sponsoring the defense for the Scottsboro Boys in 1931. The party reached the apex of its influence in U.S. politics during

406-554: A vision of socialism as an extension of American democracy. Seeking to "build socialism in the United States based on the revolutionary traditions and struggles" of American history, the party promotes a conception of "Bill of Rights Socialism" that will "guarantee all the freedoms we have won over centuries of struggle and also extend the Bill of Rights to include freedom from unemployment" as well as freedom "from poverty, from illiteracy, and from discrimination and oppression." Reiterating

464-601: Is now also published exclusively online, but the party still maintains International Publishers as its publishing house. In June 2014, the party held its 30th National Convention in Chicago. The party's 31st National Convention in 2019 celebrated the party's 100th year since its founding. The party announced on April 7, 2021, that it intended to run candidates in elections again, after a hiatus of over thirty years. Steven Estrada, who ran for city council in Long Beach ,

522-625: Is pernicious to working-class people of all backgrounds as any discriminatory practices between demographic sections of the working class constitute an inherently divisive practice responsible for "obstructing the development of working-class consciousness, driving wedges in class unity to divert attention from class exploitation , and creating extra profits for the capitalist class". The Communist Party supports an end to racial profiling . The party supports continued enforcement of civil rights laws as well as affirmative action . Progressive Era Too Many Requests If you report this error to

580-562: The Bush Doctrine , rejecting the right of the American government to attack "any country it wants, to conduct war without end until it succeeds everywhere, and even to use 'tactical' nuclear weapons and militarize space. Whoever does not support the U.S. policy is condemned as an opponent. Whenever international organizations, such as the United Nations, do not support U.S. government policies, they are reluctantly tolerated until

638-623: The Great Depression , playing a prominent role in the political landscape as a militant grassroots network capable of effectively organizing and mobilizing workers and the unemployed in support of cornerstone New Deal programs, principally Social Security , unemployment insurance , and the Works Progress Administration . The transformative changes of the New Deal era combined with the U.S. alliance with

SECTION 10

#1732773224903

696-630: The Great Depression , some Americans were attracted by the visible activism of Communists on behalf of a wide range of social and economic causes, including the rights of African Americans, workers, and the unemployed . The Communist Party played a significant role in the resurgence of organized labor in the 1930s. Others, alarmed by the rise of the Falangists in Spain and the Nazis in Germany, admired

754-667: The Korean War , the Vietnam War , the First Gulf War and the post- September 11 conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan . The Communist Party does not believe that the threat of terrorism can be resolved through war. The Communist Party Constitution defines the U.S. working class as "multiracial and multinational. It unites men and women, young and old, gay and straight, native-born and immigrant, urban and rural." The party further expands its interpretation to include

812-603: The Progressive Party under-performed in the 1948 presidential election . The party itself imploded following the public condemnation of Stalin by Nikita Khrushchev in 1956, with membership sinking to a few thousand who were increasingly alienated from the rest of the American Left for their support of the Soviet Union. The CPUSA received significant funding from the Soviet Union and crafted its public positions to match those of Moscow. The CPUSA also used

870-781: The Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revolution . The history of the CPUSA is closely related to the history of the American labor movement and the history of communist parties worldwide. Initially operating underground due to the Palmer Raids , which started during the First Red Scare , the party was influential in American politics in the first half of the 20th century. It also played

928-467: The Soviet Union during World War II created an atmosphere in which the CPUSA wielded considerable influence with about 70,000 vetted party members. Under the leadership of Earl Browder , the party was critically supportive of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and branded communism as "20th Century Americanism". Envisioning itself as becoming engrained within the established political structure in

986-480: The multinational corporations . The state thereby becomes thrust into a proxy role that is essentially inclined to help facilitate "control by one section of the capitalist class over all others and over the whole of society". Accordingly, the Communist Party holds that right-wing policymakers such as the neoconservatives, steering the state away from working-class interests on behalf of a disproportionately powerful capitalist class, have "demonized foreign opponents of

1044-484: The 2001 Constitution laid out certain positions as non-negotiable: [S]truggle for the unity of the working class, against all forms of national oppression, national chauvinism, discrimination and segregation, against all racist ideologies and practices,   ... against all manifestations of male supremacy and discrimination against women,   ... against homophobia and all manifestations of discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people. Among

1102-462: The American way of life. Internal and external crises swirled together, to the point when members who did not end up in prison for party activities either tended to disappear quietly from its ranks, or they tended to adopt more moderate political positions which were at odds with the party line . By 1957, membership had dwindled to less than 10,000, of whom some 1,500 were informants for the FBI . The party

1160-573: The Communist Party claimed to have 50,000 to 60,000 members. Its members also included anarchists and other radical leftists . At the time, the older and more moderate Socialist Party of America , suffering from criminal prosecutions for its antiwar stance during World War I, had declined to 40,000 members. The sections of the Communist Party's International Workers Order (IWO) organized for communism around linguistic and ethnic lines, providing mutual aid and tailoring cultural activities to an IWO membership that peaked at 200,000 at its height. During

1218-588: The Communist Party considered Russian security sufficient justification to support the actions. The Comintern and its leader Georgi Dimitrov demanded that Browder change the party's support for Roosevelt. On October 23, the party began attacking Roosevelt. The party changed this policy again after Hitler broke the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact by attacking the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. In August 1940, after NKVD agent Ramón Mercader killed Trotsky with an ice axe , Browder perpetuated Moscow's line that

SECTION 20

#1732773224903

1276-877: The Communist Party received a communique from Moscow denouncing the Polish government. Between September 14–16, party leaders bickered about the direction to take. On September 17, the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland and occupied the Polish territory assigned to it by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, followed by coordination with German forces in Poland. The Communist Party then turned the focus of its public activities from anti-fascism to advocating peace, opposing military preparations. The party criticized British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French leader Édouard Daladier , but it did not at first attack President Roosevelt, reasoning that this could devastate American Communism, blaming instead Roosevelt's advisors. The party spread

1334-604: The Communist Party's Ben Davis Club and other Communist Party organizations have been involved in local activism in Harlem and other African American and minority communities. The Communist Party was instrumental in the founding of the progressive Black Radical Congress in 1998, as well as the African Blood Brotherhood . Historically significant in Latino working class history as a successful organizer of

1392-652: The Immediate Program, as are opposition to the Iraq War and other military interventions; opposition to free trade treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); nuclear disarmament and a reduced military budget; various civil rights provisions; campaign finance reform including public financing of campaigns; and election law reform, including instant runoff voting . The Communist Party emphasizes

1450-660: The Mexican American working class in the Southwestern United States in the 1930s, the Communist Party regards working-class Latino people as another oppressed group targeted by overt racism as well as systemic discrimination in areas such as education and sees the participation of Latino voters in a general mass movement in both party-based and nonpartisan work as an essential goal for major left-wing progress. The Communist Party holds that racial and ethnic discrimination not only harms minorities, but

1508-482: The Party, study Marxist theory and Party doctrine, observe "strictest secrecy," and to obtain "any government documents" available to them. (Known members later claimed that it was merely a Marxist study group.) By 1934, the group had grown to some 75 members, divided into cells. Members initially joined Marxist study groups and then into activities on behalf of the Party. They shared a belief that Marxist ideologies were

1566-557: The Soviet Union's early and staunch opposition to fascism . Party membership swelled from 7,500 at the start of the decade to 55,000 by its end. Party members also rallied to the defense of the Spanish Republic during this period after a nationalist military uprising moved to overthrow it, resulting in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The Communist Party of the Soviet Union , along with leftists throughout

1624-589: The Soviet underground in 1938. Some members seemed to have joined other groups, as attested by Elizabeth Bentley , including Victor Perlo and George Silverman. On July 31, 1948. Bentley testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee ( HUAC ) regarding those Soviet spy rings of which she was aware. She named Chambers as someone who might corroborate. On August 3, 1948, Chambers testified under subpoena before HUAC about

1682-886: The U.S. government is able to subordinate or ignore them". Juxtaposing the support from the Republicans and the right-wing of the Democratic Party for the Bush administration -led invasion of Iraq with the many millions of Americans who opposed the invasion of Iraq from its beginning, the Communist Party notes the spirit of opposition towards the war coming from the American public: Thousands of grassroots peace committees [were] organized by ordinary Americans   ... neighborhoods, small towns and universities expressing opposition in countless creative ways. Thousands of actions, vigils, teach-ins and newspaper advertisements were organized. The largest demonstrations were held since

1740-606: The U.S., covertly funded the right-wing-initiated civil war in Nicaragua , and gave weapons to the Saddam Hussein dictatorship in Iraq. They picked small countries to invade, including Panama and Grenada , testing new military equipment and strategy, and breaking down resistance at home and abroad to U.S. military invasion as a policy option". From its ideological framework, the Communist Party understands imperialism as

1798-582: The US labor movement officially opposed the war. In contrast, it took years to build labor opposition to the Vietnam War.   ... For example in Chicago, labor leaders formed Labor United for Peace, Justice and Prosperity. They concluded that mass education of their members was essential to counter false propaganda, and that the fight for the peace, economic security and democratic rights was interrelated. The party has consistently opposed American involvement in

Ware Group - Misplaced Pages Continue

1856-570: The United States chose Socialism" and that "in a Communist regime they would be poised to move to the head of the table." Ware died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in August 1935. J. Peters , who had introduced Whittaker Chambers to Harold Ware the year before, placed Chambers in charge of the Ware Group. Chambers claimed that members of the group joined other "apparatuses" under his leadership. The group may have folded as such upon Chambers' defection from

1914-655: The Vietnam War. 500,000 marched in New York after the war started. Students at over 500 universities conducted a Day of Action for " Books not Bombs ." Over 150 anti-war resolutions were passed by city councils. Resolutions were passed by thousands of local unions and community organizations. Local and national actions were organized on the Internet, including the "Virtual March on Washington DC"   .... Elected officials were flooded with millions of calls, emails and letters. In an unprecedented development, large sections of

1972-784: The Ware Group included: Harry Dexter White , then Director of the Division of Monetary Research in the United States Department of the Treasury , was also allegedly affiliated with the group. In 1958, Packer recommended "...Inquiry should also extend to the loose ends. Each of the persons named by Chambers as a member of the Ware group should be required to tell what he knows." Such inquiry has not occurred to date, though in 2011 Thomas L. Sakmyster 's book Red Conspirator about J. Peters included extensive discussion about

2030-468: The Ware Group. CPUSA Progressive Era Repression and persecution Anti-war and civil rights movements Contemporary Former parties Former parties Former parties The Communist Party USA , officially the Communist Party of the United States of America ( CPUSA ), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in

2088-482: The Ware group have consistently invoked the fifth amendment when questioned about Communist affiliations." Packer also noted that "Hiss obliquely recognizes the fact of the Ware group's existence, but relies on the post-trial testimony of Pressman to establish that he was not a member. Indeed, that testimony was one of the grounds relied on in his motion for new trial." During the 1990s, two more members admitted their membership in respective memoirs: Alleged members of

2146-408: The capitalist class or any part of it on any issue with the aim of improving or defending their lives" part of the class struggle. The Communist Party maintains that developments within the foreign policy of the United States —as reflected in the rise of neoconservatives and other groups associated with right-wing politics —have developed in tandem with the interests of large-scale capital such as

2204-515: The continuing Cold War mentality, steadily weakened the party's internal structure and confidence. Party membership in the Communist International and its close adherence to the political positions of the Soviet Union gave most Americans the impression that the party was not only a threatening, subversive domestic entity, but that it was also a foreign agent that espoused an ideology which was fundamentally alien and threatening to

2262-631: The correct way to approach the problems of the ongoing Great Depression . Chambers also stated that Ware could have been acting "pursuant to orders from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the United States." The Ware group started among young lawyers and economists hired by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). This New Deal agency reported to the Secretary of Agriculture but

2320-415: The employed and unemployed, organized and unorganized, and of all occupations. The Communist Party seeks equal rights for women, equal pay for equal work and the protection of reproductive rights, together with putting an end to sexism. They support the right of abortion and social services to provide access to it, arguing that unplanned pregnancy is prejudiced against poor women. The party's ranks include

2378-399: The excessive luxuries of the super-rich. Rather than making all wages entirely equal, the Communist Party holds that building socialism would entail "eliminating private wealth from stock speculation, from private ownership of large corporations, from the export of capital and jobs, and from the exploitation of large numbers of workers." Among the primary concerns of the Communist Party are

Ware Group - Misplaced Pages Continue

2436-463: The existence of what he called the "Ware Group". During August 1948, the only remaining member who continued to face serious investigation was Alger Hiss , who was convicted in January 1950 on two counts of perjury . In the early 1950s, two members corroborated at least some of Chambers' account: By 1958, Stanford University professor Herbert L. Packer noted that "the others named as members of

2494-401: The fight for wages, hours, benefits, working conditions, job security, and jobs. But it also includes an endless variety of other forms for fighting specific battles: resisting speed-up, picketing, contract negotiations, strikes, demonstrations, lobbying for pro-labor legislation, elections, and even general strikes". The Communist Party's national programs considers workers who struggle "against

2552-487: The idea of property rights in socialist society as it is outlined in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels 's Communist Manifesto (1848), the Communist Party emphasizes: Many myths have been propagated about socialism. Contrary to right-wing claims, socialism would not take away the personal private property of workers, only the private ownership of major industries, financial institutions, and other large corporations, and

2610-483: The killer, who had been dating one of Trotsky's secretaries, was a disillusioned follower. The Communist Party's early labor and organizing successes did not last long. As the decades progressed, the combined effects of McCarthyism (also known as the Second Red Scare) and Nikita Khrushchev 's 1956 " Secret Speech " in which he denounced the previous decades of Joseph Stalin 's rule and the adversities of

2668-580: The leadership of the Soviet Union itself. In 1989, the Soviet Communist Party cut off major funding to the Communist Party USA due to its opposition to glasnost and perestroika . With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the party held its convention and attempted to resolve the issue of whether the party should reject Marxism–Leninism . The majority reasserted the party's now purely Marxist outlook, prompting

2726-450: The pinnacle of capitalist development : the state, working on behalf of the few who wield disproportionate power, assumes the role of proffering "phony rationalizations" for economically driven imperial ambition as a means to promote the sectional economic interests of big business. In opposition to what it considers the ultimate agenda of the conservative wing of American politics, the Communist Party rejects foreign policy proposals such as

2784-413: The points in the party's "Immediate Program" are a $ 15/hour minimum wage for all workers, national universal health care, and opposition to privatization of Social Security . Economic measures such as increased taxes on "the rich and corporations, strong regulation of the financial industry, regulation and public ownership of utilities," and increased federal aid to cities and states are also included in

2842-544: The post-war era, the party was dissolved in 1944 to become the 'Communist Political Association.' However, as Cold War hostility ensued, the party was restored but struggled to maintain its influence amidst the prevalence of McCarthyism (also known as the Second Red Scare). Its opposition to the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine failed to gain traction, and its endorsed candidate Henry A. Wallace of

2900-435: The poverty level; many suffer homelessness and hunger. Public and private programs to alleviate poverty and hunger do not reach everyone, and are inadequate even for those they do reach. With capitalist globalization, jobs move from place to place as capitalists export factories and even entire industries to other countries in a relentless search for the lowest wages. The Communist Party believes that "class struggle starts with

2958-818: The problems of unemployment , underemployment and job insecurity , which the party considers the natural result of the profit-driven incentives of the capitalist economy: Millions of workers are unemployed, underemployed, or insecure in their jobs, even during economic upswings and periods of 'recovery' from recessions. Most workers experience long years of stagnant and declining real wages, while health and education costs soar. Many workers are forced to work second and third jobs to make ends meet. Most workers now average four different occupations during their lifetime, many involuntarily moved from job to job and career to career. Often, retirement-age workers are forced to continue working just to provide health care for themselves and their families. Millions of people continuously live below

SECTION 50

#1732773224903

3016-465: The rest of the left-wing in the United States, which saw this supportive role as outdated and even dangerous. At the same time, the party's aging membership demographics distanced it from the New Left in the United States . With the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev and his effort to radically alter the Soviet economic and political system from the mid-1980s, the Communist Party finally became estranged from

3074-541: The slogans " The Yanks Are Not Coming " and "Hands Off," set up a "perpetual peace vigil" across the street from the White House , and announced that Roosevelt was the head of the "war party of the American bourgeoisie." The party was active in the isolationist America First Committee . In October and November, after the Soviets invaded Finland and forced mutual assistance pacts from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ,

3132-722: The world, raised funds for medical relief while many of its members made their way to Spain with the aid of the party to join the Lincoln Brigade , one of the International Brigades . The Communist Party was adamantly opposed to fascism during the Popular Front period. Although membership in the party rose to about 66,000 by 1939, nearly 20,000 members left the party by 1943. While general secretary Browder at first attacked Germany for its September 1, 1939 invasion of western Poland , on September 11

3190-532: Was also banned by the Communist Control Act of 1954 , although it was never really enforced and Congress later repealed most provisions of the act, also with some declared unconstitutional via the court system. The party attempted to recover with its opposition to the Vietnam War during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, but its continued uncritical support for an increasingly stultified and militaristic Soviet Union further alienated it from

3248-444: Was influential in various struggles. Historian Ellen Schrecker concludes that decades of recent scholarship offer "a more nuanced portrayal of the party as both a Stalinist sect tied to a vicious regime and the most dynamic organization within the American Left during the 1930s and '40s." It was also the first political party in the United States to be "fully" racially integrated. By August 1919, only months after its founding,

3306-438: Was one of the first candidates to run as an open member of the CPUSA again (although Long Beach local elections are officially non-partisan). Estrada received 8.5% of the vote. According to the constitution of the party adopted at the 30th National Convention in 2014, the Communist Party operates on the principle of democratic centralism , its highest authority being the quadrennial National Convention. Article VI, Section 3 of

3364-403: Was operated independently of Department of Agriculture bureaucracy. All the members of the Ware Group were dues paying members of the Communist Party. J. Peters considered the Ware Group one of his major sources of income. Nathaniel Weyl felt that members of the Ware Group were acquiring "the training in the complex business of running a state that would be in high demand and short supply when

#902097