American Workers League
Political party in the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The American Workers League (German: Amerikanische Arbeiterbund) was an American 19th century workers political organization.
American Workers League Amerikanische Arbeiterbund | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Joseph Weydemeyer |
| Founded | 1853 |
| Dissolved | 1855 |
| Preceded by | Proletarierbund |
| Succeeded by | New York Communist Club Free Soil Party |
| Ideology | Marxism Socialism Abolitionism German Americans interests |
| Political position | Far-left |
In 1852, Joseph Weydemeyer, a longtime friend of Karl Marx, created the Proletarierbund (Proletarian League).[1]
In 1853, the Proletarian League was expanded into the American Workers League, with Weydemeyer among their leaders,[2][3] by 800 German American delegates who attended the inaugural meeting in the Mechanics Hall in New York City.[1]
The organization adopted an egalitarian membership policy holding that all workers who live in the United States without distinction of occupation, language, color, or sex can become members.[2] They opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act because it had the effect of allowing slavery in the lands opening up in the American West.[3]
In 1855, Weydemeyer left the leadership of the organization, which had been fading away. He would later join the New York Communist Club.[1]
