American Workers League

American Workers League
Founded	1853; 172 years ago (1853)
Dissolved	1855; 170 years ago (1855)
Succeeded by	New York Communist Club Free Soil Party
Ideology	Marxism Socialism Abolitionism
Political position	Left
Politics of United States Political parties Elections

The American Workers League (German: Amerikanische Arbeiterbund) was an American nineteenth century workers political organization.

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]

References

1. Obermann, Karl (1947). Joseph Weydemeyer: Pioneer of American Socialism. New York: International Publishers. pp. 55–57.
2. Blackburn, Robin (2011). An Unfinished Revolution: Karl Marx and Abraham Lincoln. London: Verso. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-84467-722-1.
3. Alison Clark Efford (20 May 2013). German Immigrants, Race, and Citizenship in the Civil War Era. Cambridge University Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-107-03193-7.