The ‘Marxist History’ War – the Struggle for History versus Interpretation

Since the end of the Cold War, Americans have increasingly used the terms ‘Communist’, ‘socialist’, or ‘Marxist’ as forms of slander to conjure up images of enemies within the United States. The fear is such that the terms are used to attack a variety of venues, from political ideology, to discussions of minimum wage and social programs, to the teaching of history itself in the US. Yet most Americans cannot distinguish the features of Marxism, communism, socialism, or even elements of the US Constitution, which they purport to defend. These terms often are attached to the “outsider” in America, including immigrants, whose political thoughts may differ and challenge others.

The result of these attacks on American institutions is troubling to say the least. Americans have used concepts which they may not fully understand, as a type of slur against the concept of “America” and its ideals. While many immigrant groups often brought these political ideas to America, a rising anti-intellectual movement combined with a new, post-Cold War xenophobia, has resulted in a backlash against immigrant groups and intellectual ideas of political change. These arguments often go against both labor movements as well as immigrants who represented a perceived threat for employment.

This article will look at the cultural aspects of history, and how certain events in labor history were altered by historical textbook purveyors or politicians (the 1877 Rail Strikes, the 1886 Haymarket incident, the 1894 rail strikes, the “company town” mentality, Ludlow Colorado in 1912) to reflect an anti-immigrant/nationalist issue rather than a labor rights one (1). This alteration of history has implications for the future, as it cuts into the very concept of history to affect how we approach the study of history in the 21st century.

I – The Struggle of History

In 2021, to answer some of the issues concerning perceived controversial topics as Critical Race Theory (CRT)(2), the American Historical Association conducted a survey of a swath of the American population concerning their perceptions, understanding and view of history and historians. Not surprisingly, the results often were related to what political leaning one had. For instance, on page 85, the majority of Americans who answered that the history of the US should not be questioned but celebrated was heavily skewed towards those of conservative leanings, in this case US Republicans (3). This attitude further extended to legislation to ban or restrict the teaching of historical events that reflect poorly on the “American ideal.” The writers of the survey did note that, despite the results, many Americans want to understand the full history and, thus, the superficial arguments over discussion of communism or responses to labor uprisings is more of a political rather than a historical argument.

This in turn begs the question: what is deemed “unpatriotic?” Often, events of major historical importance have been altered to present the facts in a different light. Other events have been simply removed from the historical record. One such example of this would be the question over political unrest in the country. The author has often been asked if the current state of American politics is the most divisive in American history since the Civil War. One only need look to the railroad and labor strikes of 1877 to see that there have been other significant periods of unrest; but does anyone really learn of that series of strikes, or that of the Haymarket uprising of 1886? Clearly, these events were inspired by working conditions as well as the writings of Karl Marx or those who aspired to his political theory. At the same time, these events may be either glossed over by history teachers, misinterpreted by some who wish to push a political agenda (pro business) or used as part of a larger theme (immigrants brought these dangerous ideas of Marxism with them from elsewhere).

A quick survey of students reveals that for all the discussion of the evils of communism, very few have read even small parts of the Communist Manifesto. Further, when discussing aspects of Communism, they often refer to the Soviet Union of the Cold War, and the aspects associated with rule there. Interestingly, Marx felt that Russia was too backwards to incorporate communism into its political system (4) but that his theory would take hold in industrialized areas (5). Regardless of one’s perception of Marxism, the book should be read as it was a seminal aspect of late 19th and 20th century history and should be a lively topic of discourse in the American mainstream (6).

The Communist Manifesto and the Great Strikes of the 1800s

Amid the Second Industrial Revolution of the 1850s through the 1890s, the concept of Marxism was introduced to the United States, particularly in industrialized areas of the US such as the Northeast, and Midwest. Marx himself was of Germanic background, born in Trier (now) Germany in 1818. His work in the social conditions of Europe often through the abusive tactics of factory workers in England, caused Marx to write the Communist Manifesto in 1848 with Fredrich Engels. Interestingly, Engels’ wealth from his father’s factories was how Marx subsisted in many of his long stretches without employment. It was his development of the four stages of human history with emphasis on an economic base, that Marx wrote the Manifesto. The idea was that eventually the people would grow tired of their being abused by the factory owners and that the “workers rise up! You have nothing to lose but your chains!” (7).

Marx continues to be an interesting study as he had every expectation that communist principles would emerge in places that were in the throes of industrial revolution, and in America, the Second Industrial Revolution provided ample opportunities for the introduction of Marx’s principles (8). His principles appeared also at a critical time for both Europe as well as the United States. The time in which the Communist Manifesto was first written (1848) was at the same time Irish immigrants were emigrating to the United States in great numbers, as were the Germans who were attempting to escape from a conservative backlash towards liberal ideals in 1848 (9). While these groups became part of the first great wave of immigration to the US, the conservative element known as the “nativists” looked badly upon these groups as bringing destructive thoughts and ideas to the “city upon a hill” as the US was commonly described (10).

For the nativists, the idea that these immigrant groups would bring the three Fs – feeding on strange foods, fighting as they were emotionally, not rationally driven, and fornicating to the point that large, Catholic-based families would breed out the naturally superior Americans of Anglo stock – and this would lead to the destruction of the US. Attempts to curtail immigration were also fueled in part by German concepts of the Communist Manifesto being discussed in America. This idea of everyone being equal went against the often held (and mythic) belief that one could achieve anything by their own ambition. This was further compounded by political parties such as the “Know-nothings” who ran on anti-immigrant themes (11). In some ways, their modern equivalent might be the QAnon movement of the 2010s.

The anti-immigrant movement was further connected to Communism and its aspects by the time of the later 1870s. Some considered the exploitation of the immigrants by larger factories to be un-Christian in treatment. Others saw the idea of protesting working conditions as necessary by individuals, not by radical collectives with foreign elements intent on destroying the American system (12).

The first big shock to the system at that time was the Labor and Railroad strikes of 1877. It was during the summer of 1877 when rail workers in West Virginia went on strike, citing long work hours and dangerous conditions. This era is often depicted in history texts as the “Gilded Age” where the captains of industry exemplified the hard work and self-determination often presented in history class. For some textbooks, the term “robber baron” is also used. But little is discussed of political theory or how some of the initial labor groups from this time (such as the Knights of Labor), saw the Manifesto or the concepts of communism. The riots of 1877 were also ones that were fueled by farmers who were suffering at the hands of the railroad companies. Only after 30-plus days in which police departments were called out in major cities, often with substantial firepower reserved for the military (such as Gatling guns, howitzers, and rifles), were the riots put down. The concept here is often presented as growing pains within American society at this time (13).

With the events such as the riots of 1877, the Haymarket riots of 1886, and the great strike of 1894, the idea here is often that the events are discussed in class in a cursory manner, if at all. The author was never aware of the 1877 riots until graduate school and even then, analysis was only limited. Haymarket was a generally discussed event, due to its being in one specific location, but the events are again often overlooked in the greater scheme of things. This is due to several issues. One is the fact that classes increasingly must teach historical events with less time and therefore events must be glossed over. Second, the lack of labor historians in the general area of history means that it is often pushed aside. As a disclaimer, the author is not a labor historian but an American cultural historian, albeit with Chicago ties (14).

Haymarket is often discussed for its violence but not the union struggles surrounding it. Following a strike at the McCormick Reaper works in which three people were killed while protesting scab workers coming in, (15) the main protest movement took place on May 4, 1886 at the intersection of Des Plaines Avenue and Randolph Avenue. Little is mentioned of the organizers except for their ethnic origins. August Spies was a German who organized the rally, but Albert Parsons is another leader of interest. He was married to a former slave, presenting an interracial couple at a time when memories of the Civil War were still relatively fresh. When the mayor of Chicago, Carter Harrison, told the CPD officers to let the crowd disperse, the commanding officer Lt. John “Blackjack” Bonfield acknowledged it. After Harrison left, the CPD detachment marched into the crowd with guns drawn. Following the melee in which seven officers were killed and dozens wounded, the ring leaders were arrested and quickly tried. While people from around the country called for leniency, the city industrial leaders demanded blood. Of the eight arrested and tried, three were hanged, one committed suicide in prison, and four were given lengthy sentences (16). This incident in history is all but lost in the American story, but is remembered by many in other parts of the world (17).

By the late 1880s, the union situation had changed as well. The American Federation of Labor had formed and while it was better and more inclusive than the KoL, their general attitude was still one that favored white men over all other ethnic groups. In part the 1894 rail strikes were part of the greater turmoil that sprang from the Grange movement in the American west. Over the previous 20 years, the rail lines had grown substantially and connected different regions of the country. One issue that the railroads had over farmers was that they could increase prices for transporting goods to market, and there was little that the farmers could do. This led to the formation of the Grange movement in the West (18), which again is not mentioned with any sort of substance in American history books. The Grange movement also coincided with another substantial movement of the era, the town of Pullman.

George Pullman was another of the “titans of industry” from this era. He had, in fact, hit it big with several different businesses, but it was his last business, making Pullman Palace Cars for the railroads, that really set him up. He was aware of the various labor unrests in the country and founded a town just south of Chicago (now part of Chicago) where the factory was located. On the surface, the company town was a model of modernity and efficiency. The workers all had new homes; they had amenities such as a library, theatre, sports leagues and even a lake in which to boat. What was not well known was that Pullman himself determined which books went into the library, which plays were performed, and what costs would be for goods. No alcohol was allowed in Pullman town, except for in the Florence Hotel where Pullman entertained his investors (19).

Following an economic crisis which developed in the winter of 1983-1894, Pullman needed to gain more investors at a time of crisis. He offered a 7% return on investment, guaranteed, which many took, and the investment money poured in. What many did not know was that to cut costs, Pullman ordered all workers to take a mandatory pay cut due to less hours, while keeping the rent and utilities at the same cost. Workers were effectively hit twice. This was the incident that led to the 1894 rail strikes. Again, the events were often blamed immediately on foreign agitators or foreign workers. It was only after President Cleveland called in federal troops to guard the trains that the riots were subsided (20). Pullman died in Chicago one of the most hated men in history: so much so that he is buried in Graceland cemetery under a large plinth on a plot 12-feet deep, with concrete and rail ties protecting his coffin (21).

The Progressive Era and its Perceptions in History

By the start of the Twentieth Century, the news outlets of the era were engaged in a form of competition called Yellow Journalism. This contest was originally centered on two publishers from New York, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, and their struggle to publish what was arguably the first newspaper cartoon serial, called the Yellow Kid by William Outcault (22). While much of the era of Yellow Journalism centered on sensational headlines to sell papers, it also produced investigative reporters who exposed the horrible working conditions of the era, known as the “muckrakers”. One such “muckraker” of the era was Upton Sinclair, who wrote the investigative report on the Chicago meatpacking industry, compiled into a semi-fictional book entitled The Jungle (23). While many remember and discuss the issues of US President Theodore Roosevelt instituting the Pure Food Act after reading the horrific conditions in the meat packing plants, it also served as part of the Progressive era, where better working conditions were a rallying cry for the unions.

One area of concern not commonly discussed in history books was the racism shown against some groups by the AFL, led by Samuel Gompers. While Gompers was fighting for the rights of some workers, immigrants and African Americans were often ignored. To that end, the Industrial Workers of the World was formed in 1905. Led by William “Big Bill” Hayward, the IWW – or “Wobblies” as they were commonly known – fought for the rights of all workers (24). The Wobblies organized in a variety of labor struggles such as the New Orleans dockworkers strike of 1909, as well as having some input concerning the protests following the notorious Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of March 1911 (25).

The IWW also was slandered because of their support of women and minorities, much to the chagrin of the AFL. The Wobblies also suffered from their name and its implications to the Communist movement: Industrial Workers of the World sounds very much in line with Communist ideology. When one researches the IWW, this connection is not surprising (26). However, nowhere in the charter of the IWW or in its campaign material does it advocate the destruction of the capitalist ideal or the overthrowing of democracy. Simply put, the Wobblies served as a foil to conservative elements who wished to fight against the unions. Also, because the IWW supported immigrants who were often from Southern and Eastern Europe at this time (Italians, Greeks, Russians, Turks, etc.), and were again being used as a target for the weakening of American ideals, the fear of the “others” destroying American ideals was on the rise.

One of the lesser known acts of brutality against workers involved a strike in Colorado in 1914. Miners for the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation owned by the Rockefeller family went on strike the previous fall over horrible working conditions. By April 20, 1914 the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency was given the green light to use all methods to break the strike. To that end, agency men used Gatling guns and rifles to attack the strikers who were assisted by the United Mine Workers Union. Once the Colorado National Guard was called in, the strikers thought that things world settle down. This however was not to be as the guard used their machine guns to kill 26 miners, women and children in Ludlow, where the miners had established a temporary tent city, having been evicted from their company town at the start of the strike. As noted, historian Howard Zinn noted, he had never learned of the event until introduced to him in a folk song (27).

The most substantial turn of events occurred during the Great War (1914-1918). While the reasons for the war are far more complex than simply capitalism, conflicts over territories and resources needed for industrial expansion were considerable. This played into the Marxist narrative in the Communist Manifesto. It was also a reason for the Russian revolutions of 1905 – the precursor- and the two revolutions of 1917, which eventually allowed the Communist Party of Russia to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The fact that the US sent troops to prop up the Czarist system under Nicholas II, despite his deep unpopularity with the masses confused Americans, and gained some sympathy towards the “Bolos” – Bolsheviks in the area where Americans were at (28). Following the end of the war, with an economic downturn, African-Americans demanding equal rights in the US as was generally afforded them by the French Army and government, and the realistic fear of Marxist ideals gaining a real hold in the US, several counterstrokes were executed. In what was called the Red Summer, race riots broke out throughout the US, with dozens killed (29). These riots were put down as it was stated that the leaders in the African American communities were spurred on by communists. The US at this time saw the formation of the American Protective League as well as the rise of the KKK to counter the influence of true equality for all Americans regardless of race.

While the 1920s saw a continuation of anti-immigrant rallies and the eventual closing of immigration to the US, the unions also had a downturn due to the rise of wages and general prosperity in the country. Many people were now able to afford luxuries previously unavailable to all but city dwellers. This economic prosperity was not universal in the entire country, but generally people prospered. This in turn meant that, especially when combined with anti-union sentiment, that union membership was not seen as necessary or even right (30). As many will quickly explain, unions are not necessarily for the good times but are necessary when the market turns in favor of the management making cuts.

By the time the Great Depression was in full swing in the US, 1934 was a particularly harsh year. Attempts to unionize the automotive industry had mixed results. The United Auto Workers was formed under the realm of the newly merged union umbrella called the AFL-CIO, with the intention of fighting for the rights of all union workers, regardless of skillset. However it was not so much a merger as it seemed, but a split that occurred when the CIO committed to protecting all workers, regardless of skillset, while the AFL component resisted. The arguments from union leadership as to who should be considered worth fighting for may seem incongruous with any union and their goals, but it also ties to the issue of racism which existed at that same time, especially during the Great Depression. A further discussion over the nuances of the Union and the definitions of skills would be better served in another paper, but the tie that races were equal and all workers should be treated as such was something that was often in contention in America, as well as in other countries.

The Communist movement had some growth due to the harsh economic situations. This was described briefly in the book, later movie, the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. People joined the American Communist Party due to the double standards and undercutting of people trying to find work in a depressed environment. This increase of membership was beneficial at first but destroyed people’s careers in the Cold War of the late 1940s.

During the Second World War, the concept of communism was not officially talked about after Pearl Harbor. Prior to that however, some Americans expressed the wish that the Nazis and Soviets simply kill each other off, and that while the US should remain out of the war “we should give weapons to whichever side is losing.”31 That person was US Senator from Missouri – and later Vice President, then President – Harry Truman.

The Cold War and the fear of the Communists

While World War II saw the conflict with communism and communist societies abate, the Cold War ushered in a new hatred of all things related to socialism. This was due to both theoretical arguments (the idea that communism would destroy the capitalist system that America was founded upon) as well as practical considerations, in that Stalin was taking over Eastern European countries. For Stalin, the idea was that if countries abutting the Soviet Union were communist – albeit through “elections” then the communist system would be secured from Americans. This argument of American intervention stretched back to the Siberian expedition of American troops during the Russian Civil War of 1917-1919.32

The concept of countering the Soviets rested on the possession of the atomic bomb. However, following the end of the war and the start of the “cold war” weeks after the official end of WWII, the US went on a “witch hunt” seeking out suspected communists wherever they may reside. The biggest perceived or alleged promoter of communist ideology at that time was Hollywood and the education system, specifically the collegiate level instructors. As a response to the pressures from the US government, people throughout the US were required to sign loyalty oaths (33).

This witch hunt of suspected communists even extended to public hearings in the US Congress, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) as well as US Representative Richard Nixon (R-CA), among others. These politicians built their careers on being “communist hunters” and produced evidence, often fabricated (34) that communists had infiltrated all aspects of the American government. While it is true that one substantial reason that allowed the USSR to build and test an atomic bomb in 1949 was the information passed along from Klaus Fuchs (35), more often than not, people had their careers ruined by mere innuendo. Much of this is not covered extensively in US history classes on the lower levels.

The reason this may be more important in today’s political climate is two-fold. First McCarthy went after the media as being unduly biased towards communist principles, so much that he took on the most trusted names in broadcast news of the day: Edward R. Murrow of CBS news. As with current events, many of the attacks were without any sort of proof or merit and were done more to build support with his own base. When McCarthy was finally called out on live television during one of the hearings, his position was finally exposed. His career ended soon after (36).

The second reason for this was that the US President Dwight Eisenhower instituted two policies to aid in the fight against communism that resonate today. Following the scientific advancements in the Soviet Union that allowed the creation of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, and later the first satellites to be launched into outer space, Eisenhower mandated that US schools require at least two years of math and science on the high school level. This, it was thought would spur academic interest and innovation in scientific areas. Next in 1957, the Pledge of Allegiance was changed to mark the difference from the communists when the phrase “under God” was added. These two acts have had repercussions to this day as the American Civil Liberties Union – itself branded a communist promoter by detractors – has brought lawsuits claiming the phrase “under God” violates the First Amendment to the Constitution (37); and the concept of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) which is now pushed to counter the other communist threat to America, The Peoples Republic of China.

While a variety of issues were used to blame the lag in American innovation and democracy in the 1950s (comic books, movies, rock and roll, beatniks, etc.), the basic issues of Americans being engaged or unengaged in politics and history continued. This lack of engagement often leads to confusion as to what is considered the “ideal” in American history. For those who argue the best days were the 1950s, this premise is not based so much on the historical facts but on the recollections of those people who were children in that era – the baby boomer generation. Their perceptions are often based on a narrative based not on their own recollections, but on those of television shows which highlighted a wholesome family centered life in which the mother stayed home and took care of the house and minded the children, while father worked. This ideal dismisses aspects of American history such as the communist witch hunts, the early struggles over Civil Rights – the Montgomery Alabama bus boycott being the best example, or legalized segregation in the United States, which was officially overturned by Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (38). This dismissing of aspects of American history has led to political fights going forward, as younger people who were given history based on television or false narratives, have continued the notion of an ideal society which may be achieved in the year 2022.

While the 1960s through the end of the Cold War in December 1991 were fodder for a variety of cultural aspects such as movies based on World War III, the idea of conspiratorial groups manoeuvering history from behind the scenes for some nefarious purpose, the reality is that from an academic perspective, the USSR and the idea of communism was convoluted from its inception, and its place in history was either a theory not quite perfected or a system built upon another base, with both changing from their origins. All of this takes us to the political climate in recent years.

The Millennium, American Politics, and the Future

From 1989, the end of the communist systems seemed to be inevitable. That year, the Tiananmen uprising showed the brutality of the Chinese communist party on live television. The students who led the movement were inspired by both the Soviet systems of Perestroika (restructuring) and Glasnost (openness) initiated by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. This in turn literally forced open the borders of Eastern European countries and by the end of that year, Germany was on track to reunify, most of the communist governmental systems were voted out of office and the world was in re-alignment that even one historian Francis Fukuyama, penned the article “The end of History” for Foreign Affairs magazine. In it, he argued the communist system was completely disproven, and that in this “new world order” the US and the capitalist system would remain supreme. What Fukuyama noted, and was later noted by historians, was that the communist system was never pure in the first place, and that those countries that held onto socialist or communist principles were in fact simply another aspect of authoritarian in scope. By the end of the 1990s, only five countries called themselves communist: China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea. For the US, the cold war was a victory and the principles of Marxism were debunked.

However, by the early 2000s the idea of a needed political enemy was one that both US political parties but especially the GOP needed. This idea of conflating social programs such as welfare, childcare, and social security, became watchwords for “creeping communism.” The idea pushed by the GOP starting with Ronald Reagan in the 1960s, through Georgia representative (and Ph.D. in European history) Newt Gingrich, who was speaker of the US House in the 1990s (39). The idea pushed by the GOP was that the best way to run these sorts of programs was to privatize them or eliminate them. Often, the principle pushed here was that if people were given free money (bastardizing the principles set by Marx) then people would never work. This played off the mis-understood ideas of communism, Marxism as well as the practical images shown of the Soviet Union in the media in the Cold War.

While these ideas are now applied to failed nation-states such as Venezuela, the concepts were skewed from the beginning. While current politicians are quick to bring up Hugo Chavez or Xi Xinping as the newest incantation of the communist boogeyman, the arguments of social democracies such as the Nordic states are ignored. The American political parties pick and choose what elements they wish to argue against, while adhering to these same people as the ideal immigrants to America.

Clearly, this argument is not new, nor has it been broached in recent years. However, it has been amplified in the last five years under the administration of Donald Trump. The fear of communism, while misunderstood for the average American, is palatable to the point that people who would most likely benefit from these programs, will vote against their own interest. For those most vocal in the current (2021-2022) Congress, the standard words apply Marjorie Taylor Greene insisting that Hugo Chavez still is manipulating the 2020 election (40); Senator Ron Johnson claiming that the Communists have inroads into the American system and are taking it down from the inside (41); and a slew of other politicians who claim that communist ideas will destroy America. Yet at that same time, Trump most often idolized the men who run the very system that he reportedly claims is destroying America: Vladimir Putin, leader of Russia, who came up as a KGB officer in the 1960s, and wants to return to the days of Soviet power (42); Kim Jong Un, who runs the North Korean economy with an iron hand that favors only those who owe complete subservience to him (43); and Xi Jinping of China, who is a strong leader who is good for China (44). All the enemies of America have used “communism” to threaten America. But if American media continues to perpetuate such falsehoods or misconstrue the influence of communism without examining the true nature of the facts, the historical trends will continue to weaken the ideas of America.

This is now playing out with the banning of more and more books on the school district level, or the threats made against teachers for talking about anything deemed “un-American”. But the question then is who determines what is un-American? An example of this concerns the Indiana bill that in January 2022 is working through procedure. It will fine or potentially ruin teachers who bring up topics deemed critical of US history or involve race. It even notes that groups such as the National Socialist party of Germany are to be treated neutrally (45).

Summation and Thoughts of the Profession

The examples noted in this paper concerning important events in American labor history are but a few of the struggles that have occurred over the years. An obvious omission to this is any labor leader, group or movement that tied labor to race, such as Cesar Chavez, A. Phillip Randolph or even Dr. Martin Luther King, whose last speech was on the Memphis garbage strike. The history of the US is often mixed with “heroic figures” like Henry Ford noted for his hiring immigrants and minorities at excellent wages, while simultaneously crushing any early attempts to unionize. What all these events lack is a better analysis from a labor historian, or a better telling in any US history course. The struggles of all counters the conservative narrative of the perceived threat of communism or its inevitable takeover and strengthens America as a whole.

Bibliography

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1. An example of this is how the Civil War is approached in textbooks. The single largest purchaser of American history books is the Texas Unified School district, which fought on the side of the Confederacy. Rather than concentrate on race as a core issue, the Civil war is often prefaced in terms of “states’ rights.” If the book is purchased by the Texas commission, many other states follow suit. It then becomes an issue of distortion.
2. Definition of CRT was a legal class at Harvard Law School in the 1970s. However, in the 2022 political climate the terms are an umbrella term for all aspects of race in k-12 public schools. See Stephen Sawchuk. “What is Critical Race Theory, and Why is it under attack?” in Education Week, May 18, 2021 (https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05).
3. American Historical Association. History, the Past and Public Culture: Results from a National Survey 2021, 85.
4. Marx 26, 68,
5. Marx, 31 (Jones edition).
6. In my classes I note that the Manifesto was responsible for Haymarket, the creation of the Soviet Union, the Rise of Mussolini and Hitler as foils to communist movements in their own countries, the Spanish Civil War, WWII, the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East and countries in Africa to name but a few. Overall, this simple little book has caused considerable historical events to play out. Marx, pp. 8, 16-17.
7. Marx, 374.
8. Marx, 15.
9. Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. New York: Back Bay Books, 2008, p. 143.
10. This was also the latter part of the Second Great Awakening, which was an evangelical revival in the US. As the Germans and Irish were predominantly Catholic at this time, they were further seen as a threat as they would not answer to a US President, but only to the Pope. This sort of animosity was also a holdover against the French.
11. Corbett, et al. US History. OpenStax, Houston T, 2014, 367.
12. Corbett, 477.
13. Ibid, 477-478; Belleville’s, Michael. 1877: America’s year of living Violently NY: New Press, 2010, x (footnote 3).
14. I used to ride my bicycle to work in downtown Chicago. My path to a small proprietary college took me through the intersection where the Haymarket uprising occurred and only one day after several months did, I realize it. This again becomes an important teaching tool: not only the reason for the eight- hour workday, but also the fact that it is an area many traverse without realizing it. A stylized workers statue stands at the corner, while the Chicago Police Department officer statue – which had been blown up several times over the years – is now located at a CPD precinct office at 35th Street.
15. Green, James. Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America. New York: Random House US, 2007, 5, 9-10.
16. Ibid, 228-9.
17. The author met a gentleman from Israel in 2006 while riding in Woodlawn cemetery in Franklin Park IL where the “martyrs of Haymarket” are buried, along with the labor activist Emma Goldman. While many Americans are unaware of the structure, this gentleman came 6000 miles to see it while in Chicago.
18. Corbett, 536.
19. https://www.pullmanil.org/hotel-florence/
20. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rise-fall-sleeping-car-king-180971240/
21. Pacyga, Dominic. Chicago: A Bibliography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. 146.
22. Macdonald, Damien. Anatomy of Comics. Paris: Flammarion, 2022. 21-24.
23. Corbett, 550; and Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York: W. W. Norton, 2022.
24. Ross, Jack. American Socialist Party. 2015 Omaha, University of Nebraska Press, 82.
25. http://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/ It is often horrible to note that the reasons the workers at Triangle died tragically, due to the external doors being locked and security to “prevent theft”, were the very same reasons why at least 112 were killed in a Dhaka garment factory fire in 2012 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/25/bangladesh-textile-factory-fire) and 52 Bangladeshi workers were killed in a factory fire in 2021 (https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/fire-bangladesh-juice-factory-kills-three-many-feared-trapped-2021-07-09/). One reason why item cost more to make in the US is due to safety standards and fire systems needed to run a factory, whereas those standards are not needed overseas. This in turn creates an unachievable standard for American consumers: buy American but pay more or buy overseas where workers are exploited for a company profit in return.
26. Ross, 82-84.
27. The Ludlow Massacre https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/ludlow-massacre/ retrieved Jan 1, 2022.
28. Kuzmarov, Jeremy. “The Wilson Administration’s War on Russian Bolshevism.” United States Foreign Policy History and Resource Guide website, 2018, http://peacehistory-usfp.org/ww1-russia. Footnote 58 .
29. McWhirter, Cameron. 2011. Red Summer: The Summer of 1919, and the Awakening of Black America. NY: St. Martin’s Press, 13.
30. https://www.history.com/news/american-labor-unions-decline-1920s#:~:text=Stripped of wartime protections and,languished in the Roaring Twenties.&text=Archives%2FGetty Images-,Stripped of wartime protections and branded as anti-American%2C labor,languished in the Roaring Twenties.
31. Catledge, Turner. “Our Policy Stated” NY Times June 24, 1941 pp. 1, 7.
32. WWI book, and Herring, George. From Colony to Superpower: US Foreign Relations Since 1776 (NY: Oxford), 915.
33. Author interviewed three political instructors at Baylor University on their recollections of the loyalty oaths in 1992.
34. Herring, 637.
35. Fuchs was part of the Manhattan project and was passing along information from Los Alamos not long after the tests were completed. Westad, Odd Arne. 2017. The Cold War: A World History (NY: Basic Books), 310.
36. As an aside, McCarthy’s counsel was Roy Cohn, who also proved himself a firebrand. Cohn’s career was tarnished following indictments and trials, but eventual acquittals of all charges from extortion to witness tampering. He was eventually disbarred for his actions. He is also important that in his later years he was an informal advisor to Donald Trump, who used many of McCarthy and Cohn’s attacks in his own public speaking. See Brenner, Marie. How Donald Trump and Roy Cohn’s Ruthless Symbioses Changed America. June 28, 2017. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/donald-trump-roy-cohn-relationship
37. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/06/14/the-gripping-sermon-that-got-under-god-added-to-the-pledge-of-allegiance-on-flag-day/
38. “Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1).” Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483. Accessed 17 Jan. 2022. https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/02/11/podcast-montgomery-bus-boycott-womens-political-council/
39. Gingrich Bio https://www.britannica.com/biography/Newt-Gingrich
40. Jacobs, Ben. Marjorie Taylor Greene is “The Worst Enemy for most causes she supposedly supports.” In New York Magazine, Jan 30, 2021. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/01/marjorie-taylor-greene-is-the-worst-enemy-for-her-causes.html
41. Johnson https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/21/us/politics/ron-johnson-wisconsin-misinformation.html
42. Putin bio https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Chapter-One-1.pdf p. 7
43. Comments from 2018 trip to Korea and bio https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-calls-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-a-great-leader-2019-2
44. Trump quote of Xi https://www.newsweek.com/trump-calls-chinese-president-xi-great-leader-brilliant-man-criticizes-media-g7-presser-1456138
45. Education Today and Indiana bill https://www.jconline.com/story/news/local/lafayette/2022/02/16/house-bill-1134-indiana-state-teachers-association-pack-the-house-rally/6811684001/ and https://inside-education.org/archives/1606

(Featured Image: “Site of the Haymarket Riot (7199922974)” by Stephen Hogan from Chicago, United States is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)