Daniel De Leon
Daniel De Leon (
December 14,
1852 –
May 11,
1914) was a
Curaçao-born
American socialist and
Syndicalism-influenced
trade unionist of
Jewish origin. He was educated in
Germany and the
Netherlands and arrived in the United States in
1874.
De Leon settled in
New York City, studying at
Columbia University. He became a committed socialist during the 1886 Mayoral campaign of
Henry George and in 1890 joined the
Socialist Labor Party (SLP), becoming the editor of its newspaper,
The People. He quickly grew in stature inside the party and in 1891 he ran for the governorship of the
state of New York, winning 13,000 votes in the process.
De Leon was a
Marxist, and argued for the revolutionary overthrow of
capitalism, trying to divert the SLP away from its
Lassallian outlook. However, his famous polemic with
James Connolly shows him to have been an advocate of
Lassalle's Iron Law of Wages.
De Leon was highly critical of the trade union movement in America and described the craft-oriented
American Federation of Labor as the
American Separation of Labor. At this early stage in De Leon's development there was still a considerable remnant of the general unionist
Knights of Labor in existence, and the SLP worked within it until driven out. This resulted in the formation of the
Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance (STLA) in 1895, which was dominated by the SLP.
By the early 20th century the SLP was declining in influence, with first the
Social Democratic Party and then the
Socialist Party of America becoming the leading leftist political force in America. However, De Leon remained an important figure in the US labor movement, and in 1905 he helped found the
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
De Leon lost control and the ability to influence the organisation to what he called disparagingly 'the bummery' and left the IWW to form a rival Detroit-based IWW, which was soon renamed as the
Workers' International Industrial Union. He died in New York in 1914.
Daniel De Leon proved hugely influential to other socialists, also outside the USA. For example, in the UK, a
Socialist Labour Party was formed.
De Leon's brand of Marxism is known as
Marxism-Deleonism or simply as
De Leonism.
* Frank Girard and Ben Perry,
Socialist Labor Party, 1876-1991: A Short History, 108 pages (
1 May 1991, Livra Books) ISBN 0962931500.
* L. Glen Seratan,
Daniel Deleon: The Odyssey of an American Marxist, (
1979,
Harvard University Press) ISBN 0674191218.
* from bound volume #8 of
Workers Vanguard,(
Spartacist Publishing, Box 1377 GPO, New York, NY 10116):
** "Was De Leon a DeLeonist?" and "SWP Invites SLP to Build Party of the Whole Swamp,"
10 February 1978 Workers Vanguard #192
** "The SLP and the Russian Question" and letter from former SLPer
24 February 1978
Workers Vanguard #194
** "The Dictatorship of the Proletariat,"
10 March 1978
Workers Vanguard #196
*
socialistlaborparty.org*
Daniel De Leon Internet Archive at
Marxists.org*
deleonism.org*
Reform or Revolution?*
What Means This Strike?*
Two Pages from Roman History (.pdf format)*
The Burning Question of Trade Unionism*
Preamble of the IWW (later renamed Socialist Reconstruction of Society)
