He was a good student who loved classic French literature. The strike received heavy media coverage and became known as "La causa" ("The Cause"). Debs was in Chicago during the intense weeks of the strike. Back in Terre Haute a year later, Debs obtained a job as a billing clerk for a grocery firm, but he maintained a strong association with railway workers. The situation worked well enough in good economic times, but when wages dropped and hours lengthened, while rents remained the same, families suffered tremendous hardships. Riches are the savings of many in the hands of one. The current president, Democrat Woodrow Wilson (18561924; served 191321), won the White House again that year. One of the most important pieces of legislation during Wilson's first term was the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. Baker also spent fourteen years researching and writing a biography of President Woodrow Wilson (18561924; served 191321). Ray Ginger , The Bending Cross: A Biography of Eugene Victor Debs, 1949. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Then, in 1893, an economic downturn hit the U.S. economy, causing a drop in orders of Pullman cars. As a young man, Debs believed that workers and their bosses essentially had the same goals: prosperity for themselves, for their companies, and for their communities. "Debs, Eugene Victor ." Eugene Victor Debs (1855-1926), a leading American union organizer and, after 1896, a prominent Socialist, ran five times as the Socialist party nominee for president. It was restored in 1976, forty years after his death. It was a loving union that was to last until Debs's death. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/debs-eugene-v-1855-1926, "Debs, Eugene V. (1855-1926) THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR Pullman envisioned his town as a model of efficiency and good health in which workers and their families could lead comfortable, safe lives. Eugene Debs - The Indiana History Blog As America's most prominent socialist, Debs was nominated as the party's candidate for president in the elections of 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920. In the summer of 1926 Debs returned to a sanitarium where he had spent extended periods in 1922 and 1924. The Pullman strike broke the ARU, which disbanded. . Debs and Seidel won 6 percent of the total popular vote cast. Huberman, Leo. During the early years of the labor movement in the United States, Debs was far ahead of his times, leading the formation of the American Railway Union (ARU) and the American Socialist Party.. Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on November 5, 1855. Debs died on October 20, 1926. Christianity, Eugenics and Religious Law: IV. His proposals were radical in the early twentieth century, but later became standard public policy for both major political parties. Eugene V. Debs, in full Eugene Victor Debs, (born November 5, 1855, Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.died October 20, 1926, Elmhurst, Illinois), labour organizer and Socialist Party candidate for U.S. president five times between 1900 and 1920. Having moved from craft to industrial unionism, Debs now converted to socialism. The grape-growers eventually gave in and agreed to negotiate with the unions. ." Debs realized that the ARU could not win against the railroads. Debs was working long hours to help settle the Pullman strike peacefully, but in early July the U.S. government authorized the use of federal troops to end the strike. He died in 1946. (1855-1926) Celebrate Bastille Day with Jacobin. Debs was dedicated to the socialist cause and worked hard to spread its principles throughout . This article can also be found online at http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Heroes/EugeneDebsSocialism.html (accessed on July 7, 2005). The company did not, however, reduce the high rent on the laborers' houses or lessen charges in other facilities of the town. ." After four consecutive losing presidential campaigns, in 1916 Debs decided to run for an Indiana Congressional seat. "Eugene Victor Debs He quickly rose to a leadership position, and in 1878 was made associate editor of the Firemen's Magazine. Some stores even posted signs that read "Whites Only.". The response to the boycott was overwhelming. Three years later he lost his job due to a severe economic downturn. Debs left school at the age of 14 and found work as a painter in a railroad yards. Eugene Victor Debs was best known as a Socialist, a labor leader, and a five time presidential candidate. In 1917 America's entrance into war resulted in widespread antagonism toward the Socialists. In 1920 continuous fighting in the party had resulted in a split into three separate organizations. his proposals were radical in the early twentieth century, but later became standard public policy for both major political parties. . Encyclopedia.com. New York: Hermitage Press, 1948. . Encyclopedia.com. great agencies are owned and operated by the people can the people hope for any material improvement in their social condition. Companies hired thugs to harass strikers who were picketing. The Red And Black Book - Reds! A Revolutionary Timeline Wiki But financial hardships caused by the Great Depression (192941) caused many farmers and ranchers to lose their properties when they could not repay bank loans. The couple never had children. Debs ran for and won a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives in 1884, but his two years there turned him against legislative politics and its behind-the-scenes compromises. EMERGENCE OF TRADE UNIONS By Clyde E. Willis Other articles in Reformers Labor leader and socialist Eugene V. Debs fought for associational and organized labor rights under First Amendment. But it also gave Debs a broader popular appeal than any other American Socialist could muster, and his personal charisma and persuasiveness before an audience were second to no other American politician of any stripe. . Eugene Debs. He later became a locomotive fireman, and in 1875 Debs helped organize a local lodge of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. His idea was for a union that included all the employees in the railroad industry. However, their fortune soon changed for the better when Marguerite began operating a store out of the front room of the family home. A table grape boycott was initiated by Chvez, who asked Americans to stop buying supermarket grapes until they could be sure the men and women who picked those grapes worked reasonable hours for a fair wage. Opposing United States entry into World War I, Debs was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sedition in 1918. Constantine, J. Robert, ed. . Eugene Debs | American Experience | Official Site | PBS The boycott was well-publicized. Eugene V. Debs, Walls and Bars (Chicago: Socialist Party, 1927); Nick Salvatore, Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1982). All it would do, he argued, was keep the current system in place, and that was a system that did nothing to help the worker, but everything to profit the leaders of big business and their political buddies. Retrieved July 25, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/eugene-victor-debs. In May, workers of the Pullman Company outside Chicago, Illinois, went on strike. Despite having strong initial misgivings about the workers' movement, Ray Stannard Baker (18701946) of the Chicago Record was one of the few journalists who ended up supporting Debs and the Pullman strikers. Schlesinger, Arthur M., ed. In re Debs, Latin: "In the matter of Debs", legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court, on May 27, 1895, unanimously (9-0) upheld the government's use of the injunction against a labour strike, specifically the Pullman Strike (May 11-July 20, 1894).. Background. "What is socialism? (July 25, 2023). In 1875 he helped organize a local lodge of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, of which he was elected national secretary and treasurer in 1880. Debs in fact only mentioned the war once, but under this repressive new law, was sentenced to ten years in a federal penitentiary. He lost, but continued to be the party's candidate in several subsequent elections. googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; Outspoken leader of the labor movement, Eugene Debs opposed Woodrow Wilsonas the Socialist Party candidate in the 1912 Presidential Election. Nick Salvatore , Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist, 1982. Pullman, Illinois, was an unusual factory town. He quit at age fourteen to take a job as a painter in the local railroad yards, although he did continue to attend night classes at a local business school when possible. The Rise of Industrial America: A People's History of the Post-Reconstruction Era. American Railway, one of the new industriai unions open to both skilled and unskilled workers (though not to blacks) gained national prominence within the year when it won an important victory over the Great Northern Railroad; membership quickly swelled to more than 150,000. Pullman Sleeping Car Company went on strike in 1894. Debs advocated the development of industrial unions, the formation of a socialist economic system, and opposition to capitalism (an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of goods and free market competition). "An American Hero." The Bending Cross: A Biography of Eugene V. Debs. Speech, 1918. However, the date of retrieval is often important. American Social Reform Movements Reference Library. Debs was elected secretary. Debs also pursued a political career in the early 1880s. Often they earned just a dollar a day and were forced to live in camps or in their cars. Eugene V. Debs Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline His case became a rallying point for those who believed he should be freed as a matter of freedom of speech. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. THE IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION Between campaigns Debs was a tireless speaker and organizer for the party, and he traveled the nation defending workers in their strikes and industrial disputes. ." A year later, Debs's group became the Social Democratic Party. . The Oxford Companion to American Military History. I am for Socialism because I am for humanity. Following Debss lead, the American Railway Union, by then much diminished, transformed itself into the Social Democracy of America. From steel fabricationto mining, American industries saw major protestsas workers tried to secure 8-hour workdays, living wages, and other fundamental improvements. Debs was arrested for violating an injunction, or court order, that required the strikers to return to work. In 1875, some years after becoming a locomotive fireman for the railroad, Debs helped to organize a lodge of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. When troops marched into ARU headquarters in Chicago on July 4, rioting began. "Debs, Eugene V. 25 Jul. //]]>, BORN: November 5, 1855 Terre Haute, Indiana, DIED: October 20, 1926 Elmhurst, Illinois, American political party leader; union leader. He campaigned on a pacifist platform of American neutrality in the First World War. Retrieved July 25, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/debs-eugene-v. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). This post is dedicated to Tom Flynnfreethinker, friend, and keeper of the Ingersoll flame.. On July 22, 1899, Hoosier Eugene Victor Debs, a radical labor organizer and the future socialist party candidate for president, published a tribute to one of his biggest influences and close friendsthe orator and freethinker Robert Green Ingersoll.Known as the "Great Agnostic" for his decades . Debs had been a fairly well-known public figure, at least among union circles, prior to the Pullman strike. Progressive Magazine, January 1999. The boycott meant a massive slowdown of all rail traffic across the nation. Girard, KS: The Appeal to Reason, 1908. Salvatore, Nick. Though he failed to win a large percentage of the vote on election day, the number of people who voted for him was substantial, ranging from 96,000 in 1900 to 915,000 in 1920. While Gompers worked with skilled trade workers, Debs advocated united efforts by the skilled and unskilled and tied unionizing efforts to a comprehensive political agenda. All twenty-six railroad companies were represented against the unions by the powerful General Managers' Association (GMA). The ARU won a major strike against the Great Northern Railroad early in the spring of 1894. National Catholic Reporter (May 7, 1993): p. 5. After leading the American Railway Union in a confrontation with federal troops sent to break up the Pullman strike of 1894, Debs was jailed for six months for contempt of court. Eugene Debs's Stirring, Never-Before-Published Eulogy to - Jacobin Debs had long supported the Democratic Party and had even campaigned on behalf of President Grover Cleveland (18371908; served 188589, 189397). Upon taking office, Wilson approved of many of the ideas put forth by Debs and Roosevelt, and he took several measures that brought an end to the long, regulation-free status that corporations in America had enjoyed up until then. By the fourth day, 125,000 men were off the job, and twenty railroad lines had been stopped. . Eugene Victor Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on November 5, 1855. Eugene Victor Debs was born in in Terre Haute, Indiana, on 5th November, 1855. THE CIO Debs was also confronted with bitter conflicts within the Socialist Party. Nominated for a fifth time as the Socialist Party's presidential candidate in 1920, Debs campaigned from his jail cell and garnered over a million votes. ARU unionists refused to handle trains carrying Pullman sleeping cars; national railroad traffic ground to a halt. reformist and revolut, Before the organization of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) in 1962, farm workers had long tried to organize themselves into labor unions to, Unions gender Eugene V. Debs. The labor movement was just beginning to emerge as a significant force during the 1880s, and Debs was shocked at how quickly company management moved to fire, blacklist, or even physically harm workers who demanded fair wages and a reduction in hours to an eight-hour day. The tide turned against the American Socialist Party due, in part, to its strong opposition to U.S. involvement in the conflict on any level. Class, Political, Economic. Debs received almost a million votes - six percent of the ballots cast. . Debs advocated abolition of child labor, the right of women to vote, unemployment compensation, and a graduated income tax. radical artisans and industrial workers Debs was also known as a figure in the cultural and intellectual life of the city. From that point on he was recognized as a prominent labor leader throughout the country. The workers could not afford to feed themselves and continue to pay their rent. John Whiteclay Chambers II "Debs, Eugene V. ." Though the group was called a union, it was more of a charitable association. The men were attracted to the principle behind the ARU and the cheap membership fees, which allowed many to join who previously could not afford it. He thought the organization could do more to help its members get through periods of layoffs like the 1873 economic downturn. For his involvement in the strike, Debs was jailed for six months in 1895 in Woodstock, Illinois. They spent the next five years moving about the country looking for work. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. During World War I Debs was jailed for opposing American intervention. U.S. Congress passes Espionage Act | June 15, 1917 | HISTORY Against Debs's advice the new union participated in the Pullman Strike of 1894 in sympathy with Pullman Palace Car workers. Eugene V. Debs - First Wave Feminisms - University of Washington A weak federation was achieved in 1889, but it soon collapsed due to internal rivalries. During his captivity he had won almost a million votes in his 1920 presidential campaign. Next to the factory he built the town of Pullman for the factory workers to live in. World Encyclopedia. Unlike many other American and European socialist leaders, Debs sought to avoid complex and often divisive ideological debates over the pace and purity of a theoretical socialist revolution and sought instead to connect the idea of socialized control over the industrial economy to indigenous American traditions of political democracy, utopian individualism, and radical reform. Carey, Charles W., Jr. Eugene V. Debs: Outspoken Labor Leader and Socialist. The "Wobblies," as they were known, called on all workers to join "one big union" and seize direct control of industry through mass strikes. He began to devote all his extra time to the cause of labor organizations, traveling around the country to support strikes and encourage railway workers to join their respective unions. Learn about Wilson's life, from his southern childhood, to his rise in academia, to his political career. Daniel and Marguerite arrived in New York City with little money and were quickly married. In 1900 Debs served as the Social Democratic Partys first presidential candidate. He funneled his energy and enthusiasm back into his work with the union. It was the closest experience to a situation he had previously only read about in books, such as the novel Les Miserables (1862), one of his favorite stories, by French writer Victor Hugo (18021885). Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist. Debs died on Oct. 20, 1926, having won wide respect as a resourceful evangelist for a more humane, cooperative society. SoJust.net: A Document History of Social Justice. He supported the Populists in 1896 and campaigned for William Jennings Bryan, but Bryans defeat was for Debs the last straw; In January of 1897 he officially declared himself a Socialist. Published in the New Yorker Volkszeitung, October 31, 1881 "Millions Reaped What Cesar Chavez Sowed." Debs spent much of his prison time reading and was deeply impressed by the works of Karl Marx. In 1920, from his prison cell in Atlanta, Georgia, Debs ran for the presidency again gaining about 3.5 percent of the vote. . (July 25, 2023). During the 1910s Baker became the first prominent journalist to focus on America's racial divisions. By 1906 they became unhappy with McClure's and took over another journal, American Magazine. The Presidential Election of 1912 | Teaching American History United States Party Politics War and Imperialism The Canton Speech By Eugene Debs Today in 1918, Eugene V. Debs delivered the speech that landed him in jail. He wrote many stories about their suffering and their heroic battle to win a decent life for their hard work. In a spontaneous speech after he won the Socialist Party nomination in 1912 he eloquently expressed his underlying philosophy: "When we are in partnership and have stopped clutching each other's throats, when we have stopped enslaving each other, we will stand together, hands clasped, and be friends. He saw the labour movement as a struggle between classes. He also edited the BLF's magazine and acquired a following among the workers for his well-spoken defense of their rights. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Legal recognition of the union marked an important turning point in the history of the American labor movement. A die-hard socialist, he stood five times as the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States. Though Debs lived most of his life in that city, his work kept him away from home for long periods of time. His reasoning was reflected in a later speech, "The Issue," given on May 23, 1908: As long as a relatively few men own the railroads, the telegraph, the telephone, own the oil fields and the gas fields and the steel mills and the sugar refineries and the leather tanneriesown, in short, the sources and means of lifethey will corrupt our politics, they will enslave the working class, they will impoverish and debase society, they will do all things that are needful to perpetuate [cause to continue indefinitely] their power as the economic masters and the political rulers of the people. Smith, Page. Through his work with the Firemens Brotherhood, Debs came to believe that unions organized exclusively around craft inhibited the ability of workers to join together in defense of common interests and allowed management to neutralize or crush union strength through divide-and-conquer strategies. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. This often made Debs as many enemies as friends within the Socialist Party itself, and for most of his career Debs sought to remain aloof from the fierce factional infighting of the American Left. Later, he would continue to rally against President Wilson and his decision to take American into warand be jailed for it under the Espionage Act. Debs's new project was an industrial union, one which would unite all railroad men, whatever their specific craft, in one union. Once the United States entered the war, Debs was arrested for violating the Espionage Act after making what the district attorney of Canton, Ohio called an anti-war speech in 1918. By. His stories were so effective that his readers began to send in contributions to help the strikers, which he distributed. Eugene Victor Debs (1855-1926), whose middle name is a nod to author/activist Victor Hugo, is probably best known at the moment as one of Bernie Sanders' heroes, but historically he's remembered for his role in the Pullman Strike and, more broadly, for introducing the Socialist Party to voters in the United States. 25 Jul. In 1962 he began his own organization, the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). His failing health prevented him from accomplishing this goal. Monthly Review (October 2003): p. 38. ." ." The economic owning class is always the political ruling class. His work introduced him to the miserable scenes in Chicago's soup kitchens and charity wards, and he witnessed daily the thousands of homeless, starving men crowding the city streets. (National Archives at Chicago, RG 21) Edited by James Andrews and David Zarefsky. The conflict turned violent and resulted in thirteen deaths. We reprint the message here in full. http://www.cesarechavezfoundation.org/cesarechavez.html (accessed on June 26, 2006). In a speech on June 16, 1918, to the Socialist Party in Canton, Ohio, Debs stated: " the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish the corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. Even though he was no longer a fireman, he joined the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen in 1874 and rose rapidly in the union. The most recent edition of Debs's writings is Writings and Speeches of Eugene V. Debs, with an introduction by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1948). Development of the Industrial U.S. Reference Library. It was not in his nature to compromise on the principles he believed in or to enter into the kind of political maneuvering necessary to pass legislation. Public opinion was still so divided over U.S. involvement that Wilson urged the U.S. Congress to pass the Espionage Act of 1917 shortly afterward. Eugene V. Debs and American Socialism [ushistory.org] Under the terms of the boycott, ARU members refused to handle Pullman railroad cars anywhere in the nation. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Debs. The family soon found that being migrant workers, or part of a group of manual laborers who moved from one site to another to pick crops for cash, meant exceptionally difficult work for extremely low wages. His imprisonment after the Pullman strike elevated Debs to the position of national celebrity. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html, Born November 5, 1855 (Terre Haute, Indiana), Died October 20, 1926 (Elmhurst, Illinois), By the late nineteenth century the industrial workforce in the United States had grown very large. Encyclopedia.com. Reelected in 1881, he was also made secretary-treasurer of the Brotherhood, which had doubled in size thanks to his organizing efforts. Thirty-four people were killed. . That same year he was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the Indiana House of Representatives, a position he won easily. Feeling as though he was wrongfully charged based on the right to free . "Statement to the Court." "Broad Shoulders." Eugene V. Debs. At the time Debs found that both Wilson and Roosevelt were advocating many of the ideas he had introduced in earlier campaigns. For the nation's working class, and leaders like Eugene Debs, it was a time to be angry. He was convicted on the second charge and spent six months in jail. The fear of losing their jobs prevented most people from speaking out against the unfair working conditions in the country's big industries, and there were few organizations or reformers willing to help. ." ." Retrieved July 25, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/debs-eugene-victor. / APIC/Getty Images By 1920, the name Eugene Debs represented. . Tired and discouraged, Debs resigned his positions in the Firemen's Brotherhood in 1892, only to be reelected over his protest. Debs's 1908 presidential campaign crisscrossed the nation on a train that was known as the "Red Special." Debs was also personally admired by many who detested his politics. After the Pullman Palace Car Company, led by George M. Pullman, cut the wages of its workers by 25 percent (in response to . Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez. Eugene Debs Biography, Work & Quotes - Study.com The Untold Truth Of Eugene V. Debs - Grunge . Britannica Quiz Debs ran again for president in 1904, polling 400,000 votes. Running as a Democrat, he was twice elected city clerk of Terre Haute beginning in 1879 and in 1885 spent one term as as Indiana state legislator. One of the most famous strikes in U.S. labor history, it nearly paralyzed commerce in the western half of the nation before it was finally halted by a federal injunction. https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/debs-eugene-v, "Debs, Eugene V. For the first two weeks, the strike was orderly and nonviolent. At this point in his career Debs was not a socialist but a conventional trade unionist, optimistic about the possibility of class harmony through the organization of workers and the persuasion of everyone else. Baker had, without meaning to, established himself as a muckraker. Subsequently, Debs joined the Socialist Party of America and was their presidential candidate in 1900, 1904, 1908, and in 1912 when he received about 6 percent of In 1965, when grape-pickers from another labor group went on strike, Chvez and his NFWA locals joined in. [1] Through his presidential candidacies as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the . Though Coxey's Army failed in its mission, it received nationwide publicity for its cause, and Baker was one of the chief journalists responsible for that. The phrase would later be applied to the larger movement that sought to improve the lives of migrant workers. (Enter your ZIP code for information on American Experience events and screening in your area.). Union. . "I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.". American Social Reform Movements Reference Library. Csar Chvez was the leader of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) for several decades. Debs believed that the working people were being forced to die in a war that would only benefit the capitalist class. At his sentencing hearing, he told the judge that he did not fear prison, and his words became one of his most famous speeches. The Democratic Party candidate was Princeton University president Woodrow Wilson, who edged out both Taft and Roosevelt to win the White House. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. February 11, 2019 Debs ran for President five times, captivating crowds by the tens of thousands. There is little doubt, however, that a major reason for the success of the ARU was the importance and reputation among workers of the ARU presidentEugene Debs. "Eugene Debs and the Idea of Socialism." Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist by . Then, on July 8, 1894, Baker observed an angry mob trying to turn over a Pullman car in Indiana.

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