An American History

VARIETIES OF PROGRESSIVISM ★^705

establishing wages and working conditions but also in making such managerial

decisions as the relocation of factories, layoffs, and the distribution of profits.

The Socialist Presence

Economic freedom was also a rallying cry of American socialism, which reached

its greatest influence during the Progressive era. Founded in 1901, the Socialist

Party brought together surviving late- nineteenth- century radicals such as Pop-

ulists and followers of Edward Bellamy, with a portion of the labor movement.

The party called for immediate reforms such as free college education, legisla-

tion to improve the condition of laborers, and, as an ultimate goal, democratic

control over the economy through public ownership of railroads and factories.

It was the task of socialism, said western labor leader John O’Neill, to “gather

together the shards of liberty”—the fragments of the American heritage of

freedom— scattered by a government controlled by capitalist millionaires.

By 1912, the Socialist Party claimed 150,000 dues- paying members, pub-

lished hundreds of newspapers, enjoyed substantial support in the American

How did the labor and women’s movements challenge the nineteenth- century

meanings of American freedom?

EdmondsBurlington

Tukwila

Camas

Coquille

Eureka

Daly CityBerkeley

Watts

Cedar City

Grand Junction

StocktonMurraEurekay

Mammoth

HillyardCoeur d'AleneBeatrice

Butte Minden

Missoula(2 Commissioners) Des Lacs

(CommissionerMinot )

Rugby

SissetonDawson

Red Cloud Wymore

Hillsboro

NederlandLongmontLafayette

Buena Vista Edgewater

Victor

Antlers

FrontenacGirard

CurranvilleArma

Mindenmines

Liberal

Winnfield

HartfordChant

Winslow Cardwell

Gibson

Birmingham(Commissioner)

Gulfport

Lake Worth

Brookneal

Barre

Haledon Naugatuck

Rockaway

GustinBuffaloSchenectady

Tr averse CityHarbor Springs

ManitowocS. Frankfort

MilwaukeeWest AllisSheboygan

Davis

WilsonW Salem

Eagle BendMinneapolis

LaportePillagerBrainerd

Tenstrike

Cloquet

Crookston St. Hilaire Duluth(Commissioner)

MadridDavenportPhelpsSilvisTorino

RivertonCantonLincoln

GrafThaytonerJerseyville

Granite CityMascoutahO'Fallon

BufBucknerfalo Dorrisville

HymeraClinton

WA

OR

ID

MT

WY

NV

CA

UT

AZ NM

CO

OK

TX LA

AR

NE

KS

SD

ND

MN

WI

IA

MO IL

IN

MI

MS

AL GA

FL

SC

TN NC

KY

WVVA

OH

PA

NY

VTNH

MA

ME

RI

CT

MD DENJ

CANADA

Lackawanna

Miami

AdamstonHendricks

Star City

Garrett

BroadTop Twp.

Elwood

Gas City

Kalamazoo

Greenville Flint

LorainCleveland

ConneautAshtabula Union City Roulette

WheatlandNew Castle

Hazeldell

TorontoPitcairn

ByesvilleMartins Ferry

Mineral Ridge

MassillonSalem

OsnaburgAmsterdam

Canal Dover

Barnhill

Mineral City

McK(Contreesportoller)

CoshoctonSugar Grove

Mt. VLindenernon

Heights

Hamilton

Piqua

Lima

FostoriaShelby

JeneraSt. Mary's

(CWilliamsportommissioner)

WV VA

KY

IN OH

MI

PA

NY

0

0

250

250

500 miles

500 kilometers Socialist mayor

Major municipal ofother than mayorficer

SOCIALIST TOWNS AND CITIES, 1900–1920

Although the Socialist Party never won more than 6 percent of the vote nationally, it gained control
of numerous small and medium-sized cities between 1900 and 1920.