Description
The collection comprises bulletins, convention and forum constitutions, programs, and leaflets,
correspondence, reports, flyers, and subject files relating to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), which was founded in 1928 by James P. Cannon.
Background
The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a political organization that was founded in 1938 by James P. Cannon. It was established
as a Trotskyist political party that had the goal of establishing international socialism by way of permanent revolution.
After James P. Cannon, Max Shachtman, and Martin Abern were expelled from the Communist Party USA for their Trotskyist ideas
in 1928, they formed the Communist League of America (CLA), which became the United States section of the International Left
Opposition (ILO). The ILO was an opposition group within the Comintern that was founded in 1930 and was renamed the International
Communist League (ICL) in 1933. In 1934, the Communist League of America joined the American Workers Party, and in 1936 the
party joined the Socialist Party of America, following the trend started by the French Trotskyist Communist League of entering
Socialist organizations to spread Trotskyism, which was known as the French Turn. While part of the Socialist Party of America,
Cannon, Schachtman, and Abern's faction maintained their allegiance to Trotsky and their support of the Soviet Union while
denouncing Stalin, which led to their expulsion in 1937. On December 31, 1937, the expelled faction members established the
Socialist Workers Party (SWP) at a founding convention in Chicago. In 1940, an internal dispute between Cannon and Shachtman
regarding the definition of the Soviet Union as a socialist state led to Shachtman and his oppositional faction leaving the
SWP and establishing the Workers Party.
Extent
85 boxes
Cartons and document cases.
Restrictions
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Availability
There are no access restrictions on this collection.